Voting machine fix won't cost Montgomery County

State certification of software needed before company can begin repairs.

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By Lynn Hulsey, Staff Writer Updated 10:17 PM Tuesday, December 15, 2009

DAYTON — Problems with Montgomery County’s electronic voting machines will be fixed for free once the state certifies new software, according to Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections.

Harsman told the board on Tuesday, Dec. 15, that there are continued problems with calibration of the touch screen, an issue discovered in 2006. Additional calibration and testing procedures were put in place to catch problems.

Harsman said about 137 voting machines were outside of tolerance standards and had to be pulled from use prior to last November’s election.

The county took extra steps after the election to make sure there were no more problems with machines failing to count ballots, which occurred with five ballots in one machine during the November 2008 election.

The company that manufactured the machines, Premier Election Solutions, has been purchased by its competitor, Elections Systems and Software. Officials from that company told Harsman they have gained federal certification for software and hardware upgrades that will fix the problems with the Premier machines.

Because the county has a maintenance contract through 2010, all of the work will be done for free, said Jerry Amick, state customer service manager for ES&S.

The company has asked Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to move forward with the state certification process no later than February, with the goal of having the fixes in place before the May primary.

Brunner spokesman Jeff Ortega said Brunner has 90 days to convene the Board of Voting Machine Examiners.

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