Privacy a concern on new machines

Judy R. Madill, since she was old enough to vote, had used little levers to cast votes. So the Chaumont resident admitted being a little confused when she didn't see the big, boxy machine in her polling station when she arrived just past lunchtime Tuesday.

Instead, Mrs. Madill unwittingly found herself becoming a part of history when she was one of the first north county residents to cast a vote through a new paper balloting system. The Route 125 resident picked her candidates with a pen at a pop-up booth that provided less privacy than the curtained lever machine. She then fed her ballot to a machine while a poll worker stood ready to act in case of trouble.

By the time it was over, Mrs. Madill had figured out what she liked and didn't like about the new method, which is being used in Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties.

"I don't care for the booth type system in the open," she said, starting what would become a common refrain of voters. "I don't think it's as private as it used to be."

She did appreciate that the computer probably would eliminate any chance of confusion about how many people voted — and for which candidates.

"The scanner might be a little more accurate and faster in the tally," she said.

Sandra L. Branski, a fellow voter in Lyme, found the process to be "very easy, very fast and very efficient."

"I feel confident my vote went in the way I intended it," she said, adding that the computerized system had told her that her vote was counted.

Watertown Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham said the ballot was easier to read and he liked that the new system created "an actual paper trail."

With the old lever machines, "when they talk about the word 'recount,' there is no recount," he said. "All you are doing is rereading the numbers off the machine again."

But Ann M. West and Cheri M. Mahon, both Lyme residents, also were concerned about the lack of privacy. Ms. Mahon said her vote felt exposed in a way it never had when she picked candidates behind the curtain.

Mr. Graham said he and other voters didn't know they could turn their ballots face down to hide their votes when they fed the sheet into the machines. He felt wary of revealing his choices to the poll worker standing next to the ballot collector.

"There's pluses and minuses, but I survived it," he said.

Jerry O. Eaton, Jefferson County Republican elections commissioner, said Tuesday his office didn't field a single complaint from voters about privacy. His office did anticipate the reaction, however, and ordered privacy sleeves for the Nov. 3 general election. The sleeves will cover a voter's ballot as he or she walks the piece of paper from the booth to the ballot counter.

"Not for nothing, but people are actually pretty pleased with the process," said Sean M. Hennessey, Jefferson County Democratic elections commissioner. "Inspectors in Felts Mills were saying this works better than the old system. You can actually process ballots more quickly than before."

Lewis County didn't report any voter privacy complaints because voters were using homemade privacy sleeves created by county election specialists (the same job as deputy commissioners in other counties) out of large manila folders.

"All the voters that we saw used them," said Elaine McLear, county Democratic elections commissioner.

Mrs. McLear and Republican Elections Commissioner Ann M. Nortz said they received all positive comments on the new machines from voters — including many "seasoned" ones — during polling site visits and had no major problems.

A line of about 20 voters did form shortly after polls opened at noon at the Lyonsdale town hall in Port Leyden, Mrs. Nortz said. However, the group was patient, and election inspectors did a good job handling the voters in an orderly fashion, she said.

Mr. Eaton said a polling station in Antwerp had to issue 14 emergency ballots after a printer tape became dislodged. The issue was fixed soon after it was reported, he said.

James A. West, who voted with his wife in Lyme, said the counter rejected his ballot after he failed to darken the entire circle next to the candidates of his choice.

"You get to try it three times," he said, repeating what the poll workers told him. "I'm glad I had done it right the second time."

Mr. Eaton said the new system allows for "much more individuality, which can cause problems," like Mr. West's scenario. He also said the old machines wouldn't allow a resident to overvote by depressing more levers than there were positions, but a voter can overvote on the new ballot by mistake. The counter will catch it, he said, and the voter will be asked to submit a second ballot while the first is destroyed.

Mr. Hennessey said his office plans to take what it learns from Primary Day and use it in a voter education program that will roll out before Election Day.

Times staff writer Steve Virkler contributed to this report.