


Alderwood to probe voting machines


Story by: Ellie Olmsen


Date Published to Web: 11/16/2004




Republicans in Alderwood joined Democrats yesterday in criticizing the performance of the city's costly new high-tech voting system, saying that it may have disenfranchised voters in the Nov. 4 election. 

The Republican commission scolded the city board of elections for minimizing problems with the touch-screen machines that the city purchased this year for $1.5 million and asked Mayor Rex Luthor to investigate what went wrong before the machines are pressed into service again. 

Alderwood's touch-screen voting machines, which resemble laptop computers without keyboards, were supposed to simplify voting and tabulating results. But in a debut that mirrored many of the problems experienced last year in areas across the country, some voters found the machines confusing, and the reporting of vote tallies was delayed almost a day. 

Luthor responded that he would try to address the board's concerns. He said he has called for a public meeting of the three-member board of elections to go over the requests at 5 p.m. today. 

"I pledge that I will answer every question as soon as I possibly can in the proper fashion," he said. 