Hillsborough: Voters can give two new ballot systems a test run

Voters will get a chance to try each system during six demonstrations at various locations around the county. Each session is scheduled to last two hours. Afterward, they will complete comment cards.

"We'll ask, "Did you like the optical scan or touch screen? What did you like about the two? Do you feel it's important to have paper ballots?' " said Pam Iorio, Hillsborough's supervisor of elections.

The change comes in response to a massive overhaul to state election laws.

The touch screen system operates much like ATMs and has more features to accommodate disabled voters. The optical scan system still uses paper; voters fill in an oval or an arrow on a paper ballot that is fed through a scanner.

Whichever system the county buys, it should be in place for the 2002 elections, Iorio said.

Voters' comments will help determine which system to purchase.

But price could be a factor. The optical scan system would cost $3-million, Iorio said. If the touch screen system is chosen, the cost jumps to $12-million, she said.

"It's a considerable difference," Iorio said. If the county buys the touch screen, it would need about 3,000 units.

However, the county would need only one optical scan unit per precinct, Iorio said. That's where voter comment comes in.

If touch screen ballots are favored, Iorio said, she will still buy some optical scan units to count absentee ballots.

Iorio said 41 of Florida's 67 counties are deciding between touch screen and optical scan voting systems. The other 26 counties already have one of the two systems in place, she said.

"Bigger counties look more favorably on the touch screen because you don't have to use paper like you do with optical scan," Iorio said. "Many states still have the punch card. It has not been outlawed in many states."

Iorio plans to recommend a new voting system to the County Commission by July.

- Staff writer Kevin Graham can be reached at graham@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3404.