ATLANTA - Georgia voters going to the general election polls in a few weeks will face ranks of new ATM-style touch-screen voting machines instead of paper ballots that must be marked with special pens or cards that have to be punched.
Georgia hustled to overhaul its election system after Florida's disastrous 2000 presidential election. Now that another Florida election has ended in new disarray, partly because of its new touch-screen machines, some worry that Georgia may have moved too far too fast.
``I think Georgia is making a mistake in rolling out new equipment on the general election day without having had it in place for the primary to test it and for people to get used to it,'' said state Sen. Eric Johnson, Republican leader of the Senate.
Not everyone shares that opinion.
It will be a smooth election, said Democratic state Sen. Jack Hill, who served on the commission that helped devise the switch.
``Frankly, we have a reputation for getting the job done, and Florida doesn't,'' Hill said.
Florida spent $32 million on an election overhaul that did away with its notorious punch-card and butterfly ballots. Counties were given the option of buying touch-screen systems or less expensive optical-scan machines.
While some Florida counties reported problems with the new technology, many other problems were the result of human error, including poll workers failing to show up and voters being confused about where to vote.
Georgia, on the other hand, spent $54 million on its overhaul.
All Georgia counties were required to install the same touch-screen technology. Officials say that makes it much easier to train poll workers and educate voters.
``When you've got one system in all the counties and media markets in all regions of the state, you are able to speak with one voice at one time to everybody: This is how you are going to vote,'' said Chris Riggall, a spokesman for Secretary of State Cathy Cox.
``We're confident, but we're staying up late and getting up early to make sure we're covering every single base we can think of,'' Riggall said.
Georgia's new equipment got a test run in primary runoffs last week in only two counties.
``The voters love it,'' said Hall County's director of elections, Ann Phillips.
But that small tryout makes Johnson fear confusion among voters.
``Ninety-eight percent are going to see this for the first time on Nov. 5, and I think that leads to problems,'' he said.
Hill, however, said voters in two cities in his district got to test various versions of the touch-screen system in municipal elections last year, and ``100 percent of them were enthusiastic.''
``Only one didn't like it, but he didn't like the old machines, either,'' Hill said.
Saturday
February 22nd, 2025
1:00PM
