DELHI _ The Delaware County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Wednesday to protest the elimination of lever voting machines.
William Campbell, Delaware County Republican election commissioner, said 10 other counties have passed similar resolutions asking the state to allow the use of the old-style lever machines.
According to the resolution, "For many decades, Delaware County has successfully used mechanical lever-style voting machines, with very few problems, and is desirous of continuing to do so."
Campbell said the state has required that all lever machines be replaced, and that their usage is prohibited in future elections.
"The problem is that the new voting machines don't work," Campbell said. "The problem is with the tabulator, and the tabulator counts the votes."
The Election Reform and Modernization Act of 2005 requires the use of the handicap-accessible ballot marking devices, but Campbell said the state Board of Elections will not certify the accuracy of new tabulator machines.
Campbell also noted that even if the lever machines were allowed to be used again, Delaware County doesn't have enough machines, and there is no longer a source for new ones.
"During the two recent floods, we lost lever voting machines," Campbell said. "We had been able to rent machines from a company in Johnstown called The Voting Machine Company, but they have gone out of business, so there is no way to rent, repair or service lever machines.
"It's an interesting situation for the counties to be in," Campbell continued. "There are not enough old machines that work and there is enough new equipment, but it doesn't work."
Campbell said if the tabulator problem is not resolved before the November election, the votes will have to be counted by hand, and there will not be any election results immediately after the polls close.
Board Chairman James Eisel said the federal government and the state are not expected to change their stance, but the resolution was put forward in protest.
Davenport Supervisor Dennis Valente suggested forgoing the use of any machines and using paper ballots and a ballot box.
Colchester Supervisor Bob Homovich voted against the resolution and said after the meeting that "the resolution doesn't make sense."
"What are you going to do with the new machines that we already spent $500,000 on?" said Homovich. "The time to protest was when they passed the law.
"That is a hell of a lot of money to spend and then say you aren't going to use the machines."
Election officials in Otsego and Chenango counties said they had not heard anything about a similar protest in their counties.
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