Photo by Nolan Madden Navajo County Elections employee Myriel Tenney (foreground) was among the first to try out the county’s all-new ExpressVote terminals this week, with the assistance of her trainer, Navajo County Voter Registration and Elections Assistant Theresa McKinzie (background). Tenney is the designated election inspector for the Woodruff polling district this 2016 election cycle.
By Nolan Madden Time and technology seem endlessly able to turn life’s chores into conveniences. The county touched a technological milestone this month as it received new, state-of-the-art equipment, purchased with the goal of making voting easier during the coming election seasons. The Navajo County Elections Office kicked off its open house tour for county residents this week, offering a hands-on overview of the new voting procedures and equipment. The demonstrations began on Tuesday at the county government complex in Holbrook and will run weekly through the month at locations in Snowflake, Indian Wells, Polacca, Pinetop, Piñon, Kayenta, Winslow, Heber and Show Low. Voting machines were unheard of in the early days of politics, with manually marked and tabulated paper ballots being the historically standard method for conducting an election, first appearing in Rome possibly in 139 BCE, and in the United States around the year 1629. Navajo County did not own the equipment needed to conduct an election until this year, after newly appointed Recorder Laura Sanchez and her staff received approval last October to implement the new voting system, with the goal of drastically reducing operational costs, consolidating voting precincts and simplifying the voting process overall. In the past, the systems used were rented. The system allows registered voters to make selections online and then, using a generated barcode, retrieve, review, modify and cast their ballots in person at any of the designated county voting precincts. The setup promises numerous conveniences, says County Elections Director Rayleen Richards. “We think people who see it will like it. Voters can now text the word VOTE to a designated phone number to receive their ballot QR code, then scan the code from their phone at any designated polling place, cast their vote and they’re done,” Richards explained. Using the ExpressVote terminals, voters will be able to print their ballots and, if not located near a usual polling place, can visit an alternate polling location without having to submit a provisional ballot, which was a problematic issue in the past. “This will probably eliminate half of the provisional votes that occur from people not voting in the right precinct,” said Navajo County Voter Registration and Elections Assistant Theresa McKinzie, who is training users on the system. Pre-printed ballots will still be used in select precincts and polling places. The terminals also accommodate Sip-and-Puff or Sip ‘n’ Puff (SNP) assistive technology, and are ideal for persons with limited or no motor capability to operate switch-activated devices. The function sends signals to the device using air pressure by “sipping” (inhaling) or “puffing” (exhaling) on a straw, tube or wand to input desired responses. According to McKinzie, an independent study revealed that voters who identified as disabled or elderly reported a 70 percent satisfaction rate using the system. “It’s that easy,” she said. Satisfaction is also expected to rate high among volunteer poll workers, who Sanchez says in the past have sometimes missed the opportunity to vote due to being stationed at a polling place outside of their assigned district. At its back end, the automated system will tabulate 500 ballots per minute at the county’s central elections center, versus the previous hand-fed mechanized method, reducing the number of staff hours needed to tabulate ballots. “I can envision how this will make things better for everybody,” said McKinzie. “It’s going to make our poll workers very happy, but it’s not just for us, it’s for the voter. These terminals are so simple and user friendly. Hopefully, they will become confident with the machines.”
