New voting machines sought

Friday, July 20, 2001 | 11:30 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The increasing population in Clark County is going to require the purchase of more voting machines and Registrar Larry Lomax likes a new model that is lighter and more sophisticated.

Sequoia Voting Systems put on a display Thursday in the secretary of state's office for its new machines that permit voters to touch the screen to choose their candidate, to select the language of the ballot and to allow the voter to change his mind in choosing a candidate.

Sequoia is asking Secretary of State Dean Heller to certify its latest model so machines can be sold to counties in Nevada. Each unit runs $4,000 to $5,000, plus there are added costs for extras.

Lomax has 2,186 voting machines manufactured by Sequoia worth about $10 million. But he has to add more as the population increases. For instance, he said he had to buy 350 new units between 1998 and 2000.

Lomax and his crew will be in Riverside, Calif., July 31 to look at how the new Sequoia machines work in that election. And he wants assurances that these new units will hook into the present machines in tabulating the votes.

If he's satisfied, he will ask the county manager to put enough money in the budget to run a test program for the next election.

He notes there is a growing Hispanic population in Southern Nevada and the machines would be able to accommodate those voters and also other nationalities. He estimates these new machines would require fewer election workers.