Bilingual voting machines approved in pilot program

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2001 | 10:58 a.m.

Voting will become easier for the Las Vegas Valley's Hispanic and physically disabled populations, perhaps as early as next year, after Clark County commissioners today approved a pilot program to test new voting technology.

The new voting machines, which are compatible with the fleet of machines the county purchased three years ago, will offer candidates'names and instructions in both Spanish and English.

They will also have touch screens similar to a bank's ATM machine so that physically disabled can vote without assistance. Blind voters can use an audio program and hand-held device so that they, too, can vote alone.

"People deserve the opportunity, the right and accessibility to vote," County Commissioner Myrna Williams said before the 5-0 vote approving the new machines. "This is terrific for Spanish-speaking people. And you don't have to worry about a person coming in with a voter and wonder if they told the person how to vote."

Larry Lomax, the county's Registrar of Voters, said he proposed the pilot program after the 2000 Census showed the valley's Hispanic population had doubled in the last decade. Hispanic residents make up nearly 20 percent of the county's population.

According to the Census, 50,000 Hispanic residents said they do not speak English well.

"Based on results of the 2000 Census, we will be federally required to conduct elections in more than one language," Lomax said. "Rather than wait to be ordered to do so, we decided to start a pilot program."

Clark County already has about 15,000 more registered voters than it did in 2000, and Lomax said new machines need to be added to the fleet to keep election days running smoothly.

With the commission's approval today, the county will order between 150 and 200 new touch-screen machines.

Lomax said the new machines may save money because fewer staff members are needed to monitor each voting station. During the 2000 election, the county had to assign bilingual staff members to 55 of its 309 precincts.

The machines, which cost between $4,000 and $5,000 apiece, are manufactured by Sequoia Voting System. The county paid nearly $10 million for the 2,186 current machines. The county is not required to put the contract out to bid because Sequoia is the only company that makes technology compatible with the county's existing voting machines.

The idea of requiring bilingual voting machines was considered during Nevada's last legislative session, but rather than mandating the change, county officials convinced lawmakers to change the language to say they "strongly encouraged" it.

"We said we'd love to do it, but we don't have the technology available and we wouldn't be able to comply," Lomax said. "But whether we decided to do it on our own or mandated to do it, we were going to have to do it shortly."

County officials visited Riverside County, Calif., last summer when it first used the new touch-screen machines. Secretary of State Dean Heller approved the use of the machines in the state in July.