New voting machines needed to replace paperless versions

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Secretary of State Dean Heller says he needs $15 million from the state to buy 4,400 new voting machines for Clark County in time for the 2006 election.

Heller told the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday he learned in the last two weeks that the present voting machines could not be retrofitted to allow them to have voter verifiable paper trail printers.

Heller and his chief deputy, Renee Parker, said Sequoia Voter Systems Inc., was hired to do the retrofit. But it discovered it would cost more to retrofit the machines in Clark County than buying new machines.

Parker said Nevada's existing contract with Sequoia calls for paying $2,637 for each machine plus $500 for the paper trail printer. That's $1,500 less than is being charged other states who buy the same machine, Heller said.

The state awarded Sequoia a $9.2 million contract last year to buy 1,800 electronic voting machines that were supplied to Washoe and the rural counties.

Heller said he has $4 million in federal funds left from the Help America Vote Act but that money will be used to buy additional machines for some rural counties and Washoe County where there were long lines in the last election.

Heller said he is working with the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to get additional federal funds. But President Bush's budget provides only $3 million to Nevada. But he said he did not know if he would be successful.

The secretary of state, who is the chief election officer for the state, said all machines statewide must have paper trails by the 2006 election.

Clark County has some machines that have the paper trail units. Parker said these would be used in the municipal elections this year.

State Budget Director Perry Comeaux told the committee that the $15 million is not part of Gov. Kenny Guinn's budget and he has not had a chance to talk with the governor about it.

Heller, in a later appearance before the Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee, outlined suggested changes to the election law.

He wants to move the primary election, now in September, up until the first Tuesday in May.

Heller recommended a law to impose a $5,000 fine per day on public agencies that fail to designate a specific area or otherwise block those who are gathering signatures on petitions. Some individuals were arrested in the last election when they sought to gather signatures on initiative petitions in public places, such as a municipal bus station.

The Legislature should clarify the law that talks about the last preceding general election. Initiative petitions involving smoking and marijuana were turned in after the November election last time. The backers of the petition relied on the guidelines of the secretary of state's office that said the number of signatures required were 10 percent from the November 2002 election.

But the state Attorney General's Office issued an opinion that the numbers should be based on the turnout in the 2004 election. And all three petitions failed. But a federal court ruled the 2002 election figures should be used. And the petitions are being presented to the Legislature.

Heller said he wants initiative and referendum petitions should address only one subject; that the petition language should be confirmed by a judge and that there be a deadline for filing the initiatives and for the legal challenges to the petitions.

Heller said moving the primary election date to May would provide adequate time for the counties to prepare and distribute sample ballots to the voters.