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Under the federal Help America Vote Act
(HAVA), each state received federal grants
to help cover the cost of purchasing HAVA-compliant
voting machines. Arkansas had to match a
small portion of the money with state funds,
bringing the total funds to $18.5 million.
The Secretary of State’s office distributed
money to the counties based on the following
formula
Round 1
For each polling site, the state purchased
1 touch-screen voting machine for full disability
compliance under HAVA. This included hardware,
software and other equipment necessary for
processing election results.
Then Arkansas determined how many additional
machines would be needed based on a high 70%
voter turnout (about 10 percent above Arkansas’s
highest turnout to date). Using the purchase
price contracted with the state’s voting
machine vendor, counties were given three options
for their voting system purchase (see next
page). The state gave each county the funds
to cover the cost of the most cost-effective
solution, either A or B, which varied by county.
If a county chose the more expensive option,
they made up the difference with county funds.
The state’s portion of these purchases
totaled $14.4 million, leaving a surplus of
about $1.4 million.
Round 2
The surplus money from the initial purchase
was distributed to the counties at a rate
of $.84 per registered voter. This allowed
the counties a fair system of distribution
of funds.
This formula allows each county to achieve
full HAVA compliance and distributes additional
dollars based on the number of registered voters
the county must serve. Arkansas has until December
31, 2006, to take advantage of the discount
pricing negotiated in the ES&S contract,
so any remaining funds after initial purchases
are made will be used to buy more machines
for the counties.
The counties were presented with three options
for their preferred voting system:
Solution A / 11 Counties
Solution A is a mixed system that uses
a) Paper ballots that are counted with optical
scanners at each polling site, and
b) Handicap-accessible touch-screen voting
machines.
This solution requires counties to print paper
ballots as well as program, tabulate and operate
two types of equipment. The funding formula
for Solution A includes one Model 100 optical
scan precinct counter and one accessible iVotronic
touch-screen voting machine for each polling
site. It also includes the tools needed to
set up the election and tabulate the results.
Voters can choose to vote on paper ballots
or touch-screen machines under this solution.
Solution B / 50 Counties
Solution B is a full electronic voting solution
with the exception of paper provisional ballots
and paper absentee ballots. The funding formula
for Solution B includes:
a) one handicap-accessible iVotronic touch-screen
voting machine per polling location, and
b) standard iVotronic touch-screen voting machines
Three counties will continue using their existing
electronic voting machines (DRE’s or
digital recording electronic machines), which
meet HAVA requirements. Columbia, Ouachita
and Union counties received HAVA funds under
this solution as reimbursement for those prior
purchases.
Solution C / 14 Counties
Solution C is a mixed system that uses:
a) paper ballots tabulated with a high-speed
central count optical scanner
b) one handicap-accessible touch-screen voting
machines per polling site
Voters can choose to vote on paper ballots
or the touch-screen voting machines under this
solution.
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