State approves AccuPoll's new voting machine

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The secretary of state's office said Thursday it has approved the first company to offer touch-screen voting machines in Missouri.

The company, AccuPoll Inc., was the first to be fully qualified by the state, though a couple of others are awaiting a final step to also be qualified.

Polling places are required by federal law to have at least one voting machine for use by those with disabilities by Jan. 1, and the AccuPoll touch-screen machines would meet that requirement, the secretary of state's office said.

The machines also will create a paper printout so voters can immediately check to ensure their votes were recorded correctly, another requirement to be approved for use in the state.

The approval means the company can now market its equipment to local election authorities around the state.

Rich Chrismer, director of elections for St. Charles County and a member of the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities, said he expects federal money to cover most of the costs for outfitting polling sites with voting machines accessible to the disabled.

But he said growing areas such as his will pay the bill for any polling sites added since the 2004 general election.

The state is expected to seek bids from various approved companies that offer such equipment to get the best price, and then counties could choose the vendor they prefer, Chrismer said.

Chrismer also said he wonders whether the approved companies will be able to handle the demand and get enough handicapped-accessible machines to polling places by the deadline.

Currently, of 116 election authorities -- each county plus the cities of Kansas City and St. Louis -- 14 use punch-card systems, nine manually count paper ballots, and the rest use paper ballots counted by optical scan systems, the secretary of state's office said.

Missouri counties also have until Jan. 1 to make use of federal money to replace their punch-card machines, though they are not required to phase them out.