New Voting Machines training held for County Election Inspectors

Nearly two dozen Onondaga County election inspectors met Wednesday morning at the DeWitt Community Library for training on new voting machines for the disabled.

Each machine is equipped with a computer screen and audio capabilities for those with both vision and hearing disabilities. One drawback, a ballot takes 25-30 minutes to complete because the voter must go through each and every possibility before marking their final vote.

“This will allow them to do it themselves without interfacing,” county election inspector Greg Clark said.

The New York State Board of Elections said 53 counties throughout the state are using the Sequoia ImageCast voting machines after the federal Help America Vote Act required polling places to provide disabled voters with means to vote independently.

“In the long run, this is going to be our future, I believe,” county election inspector Mildred Turner said.

The Board of Elections says anyone who wants to can use the new machines and the plan is to make them the primary voting method by next year.