Those who are used to filling out an election ballot with a trusty black pen may be in for a surprise at the August 8 primary election.
New AutoMARK Voter Assist Terminals will be located at every precinct to assist those with various handicaps.
The federal government granted the new AutoMARK machines as a part of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Addison Township received three machines for each of its precincts at $5,717 a pop, according to Clerk Pauline Bennett.
The AutoMARK machine features a touch screen, a key cursor pad with braile for the visually impared, a security sleeve for the ballot, headphones for the hearing impared, and even a ‘sip and puff? input’which enables voters with limited hand dexterity to navigate through the ballot by simply breathing or sipping on a small tube.
Voters can magnify the touch screen to make the words larger or change the contrast to suit their needs. The screen prompts voters for each step and is fairly simple to use.
For those who are hearing impared, the automated voice heard through the headphones can be sped up, slowed down, or repeated.
English or Spanish directions are also available in braile.
One feature Bennett likes about the AutoMARK machine is that it alerts the voter of any problems on the ballot before finishing.
‘What also is good is that you can change your choice at anytime before the ballot’s marked,? she said.
If a voter can’t seem to grasp the technology, Bennett said the machine will spit out the ballot without any marks and the individual may vote the traditional way.
Once the ballot is completed, the machine feeds the ballot back into the security sleeve, which is attached to the machine by Velcro.
The ballot will still need to be feed into the tabulator to complete the voting process because the AutoMARK does not count votes.
Bennett estimated voters may spend at least 10 minutes using the new machines, as opposed to the two-three minutes it takes to mark the traditional ballot.
She also said cities with a higher population will probably have a higher voter turn out because of the new machines than the smaller ones, but that it may still draw more people to the polls in Addison.
‘I think people are going to be curious because it’s pretty high-tech,? she said.