Monroe County is changing the way it votes… again.

Last week, Gov. Phil Bredesen signed into law the State Legislature’s Voter Confidence Act, which requires all counties to use the same type of voting system.

Monroe County just switched its voting system from punch card to direct electronic recording in 2005 after Congress banned the punch card system. At that time, it cost $250,000 to upgrade Monroe County’s voting system.

Congress provided the money to pay for the 2005 switch with its Help America Vote Act. The state had some of that money left over, which it will distribute to pay for the new voting system.

The new voting system that Monroe and 94 other Tennessee counties will adopt is called Optical Scan Voting. All counties will use machines from the same optical scan manufacturer, which will be chosen by the Secretary of State and the State Election Commission.

According to Monroe County Administrator of Elections Randall Moser, voters using optical scan machines are issued paper ballots, which they mark by darkening in or marking a box next to their chosen candidate’s name. Each voter puts his or her paper ballot into a scanner, which scans and counts each race.

Unofficial election results will still be known as soon as all the precincts report in to the Election Commission office on Election Day. Even though the system scans and knows the results in each precinct as soon as the last ballot is cast, election results cannot be transmitted over phone lines.

So, election officials will take a data card out of the scanner at each precinct and drive it to Madisonville where it will be read on a machine there. Each scanner has two back up data cards in case there is a malfunction.

The Voter Confidence Act also requires a mandatory hand recount for the top race in each election. In addition, it requires a recount of 3 percent of early votes cast and a recount of 3 percent of votes cast in each voting precinct.

Moser said logistics of when and where those ballots would be recounted has not been determined yet. They may be required to be recounted the night of the election or, election workers could do the recounting the day after the election, when they count provisional ballots. Moser said the decision would be up to the state division of election coordinator’s office in Nashville.

The only way to do the required recount is by hand. Election results are always unofficial until the Monroe County Election Commission certifies them. The county sends its results to the Secretary of State to certify.

“Optical scan is a good voting system,” said Moser. “It’s very easy to use and is much faster with basically no standing in line to vote. There is also a paper record along with the computer count.”

Moser added that the county wanted to switch to the optical scan system instead of the direct electronic recording system in 2005 but at the time, the scan system was not certified by the state. The county already uses an optical scan system to count mail-in ballots.

“We will use whatever system we are required to do by the Congress or the state,” said Moser. “I just don’t want the counties to be stuck with the bill. And that hasn’t happened so far.

“One other concern I have is that voters had to learn how to use a new voting system just two years ago. Now they are going to have to do it again. This just makes it confusing for everyone. I just wish they would make up their mind.”

The Voter Confidence Act will not affect the county’s election this August. The switch must be made prior to November 2010.

melissa.kinton@advocateand democrat.com | 337-7101