FAIRFAX
COUNTY VOTING MACHINE INFORMATION
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Fairfax County polling places will be equipped with two
types of voting equipment for the upcoming presidential
election - optical scan and touch screen. |
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OPTICAL
SCAN VOTING MACHINES
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Beginning with
the November 2008 General Election, Fairfax County is introducing
the AccuVote™ optical scan voting system at each polling
place. These machines “read” a paper ballot marked by
the voter. It is expected that the optical scan machines will
help reduce the time spent waiting in line at the polling places
since more voters can vote at the same time. The Office of Elections
will continue to deploy the existing WINvote touch screen machines
to all precincts. These machines comply with the federal Help
America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252 (HAVA), which mandates
accessible voting devices for blind and visually impaired voters.
The General
Election of 2004 brought out over 73% of Fairfax County voters.
Since then the County has added four new precincts and registered
more than 50,000 new voters. As demonstrated nationally by voter
interest in the 2008 presidential primary elections, this November’s
presidential election could set
new records for voter turnout.
Unless the County deployed additional voting machines, long
lines at County polling places would severely inconvenience
voters and that can be expected to discourage many persons from
voting.
However,
due to General Assembly legislation in 2007, the County was
prohibited from purchasing additional WINvote touch screen voting
machines. So, at the Fairfax County Electoral Board’s request,
the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the purchase
of the AccuVote™ machines in hopes of better serving the
voting public. In reaching its decision, the Electoral Board
was aware that the AccuVote optical scan voting system has been
used reliably for absentee voting in Fairfax County since 1996.
TOUCH
SCREEN VOTING MACHINES
In addition to the AccuVote optical
scan voting machines, every polling
place will also be equipped with 3 to 6 WINvote™ machines,
depending on the size of the precinct. The WINvote machines,
also
known as direct recording electronic (DRE) machines, have been
used
in Fairfax County since 2003. These touch screen machines are
designed to provide voters with disabilities the ability to
cast their votes
unassisted. Each machine is equipped with an audio headset that
enables voters with visual impairments to cast a secret ballot
without assistance. This light-weight machine may also be carried
outside the polling place for curbside voters.
Code
of Virginia, §24.2-1009: Stealing
or tampering with ballot containers, voting or registration
equipment, software, records or documents is a Class 5
felony.
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