In 2008, the Tennessee state legislature passed what is known as the
Voter Confidence Act. The act assumes that voters will become more
confident in election outcomes if our state converts all counties to
using paper ballots rather than the electronically counted results we
use in Shelby County today.

The act also directs the counties to use optical scanning systems to
tally the votes on the paper ballots. It seems to clearly call for
purchasing optical scanning devices, certified by the Elections
Assistance Commission, that can meet the 2005 standards required by
federal law under the Help America Vote Act. One other point of
interest is that all counties are required to be in compliance with the
provisions of this act no later than November 2010.

When it meets in January, the General Assembly should revise the
act’s deadline provisions or, better, rethink it altogether.

We estimate the costs of printing paper ballots for each Shelby
countywide election to be about $400,000. There would be additional
costs for the secure handling and custody of these printed ballots and
additional manpower costs as well. Using paper ballots creates the need
for what is known as “ballot-on-demand.” Each precinct would print
individual ballots for voters when they present themselves — a
far slower process than using the touch screens we have in place
today.

Overall costs for replacing the touch-screen system with optical
scanners and ballot-on-demand would run to about $12 million for Shelby
County. That money would be provided by federal dollars, per the Help
America Vote Act. However, the act requires only one apparatus per
precinct. We have great population disparities between precincts
— with some having as few as 1,500 voters and others having as
many as 5,000. It is obvious that there would be longer waits to vote
if we limited ourselves to a single federally funded voting apparatus
per precinct. And additional voting machines would have to be paid for
by Shelby County taxpayers.

Our current touch-screen system is what is known as a direct
recording electronic system. Votes are recorded electronically and
securely, and, best of all, this system has been paid for already, at a
cost of $4 million to $6 million. Half of the funds used to pay for our
current system were federal dollars, with the other half paid by Shelby
County taxpayers.

The federal funds paid for only one machine per precinct. To
properly service our voters, Shelby County purchased additional
machines to accommodate each precinct.

The optical scanner machines actually offer little difference in the
way votes are tallied. Once you complete your ballot, your vote will be
scanned into the Opti-Scan counting machine — yes,
electronically. About all this new mandated voting system offers us is
a paper record. Many people, who do not understand the security of
touch-screen voting, advocate a paper ballot trail. This is akin to
using a typewriter instead of a computer. Why go backward, at a cost of
$12 million, plus additional Shelby County taxpayer funds?

The outcry from voters in favor of paper ballots is nonexistent. The
outcry from candidates and elected officials is also nonexistent. The
need for paper ballots and optical scanners is arguably nonexistent.
Why, then, are we doing this? The arguments by those in favor of paper
ballots are that it provides a paper trail of votes and that the
federal government has approved the money for this backward
technology.

In these difficult economic times, we do not need to spend money
just because it is there. We do not need to create new costs for
elections, unless we are improving or upgrading the process to benefit
voters.

We are currently using the most accurate, secure, and
state-of-the-art voting system in Shelby County. We have paid for it,
and it is operating very well. Let the counties that need election
system upgrades have the allocated funds to purchase the voting system
best for their communities. Give the rest back to the federal
government. No doubt they can use it for better causes. Rich
Holden, a Republican, is chief administrator for the Shelby County
Election Commission.