LETTERS: BARCODE VOTING MACHINES MUST NOT BE ALLOWED IN ALBANY COUNTY
Given the state Board of Election’s certification of the Election Systems & Software ExpressVote XL voting machine, I fear that the Albany County Board of Elections, a customer of ES&S, will purchase this voting machine rather than upgrade the aging ballot scanners.
When I sign in at my polling place, I’m handed a paper ballot and I carry it to one of many private voting booths. I linger over it, I take my time reading the ballot, and I check and recheck the bubbles I filled in. When I’m ready, I walk over to the scanner, I insert my ballot, I watch it being scanned, and I see the ballot count increase by one.
With an ExpressVote XL machine, I would make my selections on a touchscreen. It produces a summary on thermal paper, which falls into a clear box, but I won’t be able to hold it in my hand. The machine then retrieves the paper summary and scans the barcodes, which I can’t read. Also, because of the cost of the machine ($11,491 each), the county can only buy a limited number, making it likely that there will be voters waiting behind me to take their turn voting — so much for lingering over my ballot.
Voters need to tell the Albany County Board of Elections that paper ballots work. This machine is expensive and unnecessary and will literally take our ballots out of our hands.
Marta Gomez, Delmar
Published Feb. 26, 2024