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Most Missourians Will Use the Same Paper Ballot They Used In 2002

JEFFERSON CITY - When Missourians step into the voting booth on Nov. 2, most will be using the same paper ballot they used in 2002.

Most voting districts use either optical scan ballots or the traditional punch cards that caused problems in Florida in 2000.

Nearly a third of Missouri voting districts will be using punch card ballots on Nov. 2.

Even if a district wanted to update their voting machinery they have limited choices and none would be able to implement touch screen voting.

However, the issue is not money.

Earlier this year the secretary of state's office made $11.5 million available to jurisdictions for punch card replacement, said Chuck Pryor, legislative liaison for the office.

The issue is a Missouri statute that necessitates that voting machines be certified by the secretary of state office. And the state can only certify machines that have federal certification.

"Our state law says we cannot certify any machines that have not met federal guidelines," Pryor said.

So even though some jurisdictions might want to switch to touch screen voting, Pryor said, they cannot do so until the federal government certifies the machines.

Despite the available money only nine districts have opted for punch card replacement.

James O'Toole, director of the St. Louis city jurisdiction, said they are one of the many districts that still use the punch card ballot.

"We've never had any problem with it," O'Toole said.

Pryor agreed and said Missouri has never faced the same problems Florida did in the 2000 general election. He said Florida biggest problem wasn't necessarily punch cards, but that they didn't have a clear definition of what could count as a vote.

Pryor said his office has implemented some rules to make sure the same thing won't happen in Missouri.

"In our rules we have a clear distinction of what constitutes a vote with every voting system we have in our state," Pryor said.

These rules directly address problems such as the hanging chads and dimples that became well known during the 2000 election.

So at least for this election year, Missourians will not be using touch screen voting.

How soon they will, if they will, depends on the what districts individually decide.

Wendy Noren, Boone County clerk said she is not sure if she will try to get touch screen voting in Boone County. She said there are a lot of factors to consider.

"There are pluses and minuses to each of the systems out there," Noren said.