[r33] Bill to Reimburse Counties for Voting Machines (1/30/2008)

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Start Date: 1/30/2008 All Day
End Date: 1/30/2008

(STATEHOUSE) Jan. 29, 2008 - The Indiana House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bill that would reimburse counties that buy new voting machines which prove unusable because of unforeseen circumstances.

HB 1071 was inspired by recent voting-machine problems in Boone, Cass, Parke and Randolph counties.

All four counties purchased new voting machines from the same vendor but ran into considerable trouble when the vender went out of business. Suddenly, these counties lacked the support and resources they needed to get the machines running by election time. Consequently, these counties had to use local taxpayer dollars to buy more new machines that were functional.

These reimbursements allowed in HB 1071 are to be funded through the use of federal dollars allocated to states under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Currently, voting machine reimbursements of this type do not qualify for federal HAVA funds. Indiana now is petitioning the federal government to allow these types of reimbursements to make use of these funds. Under HB 1071, affected counties will complete a federal application and if accepted, will be first in line to receive HAVA funds for reimbursement.

"Counties shop around and try to purchase the highest-quality voting machines at the best price," said Rep. Davis. "When, due to no fault of their own, these counties are left with nearly brand-new machines that are not functional, local taxpayers suffer, and that is not acceptable. This bill will make sure counties are reimbursed when this happens."

Indiana is not the only state that is dealing with this problem. All states with counties that purchased machines from this vendor have faced similar problems, and similar legislation has passed or is pending in many of these states.

The bill, passed 94-0, advances to the Senate.

Rep. Davis encourages constituents to contact him with questions or concerns through e-mail at h33@in.gov, by calling the Statehouse toll-free at 1-800-382-9841 or by writing him at 200 W. Washington St, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

 

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