Democratic leader Gary Odom continues his call for the Republican Secretary of State Tre Hargett to have paper ballots in place by the 2010 election for governor.
In a letter to the Secretary of State dated Monday, Odom says if the cost to counties for purchasing paper ballots is the issue, federal money could be used. He says that the state has $37 million for buying new machines, and would have plenty left over to pay for the additional expense at the county level.
Election coordinator Mark Goins says that money from the Help America Vote Act has strings attached and can’t be used for ballots.
“It’s easy to say there’s money sitting out in a bank account somewhere and you can spend it. It’s another thing of following the actual requirements we have to follow. And if we don’t follow there’s severe penalties for doing so.”
Moreover, Goins says the larger issue has to do with standards. The General Assembly passed a law mandating the return to paper ballots to maintain a paper trail for recounts. But no optical scan voting machines, which read paper ballots, have been approved for use under the latest voting standards. Democrats in the General Assembly, however, say the law doesn’t require that machines meet the latest standards.
Governor Phil Bredesen says he’s giving the Secretary of State some “elbow room” to do his job.
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