SLC Council in sticker shock over election costs

OK, folks, the numbers are coming in and the carefully concealed extra costs of the electronic voting machines are coming home to roost — twice this year and again in 2008. Julie Rose, KCPW, reports the SLC Council is experiencing sticker shock:

The Salt Lake City Council is ready to bite the bullet and pay three times more for its municipal election than it has in previous years. The extra costs are mainly because the new electronic voting machines require more training for poll workers at higher wages. The machines are also in short supply, which could mean fewer polling locations, which troubles City Councilman Dave Buhler:

"I worry about what that does for voter involvement and participation — particularly for some of our older voters who may have a harder time getting out if the location is further away," says Buhler.

The men to call to account are Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert and his Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Cragun. The latter misled the SL County Council by saying The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) required a total conversion to the electronic voting machines (DREs). In fact HAVA only required one such machine at each polling place to accomodate voters with vision or hearing impairment. BTW, the DREs do nothing to accomodate voters who cannot enter polling places.