TMCnet News
Clerk hopes to speed up election result reporting [Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne](Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, WY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 26--CHEYENNE -- On primary election night in August, Laramie County was one of the last counties in the state to report unofficial election results. The county didn't post vote tallies for all 61 of its precincts until almost 10:38 p.m. That kept voters, candidates and reporters glued to the refresh buttons on their Web browsers late into the night. Laramie County Clerk Debbye Lathrop says she hopes slight changes to the way results are processed when polls close after the Nov. 4 general election will improve reporting times by as much as an hour. The process by which votes go from touch-screen machines at polling places to the elections office in the county building on 19th Street for verification and reporting is a complex and labor-intensive one. But Lathrop said she hopes to speed the process along by reducing the effects of a specific bottleneck. When polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day, memory cards containing information from all of the ballots cast on the hundreds of voting machines around the county are brought to the elections office. Those cards are then inserted into one of three machines that read the data and transfer it to the county's secure network so the votes can be reported. Lathrop said she plans to increase the number of these machines to six. That, in turn, will double the number of memory cards that can be read at one time. "Right now, we only have three machines that we can upload (memory) cards into," she said. "We are trying to get three more 'dongles' -- that's really what they're called -- so we can connect three more machines." A "dongle" is a small piece of hardware that connects an electronic device, like the memory card reading machine, to the election office's computer system. Lathrop said she is in the process of ordering this equipment from the manufacturer. She hopes it arrives and can be installed before election night. Assuming the dongles arrive in time, Lathrop said two members of the Laramie County Canvassing Board -- Republican Dave Marcum and Democrat Peter Froelicher -- could join county elections manager Debbie Valdez-Ortiz in the process of uploading the memory card data. On past election nights, the canvassing board has "watched the process and served as the eyes to make sure everything is going right," Lathrop said. "But if they can help with loading up the cards, then we can get things done faster," she added. Marcum said he has not yet been trained to upload the memory card data, but "that is something (the canvassing board) may talk about next time we get together" prior to election night. By doubling the number of card reading machines, Lathrop said she hopes to reduce the amount of time it takes to report results by as much as an hour. "That's a great goal," Valdez-Ortiz said, sounding a bit dubious. "But whatever happens, this should help speed the process along at least some. It certainly won't slow it down. "We try our best, and that's all we can do. I think we do a darn good job. I know our elections are clean, and we can hang our hat on that." Lathrop added, "It is long days leading up to Election Day and a hellacious day on Election Day. So there is nobody who wants this done quickly and efficiently any more than we do." Lathrop said she will keep an open mind about longer-term strategies the county can employ to improve the process. She said she may consider a shift toward mail-in ballots if it can be proven to be a secure way to conduct an election. Several states, including Colorado, have adopted all-mail election systems. "I will be paying close attention to what happens in Colorado," Lathrop said. She said she is working with the Wyoming Legislature to allow for the creation of "vote centers." Those will make it easier for voters because they could vote at any center, not just in their designated polling places. ___ (c)2014 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) Visit Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) at www.wyomingnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |