For whatever reason, early voters in Jacksonville had problems with the Express Vote machines. But the elections supervisor said they managed to overcome it quickly.
“When I early voted my express vote caught in the machine and destroyed my ballot. I then had to fill out a paper ballot. It made me nervous and felt it was unnecessary,” one voter said.
Since the first two or three days of voting there have been zero complaints, Supervisor Jerry Holland told Eye on Jacksonville. “At first it was like they had come from another planet,” Holland said.
He can’t explain the difficulties. The machines have been in use since 2020.
The advantage is that the Express Vote machines speed up the process considerably, Holland said, preventing long lines in the polling places.
He estimated that currently 85 percent of the people choose the Express Vote and 15 percent prefer to fill in the ovals on a ballot themselves.
Personally, I would rather use a machine than try to fill in those pesky ovals. I’m always afraid if it isn’t done perfectly, it won’t be counted.
With the machines, the voter uses a stylus to make his selections. He can view the selections on the machine to make sure they are accurate and can review them again on the printed ballot that comes from the machine.
Holland said the machines have been certified for use by the Secretary of State and voters get a choice in every precinct whether to use them or the paper ballot.
In either case, the result is a paper ballot that is fed into the machine that tabulates the vote.
Having difficulty with changing technology is nothing new. Many people remember the old mechanical voting machines where voters pulled a lever under a candidate’s name to indicate the choice.
In 2000, the election of President George W. Bush was delayed for weeks during litigation because Democrats in several counties could not figure out how to punch a hole in a card.
