Optical Scan Vote Machines To Be Budgeted By Pasco County

Published: May 22, 2007

In a little more than a year, Pasco County voters will say goodbye to touch-screen voting machines.

By July 1, 2008, Pasco and 14 other counties, including Hillsborough and Pinellas, must switch to optical-scan voting machines, by order of the Legislature.

Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley estimated that the county will have to spend about $500,000 to make the mandated changes in Pasco's 153 precincts.

Corley said the $500,000 will be part of his proposed 2007-08 budget, to be presented to county commissioners June 1.

The state will provide the county with 160 optical scanning machines. The county's money most likely will be spent on backup machines and inserts to retrofit privacy booths.

Touch-screens will continue to be used in Pasco during the September primary and the presidential primary in January, Corley said.

Geoff Fox