State to receive $32 million for electronic voting

Susan Haigh - AP - August 27, 2004

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut has received $32.7 million from the federal government to help buy new electronic voting machines and make other upgrades in the wake of the 2000 presidential election.

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz announced Friday that some of the money will be used to buy an electronic voting machine for each of the state's 750 polling places for the November 2005 municipal election, as required under federal law.

The state will seek offers from voting machine companies this fall.

After the 2005 elections, cities and towns can apply for funding to replace all of their old lever voting machines. The state will provide the money on a first come, first-served basis.

None of the new voting machines, which often resemble ATM machines, will be used in this year's presidential election in Connecticut. About 30 percent of the nation will be using them this November.

Bysiewicz said she wants to see how the machines perform in those states before Connecticut begins using them.

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