Campaign 2006

Say hello to your voting machine

by Tom Crann, Minnesota Public Radio

Minneapolis, Minn. — Across the country, political candidates and their supporters are stressing that every vote counts. The state of Minnesota is making an effort to accommodate each and every voter, including those who have some physical difficulty with marking traditional ballots.

According to federal regulations, polling places must provide access to voters with visual disabilities or other physical conditions that would make traditional voting difficult or impossible.

In Minnesota, the answer is the AutoMark voting machine. An AutoMark -- or something like it -- has been installed in each voting precinct in the state.

The Automark machines cost $5,000 apiece. The $3 million or so it cost to put a machine in every Minnesota precinct came from the federal government.

Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Crann tried out the machine along with David Maeda, an election specialist for Hennepin County.