State combats voting errors with Internet guide

The Michigan Department of State unveiled a Web site Sept. 6
designed to educate
voters about operating statewide voting systems.

“The Web site uses video, photographs and text to make it
easy for residents
to learn about various voting systems in Michigan,” said
Michigan Secretary
of State Candice S. Miller.

Voters can access the new Web site at
www.sos.state.mi.us/election, and find information
at the Citizens’ Guide to Voting Systems by clicking on the
name of the system.

Users also can locate their hometown system by clicking on a
color-coded map of
the state.

“The Web site is a great resource and educational
tool,” said Julie
Pierce, Michigan Secretary of State spokesperson.

“Now people can become familiar with various voting
equipment so mistakes
can be prevented.”

Miller said she hopes the Web site will increase voter participation
by easing
prospective first-time voters’ concerns about going to the
polls, and a more
understandable voting process will reduce voter errors.

Voting systems in Michigan include optical-scan systems,
punch-card ballots, Unilect
and Micro Vote electronic voting systems, mechanical-lever
machines and paper
ballots.

With optical-scan systems, voters fill in ovals with a No. 2 pencil or
connect
arrows to cast their vote. Voters punch out small rectangles, called
chads, with
the punch-card ballot system. And Unilect is an interactive
touch-screen method
where voters touch a computer screen to indicate their choices.
Micro Vote is
similar to Unilect in that voters push buttons to place their
selection. With
the mechanical-lever machine, voters push levers pick their
candidate. The paper
ballot is a method in which voters write an “X” or a
checkmark in the
designated space next to the candidate of their choice.

“With the new Web site, we hope to target everyone so they
can become familiar
with the different types of voting systems,” Pierce said.
“I think the
Web site will be especially helpful for first-time voters or for people
who have
moved to a new precinct.”

In addition to the Citizen’s guide to Voting Systems, the
Department of State
Bureau of Elections Web site contains information on other
election-related issues,
such as campaign finance and lobbyists’ reports.