11/13/2003
Good-bye, Chad ~ Hello, Optical Scan M100
Chad has finally retired.  He was honored at an open house at the Election Commission offices attended by 100 people on Thursday, November 13, 2003, where the new optical scan voting systems were also introduced.  Chad’s contract with the Bloomington Board of Election Commissioners started in December 1967.  A press conference was held in January of 1968 to announce his arrival and he held his first official public demonstration for the press, city and county officials, and the leaders of the political parties. 

His first election was a school board election in April 1968.  Everything went smoothly except the voters tried to use the pencils to punch the cards and of course the lead broke off in the device and jammed the machine.   

The voters liked the new system and Chad knew he’d found a home and was here to stay.  It was never his fault that a voter may feel embarrassed to ask for help.  It wasn’t his fault that a voter may have used the pencil to try to punch the number of his favorite candidate and jammed the machine.  It wasn’t his fault that the voter didn’t look at his ballot to verify that all holes were punched cleanly and correctly.  It was never his fault that the wrong hole may have been punched.  He always did his best. 

Well, many years have passed and after some problems at the presidential election in 2000, new election systems have come to take his place.  Even Uncle Sam has lost faith in him.  He served us well in the City of Bloomington.  We had few problems.  He was part of years of non-partisan, successful, and accurate elections.  The voters were confident in his ability to perform well and comfortable with his procedures. 

We must say goodbye to him today and wish him well in his retirement.

11/13/2003
The Help America Vote Act
(HAVA) requires election authorities across the nation to replace punch card and lever machine voting.  The Bloomington Board of Elections has chosen to replace punch cards with an optical scan system after demonstrations of optical scan and touch screen equipment at the McLean County Fair and the judge of election appreciation dinner.  The public was surveyed and judges of election voted for the system they liked best.

After seeking proposals from both state-certified vendors for the optical scan equipment the Board has chosen to purchase 26 Model 100 Optical Scanners and voting system from Election Systems and Software for $174,975. 

The Board, in anticipation of this purchase and the required future purchase (by January, 2006) of HAVA-compliant equipment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities, has set aside funds from past budget years for this purpose.  HAVA grant money, in the amount of $3,192 for each precinct used at the November 2000 election, is available upon completion of the contract for new equipment with the filing of an application to the State Board of Elections. 

The expected $130,881 grant will cover most of the first part of the mandated HAVA punch card replacement.  By January 2006 the Board must have in place at least one voting unit that will allow the visually impaired to vote unassisted.  These units are an additional $3,700 each. 

      V. 3.7, copyright ©2008 Board of Election Commissioners, Bloomington, IL