Most of NC Will Use the Same Voting Equipment This Year

WRAL Most Counties Choose Voting Machines Of Only Qualified Vendor RALEIGH, N.C. -- It might not have been what officials were looking for, but the next time voters go to the polls in North Carolina, most of them will be using the same voting machine system. At least 90 of the 100 counties already have chosen to purchase electronic or optical-scan machines from the lone vendor remaining. State elections director Gary Bartlett says at least three counties plan to use paper ballots during the election and count them by hand. While the state's smallest counties already were using paper, others such as Buncombe County wanted more time to consider their options for purchasing (m) millions of dollars in equipment. Election director Trena Parker says it means a longer day for workers. The equipment purchases are in response to a law passed by the General Assembly following an electronic voting machine error that caused more than 44-hundred votes to be lost in Carteret County during the November 2004 election.