A federal judge has sided with the provider of Mercer County’s former voting machine system in a breach of contract suit.

The ruling not only deprives the county of money officials said they lost when the UniLect Patriot voting system was decertified, but of an answer as to how they can protect themselves — and wisely spend taxpayer money — in an era of ever-changing voting machine standards.
When the county bought the UniLect machines in January 2001, “Neither party contemplated a situation where a voting machine that had in fact been certified by the commonwealth would ever be decertified,” said county litigation solicitor William G. McConnell Jr.

But, county officials all across the country are faced with upcoming federal certification standards that 90 percent of the existing machines will not meet, said Mercer County Director of Registration and Election Jeff Greenburg.
The situation is no easier for the companies that make the machines because they do not want to invest in creating machines that will soon be obsolete, and might not be able to make new ones that will meet new standards, he said.
“Lawmakers have to look at it and see if there a way to protect taxpayers,” Greenburg said. “We are reliant on state and federal officials to certify voting systems. We have to trust that they are doing their jobs. It puts counties in a very difficult position. The counties, in the end, are always caught holding the bag.”
The new federal standards are to be in effect by 2012, forcing county officials to pay to upgrade the current machines, if that is possible, or buy new machines, Greenburg said.
In the suit, county officials claimed UniLect officials promised that their equipment would conform to state specifications. If the machines did not conform, UniLect was supposed to correct them so they would, the county said.
The machines were decertified by the state on April 27, 2005, which disallowed their use for elections.
UniLect officials have blamed county officials with making coding errors and failing to test the machines, and said the state consultant who decertified the machines did so based on subjective requirements.