Florida Secretary of State Susan Cobb rescinded the county's portion of the state's federal grant because the county hadn't purchased approved systems by the state's Jan. 31 deadline.
Leon County Elections Commissioner Ion Sancho said he is currently in talks with two vendors about buying adequate systems, and will reapply for the grant once contracts are signed.
At the same time, Sancho said the county will get the gear whether or not the grant is reapproved. "We still have the necessary funds. We have over $1 million in the elections budget for new equipment. Money is not the issue in this debate," he said.
The federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) legislation required that all precincts in the country install at least one touch-screen e-voting machine or a specially equipped optical scan system by Jan. 1. The state had extended the deadline by a month to be eligible for the federal funds it distributed to help the districts purchase voting gear. Leon County was one of two counties in the state to lose grant money, said a spokeswoman in the Secretary of State's office. Each of the other counties has installed, or has signed contracts to purchase compliant systems, she said.
The loss of the grant was the latest in a series of setbacks for Leon County in its effort to comply with HAVA.
Late last year, the county was on the verge of signing a contract to buy HAVA-compliant optical scan machines from Election Systems and Software Inc. but the vendor pulled out of the deal at the last minute. At the time, ES&S declined to disclose a reason for its move but said it came "after a great deal of careful consideration."
The company had turned to ES&S after rejecting a proposal by Diebold Election Systems Inc. because of concerns that the Diebold election equipment might not meet federal guidelines and because of concerns about the accuracy of Diebold's touch-screen systems.
Sancho said there wasn't enough time to reach an agreement with another vendor before the deadline once ES&S pulled out of its informal deal with the county.
"The main problem we have had was the failure of ES&S to sell us the equipment its Florida reps had promised they were going to sell us," said Sancho. "As soon as ES&S withdrew the agreement, the state swept away the money. It's been inconvenient and stressful."
Sancho said the county is once again in talks with Diebold as well as with Oakland, Calif.-based Sequoia Voting Systems to buy handicapped-accessible touch-screen systems. The county hopes to have compliant systems installed by May 1.
In the meantime, neighboring counties have promised to supply Leon County with the necessary equipment for emergency elections.
Because both Diebold and Sequoia are offering only touch-screen gear, Sancho said he intends to make his staff experts in the use of touch-screen systems.; he also said there is a chance Leon County could reapply for the lost grant money.
It will be up to the Florida Legislature to decide if Leon County will once again be eligible to receive the funds, said the Florida Secretary of State spokeswoman.