MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (January 12, 2001 11:53 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Computer companies have their eyes on a prize as big as the presidential election - contracts to put electronic voting systems in cities and states across the nation. Unisys Corp., based in Blue Bell, Pa., announced Thursday that it will team with Microsoft Corp. and Dell Computer Corp. to produce and market election systems. Together, they hope to develop products that can improve all aspects of the voting process, from registration to voter identification to vote tallying. The participating companies aren't expecting a wholesale revolution in the voting process. Kevin Curry, a Unisys vice president for public sector products, said he doesn't expect Americans to be voting over the Internet en masse anytime soon. "It won't go from where we are today to that dramatic a leap. But there are, obviously, steps in the middle," Curry said Thursday. The divisive, drawn-out presidential election awakened voters to the realization that the nation's election system is imperfect. In the wake of the seesawing results, some called for a switch to more advanced voting methods. Sen. Charles Schumer, D.-N.Y., vowed to find up to $250 million in matching money for states trying to modernize their electoral systems. Curry said that Unisys can trace its experience in elections back to 1952, when its Univac computer projected, before the polls closed, that Dwight D. Eisenhower would win the presidency. More recently, Unisys has installed electronic voting systems in Rome and Brazil, complete with modern features such as touch-pad voting and the real-time reporting of results. The company estimates that electronic voting systems will become a multibillion dollar business. Not everyone is as bullish on the industry. Fred Voigt, the executive director of the Committee of 70, an election watchdog group in Philadelphia, said new voting systems are a huge capital expenditure. Therefore, municipalities are cautious before they buy, and wait 20 years or more to replace them. "You're competing against fires, schools, all sorts of needy projects, for something that's essentially used twice a year. That's true nationally - and that's why voting systems have been stepchildren (in the budget process)," Voigt said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- __________________________________________________ Pagina, Jornal e Forum do Voto Eletronico http://www.votoseguro.org __________________________________________________
