McPherson County Commission rejects petition seeking hand-counting of ballots

Proponents also wanted electronic machines removed

McPherson County commissioners rejected a petition seeking a public vote to determine whether it should be mandatory for the county to hand-count ballots after elections.

The 5-0 vote came during the commission’s regular meeting on Tuesday, April 2 at the courthouse in Leola.

McPherson County Auditor Lindley Howard said the petition sought to enact an ordinance with multiple stipulations, including the hand-counting of election results and the elimination of machines that tabulate votes.

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About 30 residents attended the commission meeting with discussion of the petition lasting longer than three hours, Howard said.

The petition also sought to ban ExpressVote machines, which are used by voters who require assistance in filling out their ballots.

Use of those machines is required by federal law as part of the Help Americans Vote Act passed by Congress in 2002. Voters insert their ballot into the machine and use it to mark their selections. The machine then fills in the appropriate bubbles on the ballot. No vote information is saved on the machine.

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