County adopts plastic ballots

By Stephanie Parker

Even after two major elections, some Bandera County residents remain distrustful of Bandera County’s electronic voting machines because they provide no paper trail. Election results are stored on a computer chip but no paper printout is provided as a safeguard.

“We are skeptical of the results,” one voter complained. “And although votes cast here in Bandera County during the last election made sense, I think if you look at the national scene you will understand why we distrust electronic voting. There is no way that President Obama actually won the election.”

Bandera County election officials have answered the integrity concerns raised by local voters by going plastic.

Reusable plastic tablets the approximate size of a paperback book will be issued to each voter along with a sharp-tipped permanent black marker. As voters punch their selections on the computerized screen, they will also mark the dots on the plastic in the appropriate places. Voters can check their plastic ballot via template provided in the voting booth to make sure that they have accurately recorded their choices. After election results are completely tabulated, the plastic sheets can be washed in bleach and stored for reuse.

There are drawbacks to using plastic ballots, the Loof Lirpa Corporation admitted during recent questioning by Bandera County Commissioners Court. “If you make a mistake on the plastic ballot, it must be erased at once before the ink dries. Otherwise, it can be difficult to accurately read the results. And without a template in each voting booth, markings can be confusing when compared to the screen of the electronic voting machine.”

Still, as a spokesperson for Loof Lirpa explained, “It is an improvement over having no paper trail or other verifying documentation at all. We believe Bandera County voters will endorse this system once they have tried it. It has worked well in other counties and in other states.”

Commissioners responded to the voting concerns expressed by some residents by scheduling an emergency meeting of Commissioners Court on March 31.

“We had to act fact,” one commissioner noted. The Loof Lirpa solution to our voting problems only comes around once a year. After all, the Loof Lirpa Corporation also flies under the banner of April Fool.”