Large metropolitan counties had protested the decree because of the ongoing expense of creating optical scan ballots. They prefer electronic voting machines. Ohio law requires electronic voting machines to keep a voter verified paper trail. Currently, not existing electronic voting machines meet the state requirements.
Voters use optical-scan machines by coloring in circles with ink or pencil, then feeding the card they've filled out into a machine that reads the votes.
But some elections officials say touch-screen machines are better because they help prevent voter error and don't require paper ballots, which will save counties thousands of dollars in printing and paper costs.
Five Ohio counties - Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lake and Portage - defied Blackwell's order and refused to select a company by the deadline.
Four of the five counties lean strongly Democratic.
If they end of using a different voting mechanism than the rest of the state, expect complaints of unfairness and comspiracy.
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