N E W S R E L E A S E

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Richard Struckhoff

July 29, 2005 868-4055

GREENE COUNTY MOVES TO OPTICAL SCAN

No more “hanging chad” in Greene County elections. Clerk Richard Struckhoff announced the county has awarded its bid for new voting equipment to Sequoia Voting Systems. Sequoia, represented locally by the Elkins-Swyers Company, was one of two vendors who responded to the county’s request for proposals.

The new precinct-based optical scan system meets new “second-chance voting” requirements mandated by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Optical scan ballots were used in four Greene County precincts in the June 2004 election, and 13 precincts last February, getting rave reviews from voters and poll workers. Voters in the City of Walnut Grove will use the system for the second time next Tuesday, as they decide a bond issue for water and sewer improvements.

Those attending the Ozark Empire Fair will get a chance to use the new voting system at the Clerk’s voter registration booth in the E-Plex (west hall, booth 286). “We’ll have a ballot on which fair-goers can choose their favorite fair food and grandstand stage act,” Struckhoff said. “This will be the beginning of an ongoing educational process to get voters comfortable and confident in this new system. I think they’re going to like it.”

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(Editor’s note: Richard will be at our booth at the Fair at 2:30 this afternoon to answer your questions.)