While Cincinnati's Charter Committee called for an end Thursday to punch-card balloting, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell was preparing a push to modernize Ohio's voting system.

        The Charter Committee, Cincinnati's independent political party, released a report Thursday calling for the replacement of the punch-card voting system used in 70 of Ohio's 88 counties — including Hamilton, Butler and Warren — saying the “old technology” is inaccurate and threatens voters' ability to have their votes count.

        The Charter report made no recommendation as to what kind of system should replace punch-card balloting, although it did conclude that the least problems are found with the direct recording electronic (DRE) machines used in most Kentucky counties, including Kenton, Boone and Campbell.

        “Kentucky is leading the way and Ohio is backwards in terms of technology,” said Charter President Jerry Newfarmer.

        The punch-card voting system in Florida led to a protracted legal battle where the presidency of the United States hung in the balance, as the campaigns of Al Gore and George W. Bush argued over whether punch card ballots with “hanging chads” or barely perceptible indentations should be counted as votes.

        Scrapping punch-card systems in Ohio for more advanced technology, Mr. Newfarmer said, would “prevent the Florida situation from happening here.”

        But the Charter report made no recommendations on how local governments in Ohio could pay for a conversion to electronic machines, where voters cast ballots by touching a screen.

        The electronic machines cost nearly $5,000 each, while the punch card equipment costs local elections boards about $250 per polling station.

        Hamilton County elections director Julie Stautberg said that if the county switched to electronic voting, it would have to buy one of the machines for each of the county's 1,025 precincts. That would cost about $5 million.

        “The question is where that money would come from,” Ms. Stautberg said.

        The answer may come from legislation pending before the new Congress that would allocate $500 million in federal matching funds for local governments around the country to upgrade election systems.

        The state of Ohio may be another source of funding.

        Mr. Blackwell, Ohio's chief elections officer, plans to present an election reform package to the Ohio General Assembly within the next few months.

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