By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hamilton County commissioners are at odds over a lawsuit that accuses the county of using inadequate voting equipment that causes too many errors and violates the civil rights of voters.

The lawsuit, filed three weeks ago in Akron, seeks a federal court order that would force Hamilton and three other large Ohio counties to overhaul their vote-counting systems.

The suit claims the current systems are inefficient and lead to tens of thousands of uncounted votes, particularly in predominantly African-American precincts.

Todd Portune told fellow county commissioners Wednesday that the county should not fight the lawsuit. Instead, he urged them to voluntarily change the county's voting system, which uses punch card ballots.

"This is an opportunity as a county to take the lead and say, as a matter of policy, that we believe strongly that every vote should count," Mr. Portune said.

Commissioner John Dowlin said he's not convinced the county's system is a problem. And he said the county Board of Elections has estimated that buying a new system could cost taxpayers as much as $15 million.

"The cost should be a consideration," Mr. Dowlin said.

The lawsuit claims uncounted or incomplete ballots represent 3 percent or more of all ballots cast. Mr. Portune said that translates into thousands of lost votes that could be counted if the county switched to machines such as those that use electronic scanners to count votes.

Those systems, he said, are less confusing and allow voters to see when they have made an error.

Punch cards, like those used in Florida during the contentious presidential election in 2000, may not be counted if bits of paper, or chads, still hang from the back of the punched hole.

Newer systems provide "error notification" so voters can see when they make a mistake and correct it.

Many of the changes advocated in the lawsuit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, also are recommended in new national election reform laws that were approved this week by President Bush.

Those laws will provide about $3.9 billion to help states replace inefficient voting systems, but the changes may not take place for several years.

It's also unclear how much money Ohio and Hamilton County will receive to implement the changes.

Officials at the Board of Elections say the suit will not affect the way votes are cast in the Nov. 5 election.

E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com