There were only a handful of problems in Cuyahoga County's 1,434 voting precincts Tuesday, which had seen only a nine percent turnout by 2 p.m.
Troubles included voting machine technicians who did not show up at work and electronic voting machines that malfunctioned in precincts in Euclid and Cleveland.
Despite the low turnout, Board director Jane Platten said the election proved that new procedures adopted since the November 2006 election added stability to the electronic voting system. She called yesterday's glitches "bumps" in an otherwise smooth process.
Jane Platten: Mostly those issues came about in communities where we haven't had an election since last November. To my knowledge we did have open voting at 6:30.
This year, Platten hired about nine hundred election day technicians to set up machines and help voters who were having individual problems. She also changed the way memory cards are stored and transported and tested a central sign-in process at locations known to be busy.
CSU law student Maura David said she spent the day filling in as a troubleshooter at an Olmsted Falls precinct where the assigned technician did not report to work. At 5 p.m., the busiest of the 14 electronic voting machine under her care had logged just 50 votes.
David said the steady trickle of voters who did show up seemed to be preparing for next year.
Maura David: A lot of people have come in commenting that they want to double-check which precinct they're at because when they come in next time they know that there's going to be lines.
At about mid-afternoon, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner agreed that the voting was going well.
Jennifer Brunner: The assistant secretary of state is in Cleveland to assist with anything needed. But I've only heard from him in the beginning of the day and have not been notified of any problems.
Brunner said she expects the Cuyahoga County board will be off state oversight by the presidential election next November if it continues to improve at the current rate.
Bite: "I think their chair said it best when she said practice makes perfect with all the primary elections that they've had.
Cuyahoga County's election was successful on almost every level, according to Candace Hoke, a CSU election law professor who is director of the Center for Election Integrity.
Still, some changes will be necessary before the county can handle the kind of turnout expected in a presidential primary or general election.
Jennifer Brunner: They are going to be able to manage a major election. The biggest problem will be these electronic voting machines because they are not capable of allowing a large number of people to vote simultaneously.
Currently, Cuyahoga County can only use paper ballots as a back-up when machines actually break, not in cases of high turnout. But The Secretary of State could issue a directive to change that. A report on the outcome of the equipment test is due from the state in mid December.
Kymberli Hagelberg, 90.3.