Tulsa County Reports No Problems With Voting Machines

Tess Maune, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Super Tuesday was the first run-through for Oklahoma's new voting machines. News On 6 went to the Tulsa County Election Board to find out how they did.

Shelly Boggs - assistant secretary at the Tulsa County Election Board- is breathing a sigh of relief. She made it through Super Tuesday.

It was the first major election where Oklahoma voters cast their ballots using new machines. Boggs says the average voter might not have even noticed the change.

"As far as inserting the ballot, it's the same. As far as marking a paper ballot, it's the same. It's just the format's a little different," Boggs said.

There were a few ballot jams here and there, but for the most part the machines worked problem-free.

"I would say more than anything just all of the changes all at once was our biggest issue yesterday – but we did fine," Boggs said.

There was one small hitch. When a major power outage affected several Tulsa precincts, voters put their ballots in a locked compartment, and election workers ran the ballots through the machine once power was restored.

Boggs is thankful that the state has no plans to initiate a full-fledged electronic system.

"It was very clear that people that work in the election system in Oklahoma did not want to lose the paper trail," she said.

Nearly 76,000 voters cast their ballots yesterday - a big drop from Super Tuesday back in 2008.