It's now official. Or more official than it had been. Pennsylvania's secretary of state has reaffirmed that 24 counties, including Bucks, must get rid of their decades-old, mechanical lever-type voting machines and spend millions of dollars to buy electronic machines. And they have to do it by the end of the year.

            No doubt many people will wax nostalgic about Bucks' Eisenhower-era machines. Despite the increasing difficulty of getting parts to repair them, they still do what a voting machine is supposed to do—count votes—and they still do it not only well but simply. The reason the U.S. Election Assistance Commission says the machines must go is that they do not comply with federal Help America Vote Act guidelines.

            Besides the idea of replacing perfectly good machines, the cost of doing so is another objection. With little financial help expected from Washington, Bucks County could spend as much as $6 million on new machines.

            Then there's the timing of the changeover. The feds say new electronic machines must be purchased by the end of the year and ready to go for the May 15, 2006, primary. Fifteen different machines are being reviewed and tested, but so far only one machine has passed the federal and state certification process. The state can't certify a machine for county purchase until the federal government does, and federal certification has been slow.

            Dave Sanko, Bucks County's chief operating officer, is maintaining his faith in the certification process and said county officials will choose from among whatever machines are approved, even if it's only two. That scenario, of course, won't give the county much of a choice.

            The biggest worry isn't the cost of new machines or the fast-approaching purchase deadline, however. There is genuine concern that the new electronic machines, whatever brand is chosen, may not produce a paper record so voters can verify their choices.

            Questions have been raised about the integrity of electronic machines' programming. There are fears that these newfangled machines can be set up to manipulate vote counts and that there are no guarantees that what a voter puts into a machine is what comes out when the votes are tallied.

            The rush to bring new voting machines on line may be well-intentioned, but it could result in counties being forced to spend a lot of money on machines that only confuse the voter and compromise the accuracy of vote counts. It's hard enough convincing people to vote as it is. Introduce the prospect of voting irregularities and fraud and we'll end up with even fewer votes to count.

            Lever-type voting machines will have to give way to newer technology eventually. But before we "fix" something that isn't really broken, we should find a reliable, well-tested and foolproof replacement that all of us can trust.