Among the proposed changes in the bill, which now goes to the full Senate: Bipartisan teams must transport ballots and machine memory cards from the polls, and absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted if they are received up to the 11th day after an election.

But the bill also includes provisions that Brunner didn't seek, including allowing the secretary of state to issue only temporary directives 90 days before and 40 days after an election, and requiring public review before any permanent order.

Brunner caused a stir among some election officials earlier this year when she ordered counties using touch-screen voting machines to make paper ballots available at the polls, and election officials also have complained about last-minute directives from former Secretary J. Kenneth Blackwell.

"It's a concern for the boards of elections so they have time to implement the directives," said Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester, the committee chairman. "They're the front line of the election. We want to give them time to react."

The bill also would change the composition of the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners, which certifies voting equipment, and put into law that no voting system could be approved for use in Ohio without federal certification.

Brunner and the Board of Voting Machine Examiners had proposed changing state administrative rules to allow use of systems tested by the state but not federally approved.

The Senate panel also refused to consider a request to allow the counting of paper ballots at a central location in the Nov. 4 election instead of with optical scanners in each precinct.

That would force Cuyahoga County, the state's most populous county, and two other counties that scrapped their touch screens this spring at Brunner's urging to acquire enough precinct scanners for the presidential election.

A spokesman said Brunner does not object to the change involving directives and is reviewing other major additions to the bill, initially proposed to allow two high-school seniors to work the polls at a precinct with at least six workers.

But Brunner is unhappy that the provision to allow central counting of ballots was not considered, noting all absentee and provisional ballots are counted that way.

The Senate panel also didn't adopt other Brunner proposals, including allowing voters to correct mistakes on their absentee-ballot requests.

"Despite the legislature's minimal response to the secretary's additional request to help improve the election process, we will continue to utilize the resources available to prepare for a successful and efficient November election," Brunner's office said in a statement.

mniquette@dispatch.com

jsiegel@dispatch.com

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and the Board of Voting Machine Examiners had proposed changing state rules to allow the use of

systems not federally approved.