As a result of concerns about the reliability of touch-screens and long lines at the polls, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner ordered Franklin County and the 52 other counties using the electronic machines to make paper ballots available on Election Day.

But while elections officials say it's difficult to predict how many voters will opt for a paper ballot, they plan to count them only after all the electronic votes are tallied -- meaning final vote totals could be delayed in some counties until early in the day after the election.

"It could be Wednesday morning before (final) results are released," said Shannon Leininger, director of the Ashland County Board of Elections and president of the Ohio Association of Election Officials.

Poll workers are being told that they don't have to offer the paper ballot unless a voter asks for one, but Brunner is requiring that counties display posters in polling locations telling voters they have the option.

Only about 13,400 people asked for paper ballots in the March primary, or less than 1 percent of the vote in touch-screen counties. But Brunner sees the ballots as a "fail-safe" if machines break down, if lines get long and for voters who prefer them.

She says other states are considering paper ballots as a "best practice," and there reportedly is a lawsuit pending in Pennsylvania to require backup paper ballots when half of the voting machines in a precinct become inoperable.

After signing in at the polls, voters who ask for a paper ballot will be directed to a separate line from those opting for the touch-screens.

Franklin County plans to have one "privacy station" for each precinct for marking paper ballots, and clipboards for others if needed, Elections Director Michael Stinziano said. The county wanted more stations, but funding wasn't available, he said.

The county's plan for counting votes on election night is to release the bulk of absentee-vote totals first, shortly after the polls close at 7:30 p.m.

Memory cards from the touch-screen machines then will be processed, and after the electronic vote is completed and released, workers will begin scanning paper ballots cast at the polls.

Stinziano and Deputy Director Matthew Damschroder estimate that final totals won't be available until 2 a.m. or later.

Brunner ordered counties using touch-screens to provide paper ballots equal to 25 percent of their voter turnout in the 2004 presidential election, and she said counties will be reimbursed for the costs of printing that minimum number.

To make sure it didn't run out, Franklin County printed a total equal to 50 percent of the turnout four years ago, or 265,000 ballots.

After Brunner commissioned a major study last fall that concluded touch-screens were flawed, she proposed scrapping all of them in favor of paper ballots statewide. But the legislature balked at the estimated $64 million cost.

Although some activists argue that electronic voting is not secure, elections officials insist it is reliable and point to a recent Ohio Poll showing 84 percent of respondents were confident that the election process in the state produces fair outcomes.

Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland said yesterday that his preference is to use the touch-screen.

"Nothing is perfect, (but) I think it's reasonable to assume that when you use the machine, your vote will be accurately registered and appropriately counted," the governor said.

mniquette@dispatch.com