Orem voters may use paper ballots in upcoming municipal elections -- and other cities may follow suit.

Orem's municipal election is months away, but the city is acting now to find an affordable and efficient way to count votes. State officials say the cost to hold municipal elections is going to rise, and many Utah cities are expected to make similar decisions between now and June.

Orem city recorder Donna Weaver gave a presentation to the Orem City Council at a recent meeting, outlining four options for conducting future municipal elections. In the end, she recommended an established system the city could "stay with" -- paper ballots with an optical scan counter.

Other options include using the county's electronic machines, outdated punch cards or paper ballots counted by people.

The quandary of choosing a ballot-counting method is a result of the 2000 election problems in Florida, and the resulting Help America Vote Act passed by Congress, which required all states to implement electronic voting by 2006.

One of the indirect impacts of the act, Weaver said, is that the punch card technology has become outdated, and the hardware is nearly impossible to obtain. Also, the high cost of maintaining and running the new electronic equipment puts it out of reach for many municipalities, especially smaller ones.

The $28 million provided by the federal government to Utah only partially funds the electronic voting expenses, and the state's voting equipment contracts with Diebold -- the electronic machine manufacturer -- are for state and county elections and do not apply to municipalities.

Weaver said county election budgets have roughly doubled because of the cost of the complicated electronic equipment, which cannot be stored and left, but must have periodic service to recharge batteries.

Weaver estimated Orem would be charged between $28,000 and $33,000 to use the county's equipment for a primary election, and between $38,000 and $43,000 for the general election -- amounts far beyond the normal election costs, and amounts that do not include other expenses such as election judges and training.

"All cities in the state have to decide if they are going to use the county-owned equipment or conduct elections some other way," said Michael Cragun, deputy chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, whose office oversees state elections.

Many smaller cities "still mark with an X and count by hand," he said. Cities may choose to continue that method, or consider the same methods studied by Orem, which are more expensive. So far, Orem is the only city to consider optical scan ballots that state election officials were aware of, but all cities will need to decide which election method to use before finalizing their budgets in June, he said.

"We are not surprised that cities have started to be a little more vocal about this," said Joe Demma, Herbert's chief of staff. "We've been meeting with city recorders and with the Utah League of Cities and Towns about this for two years."

Cities are free to choose the election method they prefer, he said. The state will act as a resource for cities wanting information about election technology but "we don't run city elections and we don't want to," Demma said.

Orem should not go with the punch cards because they would not be a viable, long-term solution, Weaver told Orem council members. The cards have a "bad reputation" and are perceived to be illegal.

Cities in Utah are waiting for legislative clarification, because the state law on electronic voting is ambiguous, and could be interpreted to require municipalities to use the electronic equipment, Weaver explained.

Proposed legislation states that using the equipment is not required in municipal elections. The state Legislature is in session now.

Weaver said she would like to see the system and support go out to bid to local vendors, but that step must wait for the expected legislative action.

"This has been very helpful to have had this report, so we know what we're up against," Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn said to Weaver. "...You've done very well. We have full confidence in what you've chosen for our community."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.