People who traveled to Butler's Days Inn Tuesday to try out touch-screen voting machines performed an important service for other voters throughout the county. Their opinions about the machines will help guide county officials when it is time to select a vendor for such devices; touch-screen voting is scheduled to begin in the county next year, replacing the current punch-card system.

According to Regis Young, who heads the county's election office, three or four additional sessions will be held. Therefore, there will be plenty of opportunity for voters to gain experience with the machines prior to being required to use them in an actual election. For voters who might feel uneasy about switching to a system with which they are unfamiliar, Tuesday's and the future sessions should alleviate uncertainties about this technology that will be new to the county.

Tuesday's session included an example of a handicap-accessible machine, required under a federal law that also has earmarked $3.5 billion to the states to meet uniform national standards and make possible the switch to the new, high-tech voting technology, from punch-card and lever-operated voting systems.

Granted, Young and other county election officials would have preferred a much bigger crowd Tuesday, but the value of the opinions expressed by those who did show up was significant.

County voters should watch for announcements about the times, dates and locations of the remaining sessions.