Less than a month and a half before Allegheny County must acquire thousands of new voting machines to meet a federal deadline, County Council is considering a bill that would create a panel of computer scientists, voting activists and attorneys to advise them on the contentious subject.

Also, Sequoia Voting Systems, which is selling 2,800 electronic push-button AVC Advantage machines to the county, has developed a revised plan for passing a state certification test.

County Councilman Bill Robinson, D-Hill District, will call on council to establish a nine-member Election System Advisory Panel at tonight's meeting.

The county's elections board has already approved an $11.8 million deal with Sequoia. Most of the machines have to be in place by the May 16 primary election to satisfy the federal Help America Vote Act.

Mr. Robinson said his proposal wouldn't bypass the elections board, made up of county Chief Executive Dan Onorato and council's two at-large members, Republican Dave Fawcett and Democrat John DeFazio.

"The idea is for council to get its own independent information," he said.

If Mr. Robinson's bill is approved, council would have to accept all nine members by April 18. The panel would then compile two reports about the county's voting system. The first would be due by July 15; the second by Dec. 15.

Council President Rich Fitzgerald would appoint the panel's members.

Mr. Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill, said he likes the idea of an advisory panel, but wants to hear from other council members, including Mr. Fawcett and Mr. DeFazio, before moving forward.

A week from today, Sequoia's Advantage will again face testing by state officials in Harrisburg. This time, however, the company will remove tabulation software that experienced problems during last week's tests.

The change, if accepted, wouldn't prevent Allegheny County from using the machines in May, according to Michelle Shafer, a spokeswoman for Sequoia. She said the company would work with county officials to develop an alternate system for counting votes on the night of the primary.

The company hopes to fix its tabulation software by the November election.