Allegheny County Council Democrats are sponsoring a resolution asking Congress to extend the deadline for compliance with the Help America Vote Act, hoping to allow the county to continue using its lever voting machines instead of switching to new electronic machines for the May 16 primary.

The resolution, to be introduced at Tuesday's County Council meeting, asks that the deadline be pushed back to Jan. 1, 2007, allowing the county to use its lever machines in May's and November's congressional elections.

The county must replace its lever machines by the May primary to comply with HAVA, which was passed after the problems in Florida during the 2000 presidential election.

The county would lose a $12 million federal grant and could face legal action from the Justice Department if it fails to comply with the legislation.

Nebraska-based Election Systems & Services is to provide the county with 2,628 of its iVotronic machines for the May primary. County officials have previously expressed concern that voters and election workers will be unfamiliar with the machines, despite a voter-education effort that is scheduled to begin next week.