Even above the din of banging and scraping, the tone of relief was perceptible as Regis Young declared the obvious: The cargo had arrived, and it was early, to boot.

More than 400 touch-screen voting machines were delivered to Butler County from Omaha, Neb., on Monday, two days ahead of schedule.

"Whew, this place is jammed tight, but they're here and I'm loving it,'' said Mr. Young, director of Butler County's election bureau, who had rolled up his sleeves to help uncrate the machines that were stacked in every corner.

The county ordered 490 machines from Election Systems & Software, and 410 were to be delivered in time for the May primary election. The rest are to be delivered for the November general election.

Timing of delivery has been a big issue in the county's conversion from punch-card ballots to a computerized system. ES&S began warning the county months ago that, if it wanted to have the new machines in place and training completed by May, the order needed to be placed as quickly as possible. The order was placed in late March, just before the deadline for promised delivery.

County commissioners hesitated to make a final decision because of pending litigation across the state, including an action filed against Butler County by voting groups concerned about the security of computerized voting without a paper trail.

But the county didn't have the luxury of time. Getting a new system on line by spring was the only way to preserve a $1 million federal grant that is paying the bulk of the conversion costs, Mr. Young said.

The county is paying $2,500 per regular voting machine and booth, and $2,750 for the machines and booths that are handicapped-accessible.

Even after the county placed the order, some in the community questioned whether ES&S could fulfill its delivery promises.

While the county most likely has received all the voting machines it will get before May 16, more voting booths are scheduled for delivery. Mr. Young said he had received 170 as of Tuesday. One booth is needed per machine.

The booths and voting machines will be delivered to the county's 82 precincts May 10. The county will add three more precincts before the November general election.

Lancaster County has purchased the punch-card voting booths for $15 each for a total of $7,545. Mr. Young said the booths will be retrofitted to work with an optical scan system in which voters color in ovals on paper ballots.

Elimination of punch-card balloting was required as part of the Help America Vote Act.