For the right price, you, too, could own a piece of American democracy -- an 850-pound piece.

Allegheny County soon hopes to sell some if not all of its 3,250 mechanical voting machines in an online auction. The gear-and-lever giants were retired this year after four decades of service.

The county is making room for the high-tech, lightweight Electronic Systems & Software iVotronic, a touch-screen machine that voters used for the first time in the May primary.

Who could possibly want the lever machines? County officials aren't sure.

"We're going to let the market decide," said Thomas Youngs, the county's chief purchasing officer. "We just want to get rid of the stuff."

The market is likely small. A federal law, the Help America Vote Act, is forcing local governments nationwide to upgrade their voting technology, making lever machines largely obsolete.

They still have some value, as Westmoreland County officials learned earlier this year. A scrap metal business in Greensburg paid $3,000 for 117 of the county's approximately 600 machines, Election Bureau Director Paula Pedicone said. The county paid $1,200 to move the machines.

The county's commissioners have not yet discussed how to get rid of the remaining machines.

Allegheny County's auction is tentatively scheduled for July 21 to Aug. 4 on www.publicsurplus.com.

It will be a "Dutch auction," meaning participants can place bids on all, some, or even just one of the thousands of available machines. Mr. Youngs said bidders can visit the county's mammoth storage warehouse on the North Side to inspect the machines.

Buyers will be responsible for moving the machines, a significant challenge.

"It's not something you could put in your trunk," Mr. Youngs said.

He and other county officials declined to say how much they think they could earn in the auction. Scrap metal businesses seem like the most obvious buyers, although the machines could attract collectors or history enthusiasts.

Or, perhaps, some budding democratic society could make use of the equipment.

"If another country wants to come in and buy them, we'd be happy to sell to them," Mr. Youngs said. First, he said, county officials would clear any major international move with the federal government.

Allegheny County Council must approve the auction plan before it can take place, and county Chief Executive Dan Onorato is introducing a bill at tomorrow night's meeting.

Council President Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill, said council likely would approve the bill, and he may call for a vote tomorrow, avoiding committee hearings and speeding up the process.

The county will donate one machine to the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, said Kevin Evanto, a spokesman for Mr. Onorato. It will also keep about 50 machines.