Hamilton County officials say voting changes now in effect in Knox County would save lots of local dollars, but state lawmakers say they need to see more evidence that they can work.

“That is something we’re going to have to study a little more,” said Mark Goins, Tennessee elections coordinator.

Last year, the state General Assembly launched a pilot program that allows Knox County to conduct elections with “convenience voting,” under which voters don’t cast ballots at specific neighborhood precincts. Instead, they can go to any of several local voting centers, which are open from the start of early voting all the way through Election Day.

“It is a challenge to find ... Election Day officers who know about provisional voters, change-of-address laws, failsafe procedure, and all the rules and regulations needed to run an election,” reads a statement on the Knox County Election Commission Web site. “The voters and the public would be better served by having fewer, better trained and more knowledgeable workers at the voting centers.”

Plus, it would save money, said Charlotte Mullis-Morgan, Hamilton County’s chief deputy elections administrator. She said she and Administrator Bud Knowles have asked lawmakers to consider taking the plan statewide.

“We’ve just told them that we think it’s a good idea,” she said.

Greg Mackay, Knox County’s elections administrator, said he and other officials tried to get lawmakers to give all Tennessee counties the option of using convenience voting when they were lobbying for the original bill. But legislators wanted to start with the pilot program before considering statewide implementation, he said.

State Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, a member of the House State and Local Government Committee, expressed some reservations. He said fewer voting locations could mean some voters would have to travel further to cast ballots.

“The burden of proof will certainly need to be on (supporters),” he said.

Likewise, state Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, a member of the House Elections Subcommittee, said through a spokeswoman that he would need to know more about the cost.

Mr. Mackay said it could be a little more cumbersome for Hamilton County to do convenience voting because officials here use paper ballots rather than electronic voting machines. Under the current system, certain precincts carry certain ballots, but with convenience voting each voting center would have to make all types of ballots available.

Mr. Goins said it’s hard to say just yet how convenience voting is going in Knox County. Only one election, an April municipal election in Farragut, Tenn., has been conducted under the plan, he said. And since that was only one precinct, not much was different from previous elections, he said.

Mr. Mackay said 78 percent of voters in that election voted before Election Day.

The upcoming Knoxville city elections in September and November should give officials more insight into how convenience voting works, Mr. Goins said.

According to state law, the election coordinator is required to report back to lawmakers on the pilot program by Jan. 31, 2010.

In Georgia, early voting begins 45 days before election day and lasts all the way through to election day. But voters go to specific precincts on election day, not the centers used for early voting, said Matt Carrothers, spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel.

Only one state, Oregon, collects all votes through early voting. There, all votes are cast by mail.