Woodfall said late Wednesday she awaited word from a representative of Election Systems and Software, the Nebraska-based company the state contracted to provide the machines to each of West Virginia's 55 counties that requested them, to assist with resolving the problem.
In a strongly worded press release last week, Secretary of State Betty Ireland criticized the company for delays in getting the machines' electronic ballot cassettes programmed.
"I am absolutely appalled by ES&S's delays and the hardships ES&S has placed upon this state and our county officials," Ireland said. "I am not happy in the least with the current situation in which ES&S has placed us."
Woodfall agreed.
"They rushed to get us done and now the counties are suffering," said Woodfall, adding she believed the company should have had a representative in place in every county to ensure the machines, which were paid for with a $19 million federal allocation, would function properly.
Last week, following a request by Ireland, Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Paul ZaKaib signed an order extending the deadline to May 8, one day ahead of the election, for the machines to be publicly tested.
Without the order, the original testing deadline would have expired May 2.
Jefferson County Clerk Jennifer Maghan said issues with voting machines there have been resolved and public testing is scheduled for Friday.
"We're in good shape," she said.
ES&S spokesperson Jill Friedman-Wilson said the company regrets the delays, but called much of the problems associated with readying the machines a struggle to comply with the new federal law.
"What we're experiencing is challenges related to the implementation of the Help America Vote Act," Friedman-Wilson said. "We're working as closely as we can with our county partners as quickly as we can."
Friedman-Wilson, who said the company is contracted to provide voting equipment in counties in all but three states, said the company also had to rely on the cooperation of the counties in programming the ballots.
"ES&S doesn't have responsibility for the substance of the ballots," Friedman-Wilson said. "There's quite a bit of back and forth. It's an intricate process with many steps."
Friedman-Wilson said equipment is in place in all but four counties in West Virginia.
Early voting ends Saturday and the optical scan machines will be available for use for Tuesday's primary, Woodfall said.
"It's not going to stop our election," she said.
