A State Panel Says It Won't De-certify 14-thousand Touch Screen Voting Machines

17 Counties Would Have Lost Their Voting Machines

Lonnie Wong

January 15, 2004

SACRAMENTO The machines are made by Diebold Elections Systems, which 17 counties have purchased for about 40 million dollars.

Solano and San Joaquin Counties plan to use them in the March 2nd election.

But voters lined up to denounce the machines before a state elections panel today. They say they shouldn't be used until they're certified by the federal government. Others distrust any form of electronic voting.

Voter, Mark DeCamp says, "I work with computers in my line of work too and they fail all the time."

Federal Courts ordered d systems after the disputed presidential vote count in Florida, but many feel that there is no way to verify votes put into a computer.

Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation says, "When people seek a recount with a computerized voting system, it's a matter of pressing a button and there's your recount. The same result comes out over and over again."

Some California residents want voting machines that also print out a copy of the ballot.

But many elections officials believe the advantages of electronic voting machines far outweigh the possible problem. Those advantages include voting machines that are available in multiple languages and are disabled friendly. Plus, officials would no longer have to worry about the dreaded hanging chad.

They also argue electronic voting could cut down on voter fraud. Banning the machines means going back to expensive paper ballots.

San Joaquin Co. Voter Registrar, Deborah Hench says, "It's going to cost a lot of money we don't have."

Decertifying the machines for the March election would have been a disaster for Solano and San Joaquin Counties, which have no back up systems.

The panel instead will closely monitor the system during the election and continue to pressure the company to address software glitches.