Bill would mandate election paper trail
Legislation stems from security concerns related to new electronic voting machines; Proponents cite need for 'backup' record; Critics say altering system sends wrong message 
 
By Stephanie Desmon and Bill McCauley
Sun Staff

The House Ways and Means committee today heard testimony on a bill that would require voters be able to see how they cast their ballots before they leave the polling place, a requirement one state delegate said would ensure accuracy in voting.

The delegate, Kumar P. Barve, of Montgomery County, said as an accountant he finds it imperative to have the voter-verified paper trial, where a printer would be used to give an individual record of how a person voted. "So if there's any reason to doubt an election," Barve said, "you have a backup."

He likened it to depositing money into a bank's automatic teller machine without insisting on a receipt. "I submit there aren't many people dumb enough to do that," he said.

The bill would force Maryland to add printers adequate enough to print out every ballot cast in the November election, though Barve and other sponsors agreed it might not be feasible to do it before 2006.

The issue of paper records arose from questions over the security of new electronic touch voting machines made by Diebold Election Systems, which Maryland will begin using in all elections beginning with the Democratic primary March 2.

Linda H. Lamone, the state's elections administrator, told the committee she doesn't support the paper audit trail. "I don't think it's necessarily the answer," she said.

She said the federal government hasn't developed standards for a paper trail. She said she worries that the printers will break down and she said blind voters who have waited years to vote in secret the Diebold machines have a headset and keyboard adaptation to help those who need it would be back to where they started.

Robin M. Downs, elections administrator in Prince George's County, said ordering such a major overhaul of the system so soon after buying it sends the wrong message.

"If you do it now, you're telling them [voters] you don't believe in the $55.5 million purchase you just made," she said. "The more we keep talking about it, it lessens the confidence in a system you just purchased."

Maryland has already spent $55 million for the automated teller-like machines.

A vocal group of computer scientists and legislators are pushing for a printout of each ballot cast for the voter to review before leaving the polling place on Election Day. Those ballots could be counted by hand should a recount be required.

Maryland purchased more than 11,000 AccuVote-TS machines in July from Diebold despite questions on whether U.S. elections can safely be conducted via computer.