Paper ballot bill has local flavor
By RICHARD VALENTY Colorado Daily Staff Writer

The 2004 election is fast approaching, and August primaries are roughly five months away. Still, in mid-February, election rules and voting machinery are being debated locally and statewide.

Boulder County election officials recently went through months of hearings and presentations examining Direct Record Electronic (DRE), or touch-screen, voting machines. The county decided against purchasing DRE's in 2004, in part because most DRE's on the market store votes electronically and don't produce a voter-verifiable paper ballot.

The county decided, pending contract negotiations, to purchase a voting system, BallotNow by Hart InterCivic, where voters would fill out ovals on a paper ballot and a scanner would read the ballot. The system stores a digital image of the ballot for review by election judges and poll watchers. The paper ballots would also be kept on file should review be necessary.

Members of Boulder-based Citizens for Verifiable Voting (CVV) are also working for full disclosure of voting system software for independent digital security investigation.

CVV and other Boulder voters have their concerns with electronic voting. Time will tell if other citizens statewide have the same concerns.

State Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder, recently introduced HB (House Bill) 04-1296, which would require each voting system statewide to produce a "permanent paper record of each vote."

On Thursday, an amended version of 1296 passed from the State, Veterans and Military Affairs (SVMA) committee by a vote of 7-4. Three Democrats and four Republican voted in favor, with three Republicans and one Democrat opposed. The bill must still go through the House Local Government and Appropriations committees before reaching the Senate.

Joe Pezzillo, CVV spokesperson, testified before the House Thursday. While the language of 1296 resembles CVV ideals, Pezzillo said his group had no formal role in drafting the bill but had been in contact with Madden verbally and by e-mail.

Al Kolwicz, head of Citizens for Verifiable Mail Ballot Election Results (CAMBER) said he met with Rep. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, and other members of SVMA before the committee vote. According to Kolwicz, Schultheis wrote an amendment to 1296 designed to counter objections expressed by Bill Compton, state elections director.

Schultheis' amendment said that the paper ballot shall have "the same appearance as an absentee ballot," in other words, the ballot titles and all candidate choices are listed on the ballot. Some voting systems produce a paper "receipt," which Kolwicz compared to a thermal-paper credit card purchase receipt.

According to Kolwicz, a ballot similar to an absentee ballot would be easier than a "Visa receipt" for a voter to verify, as well as quicker and cheaper for county clerks to use in case of a recount.

Madden said the Schultheis amendment could actually make 1296 less likely to pass the remaining House committees and the Senate. El Paso, Jefferson, Denver and Arapahoe counties use some form of electronic voting systems, and Madden said the cost of making those systems compliant with 1296 could cause representatives from affected districts to vote against it.

"They'll fight it tooth and nail," said Madden. "I'd rather pass something than nothing."

Pezzillo said counties that purchased DRE's before federal elections standards were finalized made a "bad choice." He also said since counties spent millions of dollars purchasing the systems, the cost of retrofitting them to create paper ballots should not be prohibitive.

Madden said 1296 would possibly go before the Local Government committee this week.

"We're sending a message that we want a paper record," said Madden. "We definitely have bipartisan support. There are people who have a fear of malfunction and a fear of malfeasance. We want voters to feel confident in their voting systems."