AccuPoll Notes Trend by Federal and State Leaders to Require Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail for Electronic Voting

TUSTIN, Calif.(BUSINESS WIRE)Feb. 25, 2004
Support Among Regulators and Legislators Increasing for Inclusion of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail Feature

As millions of Americans in the country's most populous states head to the polls next week, regulators and legislators are taking steps to ensure voter confidence by requiring a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) for electronic voting machines. Such a feature would allow voters to personally verify that their vote is accurately recorded while providing a proper audit capability should problems arise with the electronic count.

Within the past few months, bills have been introduced by Congressman Rush Holt (NJ), Senator Bob Graham (FL) and Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) as well as in state legislatures throughout Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, New York and Washington. Each specifically outlines the need for voter verified paper records on electronic voting systems.

"As an early proponent and pioneer in implementing a VVPAT within our own electronic voting system, AccuPoll is ready to support the recent moves to require a paper audit trail allowing the voter to verify their vote," said Frank Wiebe, President of AccuPoll (OCTBB: ACUP). "For democracy to function properly, the voter must have confidence that their vote is cast accurately, securely and verifiably."

Currently, the majority of Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines do not print a paper record allowing the voter to verify how they voted at the time that their vote is recorded. Such omission has caused considerable and well-documented confusion among voters concerned their vote may not be accurately counted. In just the past few months, reports of electronic errors verifiedvoting.org cites examples such as 144,000 votes cast in a precinct with about 19,000 eligible voters in Boon County, Indiana; 294 ballots not recorded during a contest in Wake County, North Carolina; and 134 blank ballots recorded in Broward County, Florida, where a race was decided by just 12 votes have weakened the confidence of voters in electronic voting machines across the country.

"The problem with all of these cases is that there was no way for voters to verify that their vote was accurately recorded," added Wiebe. "Even worse, election officials were unable to perform a true recount beyond a simple reprint of the same inaccurate numbers the computers had previously generated. Without a paper audit trail that has been verified by each voter, there is no way to correctly reconstruct and audit the vote. We're being told to trust that the computer is counting correctly, but in all of these cases they've made errors."

About AccuPoll Holding Corp.

Headquartered in Tustin, CA, AccuPoll (OCTBB: ACUP) is the developer of an electronic voting system featuring an intuitive touch screen input and a voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) that can be confirmed by the voter at the time the ballot is cast, creating a permanent paper audit trail as mandated in the "Help America Vote Act of 2002" (HAVA).

AccuPoll has the support of many voters, election officials, and special needs advocates in the United States with its innovative approach to recording and counting votes. AccuPoll works with all levels of government to ensure the integrity, security and accuracy of elections.

For additional information, visit www.accupoll.com.

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