No reason to fear electronic voting machines

Ones chosen for Florida are capable of creating paper printouts

GUEST OPINION, Sharon L. Harrington
?Published by news-press.com on February 25, 2004
Re ?Plenty of risks associated with touch-screen voting,? Ed Kleinow, Feb. 12. Much media attention has been given to those who are advocating for voter-verifiable paper ballots for all touch screen voting machines. The seeds of doubt that are being planted regarding the accuracy of our voting systems by those outside of elections administration will only undermine the confidence of the voters, cast aspersions on the elections process and end up costing the taxpayers millions of unnecessary dollars.

In effect, each iVotronic touch screen machine has a record that can be retrieved that will produce a copy of every ballot cast should it become necessary to conduct a manual recount. Most people are not aware of this feature.

Mr. Kleinow made numerous references to Diebold equipment. Fact is, we in Lee County do not use the Diebold touch screen system. They were not certified for use in Florida, no doubt for the very reasons Mr. Kleinow outlines.

Our touch screen voting system has been extensively tested and certified by the Division of Elections. Prior to certification, the system?s manufacturers are also required to submit their products to an independent testing authority that must subject the hardware and software to a rigorous number of tests. After the certification process, any changes or upgrades made by the manufacturer must be presented for re-certification by the state before being used. Locally, every machine is tested for accuracy prior to each election. Testing of a sampling of these machines is held prior to each election and is open to the public as required by law.

I appreciate Mr. Kleinow?s experience in international accounting and his knowledge of computer system audits. However, the iVotronic touch screen machines are not computers. They are not connected to any main frame, but only to a common ordinary electrical outlet. Therefore, they cannot be ?hacked? into and the votes manipulated. Each iVotronic is independent of the other.

Every machine is equipped with an extended life battery back-up system in case of a power failure at the precincts. This battery back-up capability is also what allows us to completely remove a machine from its case and continue using it for voting. We can set it on a table with a portable privacy screen so that a disabled person in a wheelchair or an elderly person who is unable to stand for long periods has the same access to the voting process as anyone else.

The entire voting system is very decentralized. The preparation of the equipment for an election is done by one group of individuals, while the conduct and tabulating is the responsibility of an entirely different group of individuals ? somewhat like in a business where you wouldn?t want an employee writing out checks to be the same person signing them and balancing the checkbook.

Every voter must access the review pages of their ballot before the touch screen machine will allow them to cast their votes. If a change is required upon reviewing their choices, the voter can go back to any contest by simply touching the choice shown on the screen. It will take them back to that race where they can now initiate a change in their ion. If a voter chooses to press the vote button after accessing the review pages and before actually verifying their ballot, any errors made during the ion process become the responsibility of the voter and not the equipment.

The addition of an external printer for producing a voter-verifiable paper ballot, which will be nothing more than a copy of what is showing on the review screen, would cost our county approximately $1.2 million. But that?s only a portion of the expense. Each iVotronic fits into a transport case. If external printers were added to the machines, new transport cases would have to be purchased. In addition, custom designed delivery carts, which cost Lee County more than $300,000 just two short years ago, would not be able to accommodate the larger transport cases and would have to be scrapped.

I would like to ask those who are in doubt about the touch screen voting machines, why would the Division of Elections certify a voting system for use in Florida that would be riddled with ?risks? and ?flaws?? Why would it knowingly subject itself to international ridicule one more time?

Since 1964, electronic voting systems have been used in this country?s elections processes. In almost 40 years, there has not been a single case of election fraud due to tampering of a system?s hardware or software. However, in that same time hundreds of cases of election fraud involving paper have occurred and been prosecuted.

We need to put these fears to rest. Fact is we have one of the best voting systems available anywhere. The citizens of Lee County can feel confident in knowing that when they go to the polls and cast their votes, every effort has been made to assure the accuracy and reliability of our election process.

? Sharon L. Harrington is Lee County Supervisor of Elections.

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