Contact: Christy Hicks of The Century Foundation, 212-452-7723 or hicks@tcf.org, or Daniel Seligson of Electionline.org, 202-338-9320 or dseligson@electionline.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 /U.S. Newswire/ Millions of California voters will cast ballots in Tuesday's Democratic primary on electronic, touch-screen machines, a voting system that has come under question from computer experts, voter organizations and most recently, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.

While the state has rid itself of punch cards in time for Tuesday's vote, their successors in a number of counties direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting systems have become as controversial as the systems they have replaced.

These findings are part of the recently-released Primary Education: Election Reform and the 2004 Presidential Race, a national look at election changes in key primary states as a result of the passage of the Help America Vote Act. It was produced jointly by electionline.org and The Century Foundation.

Voters in 19 California counties will cast ballots on different machines than the ones they used in 2000. Of those, voters in 14 counties will use DRE machines. Those systems were the focus of a directive from Shelley last year that requires the use of voter- verified paper audit trails by 2006. In the meantime, leading organizations and experts are urging voters to cast absentee ballots or request paper ballots at the polls rather than use the paperless systems.

"Given the directive from the secretary of state and the bad press that electronic voting has received in the state, California voters in counties using touch screens could be forgiven for having concerns about the security and integrity of their vote," said Dan Seligson, editor of electionline.org and a co-author of the report. "Whether the machines are safe - and there are sharp differences of opinion in California - could be less important right now than the issue of voter confidence. Voters have to believe that whatever voting system is in place accurately records and tabulates all of the votes."

Tova Wang, senior program officer and democracy fellow of The Century Foundation, and co-author of the report, added: "Recruiting and training poll workers, educating voters, and providing language translation are difficult tasks in a state as big and diverse as California during any election year. Now, what will happen when voters are not only using new machines, but a segment of voters will also be required under the Help America Vote Act to present identification at the polls?"

Congress and states around the country will consider bills this year that would mandate the use of voter-verified paper audit trails with DRE voting. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced a bill this year that would require paper trails as part of federal election reform.

Changes to elections have been made nationwide in the wake of the passage of the Help America Vote Act. The bill's central component, a $3.86 billion authorization to states to pay for new voting machines, voter registration databases and other election needs, is accompanied by federal election mandates.

That includes: provisional voting ballots for voters who believe they are registered but whose names are not on registration rolls; voter identification requirements for first- time voters who register by mail and do not include verification with their registration applications; and new machine standards and/or voter education programs to reduce spoiled or uncountable ballots.

Primary Education explores the changes to voting procedures - and potential for voting problems - in the 22 early primary states that will be the key battlegrounds as the Democratic contenders seek to secure their party's presidential nomination. The report examines the impact of past and possible future litigation; controversies over new voting machines, electronic voting, and voter-verified audit trails; the effect of new mandates in states, including voter identification and provisional voting; and the ramifications of California's gubernatorial recall election, during which a federal court considered delaying the vote because of continued punch-card machine usage around the state. The report also offers examples of misconceptions about election reform.

To read the entire "Primary Education" report, visit: http://www.electionline.org/site/docs/pdf/Primary%20Education.PDF.

To receive a copy of "Primary Education: Election Reform and the 2004 Presidential Race" by mail, email your mailing address to media@electionline.org.