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U.S. e-voting machines largely bug-free on Tuesday
Reuters, 03.03.04, 4:50 PM ET
By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - Voters across the United States encountered scattered problems with new touch-screen systems on Tuesday as they voted in primary elections, but by and large the machines ran smoothly, state election officials said on Wednesday.

Voters in some polling stations in San Diego and Oakland, California, were turned away after officials had trouble starting up the machines, while others in Maryland and Georgia had to use paper ballots, officials said.

Aside from setup problems, the machines functioned smoothly, officials said.

"We had no technical issues at all, just the normal human stuff," said Linda Lamone, Maryland state administrator of elections.

Several states have adopted the electronic machines after the 2000 presidential election recount battle in Florida highlighted shortcomings in aging punch-card systems.

Election officials say the machines are easy to use and allow fewer voting errors, but a growing number of computer experts say they are prone to glitches and vulnerable to hackers.

Johns Hopkins University computer scientist Avi Rubin, who uncovered several flaws in one system made by Diebold Election Systems (nyse: DBD - news - people) last summer, said he saw few problems when he volunteered at a polling place near his home in Baltimore County, Maryland.

But in an account posted on his personal Web site, Rubin said the vote tallies could still be changed without the knowledge of election judges.

"I continue to believe that the Diebold machines represent a huge threat to our democracy," Rubin wrote.

Problems in the three states centered around the encoding devices used by poll workers to activate "smart cards" that voters use to cast a vote on the machines.

In Maryland, polling stations in Ann Arundel and Baltimore counties received encoders intended for other stations, Lamone said.

In Georgia, an election judge in Effingham County failed to program the encoders properly, said Cara Hodgson, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state.

California secretary of state spokesman Doug Stone said he did not know exactly what were the problems with encoding devices in precincts that encountered problems.

"It's not clear if it's the system or human error," Stone said.

A spokesman for Diebold, which makes the equipment used in all three states, said the encoding devices had likely run low on batteries and presented a different start-up screen than the one poll workers had been trained to expect.

The problem was cleared up with a call to Diebold technicians, spokesman David Bear said.