Voting issue: No paper trail

Touch-screen voting machines eliminate the "hanging chads'' of the 2000 election, but critics worry about security and the lack of a hard-copy backup.

By Ed Bierschenk staff writer
March 7, 2004

VERO BEACH Arthur Broadhurst believes a paper trail can lead the way to voter confidence on elections being held with electronic machines.

"I think it is very important that there be a trail that can be audited," said the 67-year-old Vero Beach resident.

Gone are the punch card system and the infamous "hanging chads" that were viewed as a key problem in the last presidential election.

This time around, the controversy involves the lack of a "hard copy" ballot that can be examined by voters and, if necessary, election judges during a recount of votes done on the electronic machines. There's also some concern computer hackers might somehow be able to gain access to the machines and change votes.

In the wake of the controversy, some officials in Broward County and elsewhere are considering adding printers to their touch-screen machines once manufacturers are able to get the printers built and approved for use in the state.

Indian River County Election Supervisor Kay Clem is keenly aware of the heightened concerns regarding electronic voting machines, but expressed confidence that methods being employed by Indian River County will ensure secure elections. Clem believes adding printers to the county's Sequoia Voting Systems machines will only needlessly hamper the election process.

The Diebold Election Systems touch-screen machines, which are the type that are expected to be installed in St. Lucie County once they are approved for use by the state, have perhaps raised the most questions.

"There is quite a bit of controversy and we are sitting back and waiting until they (the company) get their credentials from the state," said Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker.

Once the machines are approved, Walker said the county will move as quickly as it can to get one machine at every precinct.

Leaving the door open

Walker also isn't ruling out someday installing printers. It may not be as costly for St. Lucie County to add printers as some other counties because it will be using a blended system in which the electronic machines will be sharing space with existing optical scan machines. Optical scan machines electronically tally paper ballots, which can be examined in the event of a recount.

According to Walker, the greatest challenge for officials is to ensure people of the integrity of the voting process.

"If it takes paper trails to do that, it's our responsibility as public officials to do that, in my opinion," she said.

Martin County has used an ES&S touch-screen system since 2002, according to Peggy Robbins, the county's supervisor of elections. The machine provides a printout after voting has ended for the day, she said.

Robbins declined to comment about whether she would support adding printers to the machines until the state made a decision about allowing them. She said there might be several different options regarding costs and type of printers that could be installed on the machines.

A report by the Ohio Secretary of State found all three systems in place along the Treasure Coast had some degree of security vulnerability, which the companies say they are addressing. Of the three systems, ES&S was found to have the fewest problems.

In addition, a report issued by John Hopkins University raised concerns about the security of the electronic machines.

"The most fundamental problem with such a voting system is that the entire election hinges on the correctness, robustness, and security of the software within the voting terminal. Should that code have security-relevant flaws, they might be exploitable either by unscrupulous voters or by malevolent insiders," the report said.

The John Hopkins report, partially based on an analysis of an older version of Diebold touch-screen software, has been criticized by the company, which said many of the report's conclusions are inaccurate and incomplete.

Printing pain

Clem said poll workers are not equipped to set up printers on the machines and the possibility of paper jams could hamper the voting process. Those arguments are similar to those made by some manufacturers' representatives.

Rebecca Mercuri, a research fellow with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, argues that thousands of printouts are issued each day by automatic teller machines and lottery machines. She said the lottery machines are often loaded by convenience or gas station clerks without a problem. The long lines at these machines are usually the result of big lottery prizes and not because of paper jams, said Mercuri.

Clem noted there are often problems with the ATM printers.

She also questioned how printouts would accommodate the needs of blind voters. Electronic voting machines equipped with audio equipment are required by federal law to be available at each precinct by 2006.

Currently, the touch-screen machines provide printed tallies, but not individual printouts for each vote.

So-called "ballot images" also can be printed out for a recount, although they are not an exact reproduction of an individual ballot that lists the names of all the candidates in the races.

Sequoia provided three samples of what such ballot images would look like in different situations and basically they are printouts of the office and the name of the candidate ed.

In the case where only one pick was made, the demonstration "ballot image" listed only the office and candidate ed. The demonstration "ballot image" of when no vote was cast simply consists of a page stating "No Selections Made."

Clem noted there would be storage and training costs to consider in addition to the initial price of the printers. The printers could cost $600 or more per voting machine, although Mercuri claims the companies should not be charging that much for them. In addition, Clem said the delays caused by voters viewing printouts could mean that additional $3,500 touch screen machines would be needed.

Mercuri noted there already has been an election controversy involving the Sequoia machines this year because of a large number of blank ballots from a precinct in Broward County.

A candidate in that election lost by 12 votes and Mercuri said there were no ballots that could be used in a recount because of the lack of an instant print-out.

Clem and Jenny Nash, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State, said the election was a primary contest involving two Republicans where Democrats could also vote. Clem believes the reason a large number of ballots were blank was because Democrats decided not to cast a vote when they saw their only choice were two Republicans.

- ed.bierschenk@scripps.com

TREASURE TROVE

Voting systems used along the Treasure Coast:

Indian River County: Sequoia AVC Edge Voting System Release 3.1 (touch screen).

Martin County: ES&S Voting System Release 4.2 (touch screen).

St. Lucie County: Diebold AccuVote ES 2001 B (blended) (Optical Scan). St. Lucie County is awaiting state certification before adding Diebold DRE machines.