It's better to be sure in change for voting

Ohio lawmakers are doing the right thing in reining in Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell over the issue of new voting machines. To agree with them, Ohioans need only to understand that legislators' goal is to ensure that new voting machines don't create more problems than they solve.
Every state in the union is subject to a federal requirement that voting systems be upgraded. Congress passed the law in the wake of the 2000 election, when serious controversy over voting machines' accuracy and ease of use was raised.

Though federal law doesn't stipulate what mechanism must be used for voting, election officials in most states see electronic balloting equipment as the best way to go. Blackwell has been a proponent of such systems.

But questions have been raised about security issues - the possibility of tampering with electronic ballots. Though Blackwell has said he is satisfied with security provisions for the equipment being considered by most Ohio counties, some lawmakers aren't as comfortable.

That level of discomfort prompted state officials to seek waivers - obtained by many other states - of the federal requirement that new equipment be in use by this November. The new deadline is 2006.

Still Blackwell plans to ask the state Controlling Board to release $133 million in federal funds for new voting machines. Legislators have said they will block that move.

That action is appropriate, simply because the proposed new machines are in response to questions about security and ease of use with existing equipment. It makes no sense to trade one set of concerns for another. Until those issues are resolved, lawmakers should proceed with caution.