Test awaits computer voting

Web Posted: 03/21/2004 12:00 AM CST

Rebeca Rodriguez
Express-News Staff Writer

If Henry Cuellar calls for a Bexar County recount of his razor-slim Democratic primary loss to U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, it will be the first such test locally of electronic voting technology at the center of some troubled elections around the country.

The county's $8.1 million Elections Systems & Software touch-screen system, which was fully launched in September, has been touted by local officials as safe and efficient.

However, in some cases around the country, the technology, which typically is sold by one of three major manufacturers, has raised some red flags.

"I think we're seeing a wave of problems partly because of scrutiny and partly because much of this equipment is new," said David Dill, a computer scientist and electronic voting expert at Stanford University.

"There are repeated cases of something like 1 percent of the votes being lost, sometimes more. The real question is, what's going on in the machine, and are the votes being recorded properly?"

Electronic voting systems have come under fire in some quarters for being vulnerable to hacking and other forms of corruption, although there is no evidence that manipulation has occurred.

In particular, critics say the lack of a voter-verified paper ballot removes the possibility of a true recount.

"We've got machines with no way for voters to verify that their vote was counted and totaled indisputably," said Rebecca Mercuri, a fellow and electronic voting expert at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Industry officials, however, contend there are sophisticated systems that serve as checks and balances to ensure valid recounts.

"There are also three independent memory chips to make sure that no votes are ever lost or altered," said Ellen Bogard, spokeswoman of ES&S, which is based in Omaha, Neb.

Cuellar, who lost the March 9 Democratic primary to Rodriguez by 170 votes, is expected to decide by Monday whether to pursue a recount in some or all of the 11 counties in District 28.

With the nation in the throes of a turbulent election year, concerns over the validity of electronic voting are growing.

A federal lawsuit filed by U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., challenges the equity of machines that don't provide a paper receipt, or a printed ballot for voters to review.

And U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., has introduced a bill requiring all voting machines to print out a paper receipt.

True Majority, an 8,000-member national voting rights organization, is calling on all states to require a paper trail.

Bexar County officials bought the iVotronic touch-screen system in 2002, but has not bought any printers that would produce a paper ballot for voters to review, said Bexar County Elections Administrator Cliff Borofsky.

The Texas secretary of state's office must certify all equipment used in any Texas election. Printers that produce voter-verified receipts are not required on electronic voting equipment and have not been certified for use in the state, said secretary of state spokeswoman Jennifer Waisath.

But there is a procedure for printing out the final results of an election for a recount, she said.

Bogard said the machinery used by Bexar County has a patented recount system that replicates the entire election process.

She added it's not uncommon in any election to have some blank ballots cast, an issue many critics have raised when questioning the technology.

ES&S, which will provide technology for 53 percent of all U.S. elections this year, has developed a prototype receipt printer that could be available when federal and state standards are in place, she said.

But Stanford's Dill isn't convinced.

"There's no meaningful recount," he said. "People will come to realize that when there are close elections, you have to be able to go check something more reliable than the electronic memories of these machines."

So far, 12 Texas counties, including Bexar, Dallas and Harris, have gone to electronic voting systems that typically utilize touch-screen technology.

Locally, the machines have performed smoothly, said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

"I feel a lot more comfortable with this than anything else we've had in the past," Wolff said.

"We have entered the computer age and we do everything today electronically. I don't know what the hell else you do unless you want to go back to the Stone Age," he added.

Wolff said adding the paper receipt printers to the county's touch-screen machines would cost up to $3 million.