Senate expected to support paper ballots

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by Steven T. Dennis
Staff Writer
Mar. 24, 2004

For complete coverage of the 2004 legislative session, go to www.gazette.net/annapolis2004/.

ANNAPOLIS The Senate is poised to pass a bipartisan bill this week requiring paper receipts to be added to the state's controversial $74 million Diebold voting system.

Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, chairwoman of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, told The Gazette that she supports the paper mandate and wants the machines upgraded in time for November's general election.

Hollinger (D-Dist. 11) of Pikesville said the committee amended the bill to ask Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) to find money for the upgrade, which legislative analysts warned could cost tens of millions.

"The whole committee is for the bill," she said. "We just don't have a funding source. Our constituents want it, we want it. ... There is no question that the people want to feel that their vote is secure."

Budget Secretary James C. "Chip" DiPaula Jr. said the idea is a "worthy concept for consideration," but expressed concern about the potential cost.

"The state doesn't have that type of money right now," he said, adding that it also is uncertain whether the federal government would pick up all or most of the tab.

Paper receipts would be used as a check against possible fraud or glitches with the machines and would be the official ballots for recounts. The bill calls for testing 2 percent of voter-verified receipts against the machine counts in each election to see if there are discrepancies.

The Diebold system has been under fire since a report in July by computer scientist Aviel D. Rubin of Johns Hopkins University denounced it as riddled with security holes that could result in fraud or errors that could go undetected and change the outcome of an election. Two subsequent investigations by SAIC Corp. and Raba Technologies of Columbia have found the system vulnerable. The Raba report, commissioned by lawmakers, backed paper receipts as "absolutely necessary in some limited form." Rubin has called for voter-verified receipts, too, saying that without them, it is impossible to know for sure if the election results are accurate.

Diebold Elections Systems has been embroiled in a national controversy over electronic voting, making a number of public relations missteps, including comments by the chief executive officer of the parent company in a fund-raising letter that he wanted to "deliver" Ohio's electoral votes to President Bush.

Diebold Elections Systems President Bob Urosevich has maintained that his company produces "the most secure and accurate election system in the history of democracy," but that there is always room for improvement.

The company also faced criticism after The Gazette reported last year on internal Diebold e-mails that recommend charging Maryland "out the yin-yang" should lawmakers mandate voter receipts.

The e-mail from "Ken," dated Jan. 3, 2003, discusses a (Baltimore) Sun report about a University of Maryland study of the Diebold system:

"There is an important point that seems to be missed by all these articles: they already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."

"Ken" later clarifies that he meant "out the yin-yang," adding, "any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."

The company said that e-mail was the opinion of one employee, not of Diebold. But the company has refused to say how much it would charge for an upgrade, adding that it will add paper printouts if the state prefers.

Hollinger's support came as True Majority, a pro-paper receipt group led by Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's ice cream fame, ran a full-page ad in The (Baltimore) Sun with the headline, "Sheila Hixson and Paula Hollinger have the power to protect Marylanders from a dangerous voting machine."

The ad features a Diebold machine with a toothy maw that reads "SYSTEM ERROR! VOTE DATA LOST."

The ad continues: "Don't let the computer eat your vote on November 4th!"

Hixson (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring is chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee, which is debating the paper ballot measure in the House.

The issue is bipartisan: Del. Karen S. Montgomery (D-Dist. 14) of Brookeville proposed the bill in the House and Sens. Janet Greenip (R-Dist. 33) of Crofton and Minority Whip Andrew P. Harris (R-Dist. 7) of Cockeysville sponsored it in the Senate.

The bill has yet to get a green light from Hixson. The Associated Press reported that Hixson said the state does not have time to install printers in every precinct by November.

Legislative analysts said that without comment from Diebold, they cannot estimate the cost of an upgrade. But they said estimates in other states including Georgia, which also has Diebold machines have ranged from $1,000 to $3,000 per machine. Maryland has 16,000 machines.

Paper ballot advocate Linda Schade of TrueVoteMD.org said costs have been vastly inflated by the manufacturers. Maryland already paid too much for the original system, 70 percent more per machine than counties in California, she said.

"Why aren't Maryland legislators outraged ... that we got ripped off on these machines?" Schade asked.

Schade, a Green Party candidate for delegate in Hixson's district in the last election, said her organization fielded hundreds of calls on primary election day reporting problems with the machines, from failure to turn on to displaying incomplete ballots. She has called for an independent investigation, charging that the State Board of Elections is more interested in public relations than the facts.

Embattled elections chief Linda H. Lamone defended the system and its performance, saying that the state has taken numerous steps to ensure the accuracy and security of the machines.