State waits on touch-screen voting

By Matt Conn
For the Wausau Daily Herald
MEDFORD - In accordance with state law, the city of Medford opened a test of its electronic voting equipment to the public Wednesday. And in accordance with tradition, no members of the public attended.

Medford's electronic voting machine, purchased in 1999 for $5,200, still retains the paper verification, yet facilitates the process with electric counting. The machine also prevents a vote from being discarded. If voters accidentally mark more than one candidate for a particular office, the machine rejects their ballot, said Virginia Brost, Medford city clerk.

"As soon as you put the ballot in, it tells you right away that you over-voted," she said. "If that happens, we send the voter back for another ballot."
Kevin Kennedy, State Elections Board executive director, said that although other states are championing touch-screen voting, he doesn't expect the trend to spread to Wisconsin until manufacturers can provide more verification of the machines' results.

"Touch-screen systems have such a cloud of controversy hanging over them right now," he said. "It's something I hope the marketplace sorts out."
In response to the Florida recount fiasco of 2000, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 required the replacement of punch-card systems by 2006. Some states, notably Georgia, turned to voting systems that directly record electronic votes: touch screens that allow voters to choose a candidate and confirm their choice.

But in the event of a sudden power outage or recount, the touch-screen systems might fail to leave a record. So far, the marketplace hasn't produced much verification or security.

"The popular myth is that you can't trust something unless it's paperless, but we do it every day," he said. "The question is: Can we set a verifiable procedure? There are legitimate concerns about security."