Guest commentary: Florida law doesn't recognize ballot printouts

By JENNIFER EDWARDS, Special to the Daily News
April 4, 2004

The voters of Collier County deserve clarity regarding the March 28 Naples Daily News editorial calling for paper printouts to back up touch-screen balloting.

As the supervisor of elections, I have sworn an oath to uphold the law, and Florida election law currently does not have a provision for printers attached to our voting machines. In addition, printed receipts or printouts would have no standing under Florida law.

Election administrators across the state are keenly aware of the drama playing out over the voter-verifiable ballot issue. Glenda Hood, Florida secretary of state, has stated that having printers for each touch-screen machine manufactured and approved in time for the November general election would be impossible, even if the state Legislature changed the law to allow them. The two manufacturers of the touch-screen systems used in Florida have stated that they cannot possibly be ready by November.

The Naples Daily News editorial stated that the current touch-screen system has never been subjected to a statewide election. In 2002, Florida supervisors of election who were using punch- card voting systems had to implement a new voting system in time for the statewide primary and general elections during which our current governor was elected.

In fact, this was the first statewide election in which we used electronic voting machines.

In addition, we recently conducted a statewide presidential preference primary on March 9.

The touch-screen voting system we use in Collier County has an audit trail of every vote cast in each election. This audit data is stored in three separate and independent memories in the unit.

The only way we could lose this information is if someone physically destroyed the unit, something more difficult to do than misplacing paper. The audit trail is removed from each machine after the election and stored for 22 months.

I am disappointed that the authors of the March 28 editorial did not visit the elections office to ask questions or request a complete demonstration of the system so they could have a thorough understanding of the equipment/system. Was the fact that strenuous testing is performed on the system even considered?

An independent testing authority (ITA) must certify a voting system before it can even apply to the Florida Division of Elections for state certification. At this time, no supplier of election equipment has a printer system certified by either an ITA or the Florida Division of Elections.

Florida's testing is one of the most rigorous in the country. Locally, state law requires that the tabulation equipment and a random sample of the equipment be publicly tested within 10 days before each election. The date and time of these logic and accuracy tests are advertised in the Naples Daily News.

On the surface, printers may seem to be a quick confidence builder and a simple solution for voters with doubts about technology. In reality, they would create an entirely new set of problems. In Collier County we are required to produce ballots in English and Spanish and, therefore, we would have to print the paper ballot in both languages. Maintaining more than 1,000 printers in the field on election day could prove to be a challenge.

What is the status of an individual's vote if there is a paper jam or the printer malfunctions? Can people physically counting thousands of pieces of paper really be more accurate than a machine?

These and other questions would all have to be considered before returning to the days of paper ballots.

Local elections officials are not the only group addressing the printout or verifiable paper receipt concept. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the U.S. League of Women Voters and the American Association of People with Disabilities have all produced papers justifying their positions for not requiring paper receipts. One of their concerns is that printing a paper receipt will eliminate one of the greatest advantages the electronic systems provide: the audio ballot allowing blind and visually impaired voters to vote unaided and unassisted for the first time in history.

As your supervisor of elections, I will always follow the law. And if the law changes to require that printers be attached to every touch-screen machine, you can rest assured that I will follow the appropriate steps to implement them. I encourage you, as a voter, to attend our public logic and accuracy tests and ask questions. My goal is to provide a transparent, accurate and secure election process for everyone.