Electronic ballots in N.C.: Maybe next election

The Associated Press

 
Although North Carolina is no closer to an easy, electronic way for voters statewide to cast their ballots than it was in the last presidential election, the state does have strong safeguards, officials say.

Some states have rushed to buy new equipment that they don't know how to operate, experts have told Congress. But North Carolina put a moratorium on certifying any new voting equipment until technology concerns are resolved.

The 2004 election season in North Carolina begins in earnest this month, with a July 20 primary election in federal and state races. Thursday was the first day voters could cast one-stop absentee ballots for the primary.

Nearly half of North Carolina counties use direct record electronic equipment, with more than 7,000 machines in place. Most other counties use optical scan machines, which read lines that voters draw next to the candidates or issues they support.

Six counties still use the chad-producing punch cards made infamous in Florida in its much-disputed presidential election four years ago. Four use lever booths, and three counties still use simple pencil and paper ballots.

Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections, says that despite a hodgepodge of new and obsolete machinery, North Carolina has strong safeguards, including an efficient system of handling disputed elections.

"We've never had a voting equipment problem that impacted the outcome of the election," Bartlett said.

Since federal standards are at least a year away from completion, North Carolina will wait until next year before it allows counties to buy any new electronic machines. All states have to meet the new standards by 2006, under the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

That law requires states to make sure voters with physical disabilities or who don't speak English can use voting equipment, and it requires a central database of registered voters in each state.

The state Elections Board has begun receiving what is scheduled to be about $60 million in federal money and $7 million in matching state money by the end of next year. Bartlett's office estimates it will cost about $80 million to remove outdated machines and replace them.

The failure of independently certified electronic equipment last year in California heightened concerns about the current technology. Groups have formed around the country to halt the push toward electronic voting.

"We're not saying people will deliberately hack the vote," said Winston-Salem resident Joyce McCloy of the N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting. "We're saying, probably a high school student could have built more secure software."

Opponents also point to technology breakdowns that have occurred in North Carolina. In absentee, one-stop voting in Wake County in 2002, touch-screen computers being tested at two locations didn't count 436 votes. County elections officials tracked down most of the advance voters and delivered ballots to them. But the votes of 78 people were not counted.

Cherie Poucher, director of the Wake County Board of Elections, said the optical-scan equipment works well, so the county can wait until national standards are developed.

"We're not in the scramble right away," Poucher said. "I feel sorry for those who are."

In Vance County, Elections Director Faye Gill said there have never been any problems with the punch-card equipment that has been used there since the early 1980s.

"We've never had hanging chads or whatever you want to call them," Gill said. "People have teased me about them, but I've not had any problems."

There was a problem, however, in Watauga County in the 2000 general election with the same punch-card voting machines that caused the problems in Florida. A machine recount flipped the results of the county commissioners race, which prompted a manual recount.

Watauga was able to follow state guidelines that spelled out how the counters would determine the voters' intent when confronted with "hanging," "pregnant" or "dimpled" chads. Bartlett said the state guidelines, which Florida lacked, resolved the election without a legal fight.