Electric voting machines given the once-over
Some attending the forum on computerized voting machines were concerned about the lack of a paper trail.

By Daniel Pulliam

    CHRISTIANSBURG - Mike Maslaney nimbly poked at the LCD screen to record his paperless vote. The computer flashed a set of names at Floyd County's electoral board vice chairman.

    Maslaney tried to vote for two candidates, but the Windows-based computer voting machine, which works like an ATM, wouldn't allow it.

    "See? It won't record two votes," Maslaney said.

    Minutes later, the computer spit out the sample election totals - which actually recorded the results of Floyd County High School's June student government election - on a sheet of paper. The results are accurate, Maslaney said, with a great deal of confidence.

    But many of the 50 people watching Maslaney at a Thursday night forum on computerized voting machines said that without a paper trail recording each vote, they were skeptical that what Maslaney pulled from the machine was actually what the student voters intended.

    "When you push that electronic button, you have no idea if your vote was recorded," said Tom Joy, co-chairman of a loosely organized group that calls itself Virginians for Verified Voting. "There is no way to know without a paper ballot. Without that, all you can do is get a vote total that doesn't tell you anything."

    The Montgomery County-based voting group is part of a nationwide push by politicians and concerned voters for paper trails on electronic voting machines. Bills have been introduced in Congress and in the Virginia General Assembly to ensure a paper record, but not everyone is convinced that a paper ballot backup is necessary.

    The Floyd County Electoral Board first used its new electronic voting machines in the February Democratic primary. Montgomery County, like other localities across the country, is still in the process of replacing its machines. Thursday's forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, let residents begin sorting through the issues involved in the transition.

    Federal money for the new machines, distributed by Virginia's State Board of Elections, totals $412,000 for Montgomery County. None of the machines certified by the State Board of Elections are capable of recording a paper record. Adding that ability may be possible in the future.

    Montgomery County Registrar Randy Wertz said the county's 21 precincts will keep the lever machines for the Nov. 2 election, but hopes the county's electoral board s a replacement by then so the new machines can be displayed on Election Day.

    Wertz said 110 new electronic voting machines will be used for the first time in the June 2005 Republican primary. Four different machines are being considered. The board is not considering the controversial Diebold Election Systems' AccuVote system.

    The lack of a paper trail has Montgomery County Electoral Board Vice Chairwomen Rosalie Paige feeling uncomfortable. She said a paper ballot would give the board a comfort zone in certifying an election.

    "Our government rushed very quickly headlong into the electronic systems," Paige said. "I have no problem with a change, but my problem is that they didn't explore the change well enough."

    But board chairman Dean Dowdy and secretary Brenda Eanes do not see the need for a paper trail.

    "I'm not sure why these people want the paper trail when we've never had a paper trail before," Eanes said. "I really think people are afraid of the new machines."

    Eanes said she wished the county could stay with the old machines but understands the need for the change. Dowdy said he has confidence in the electronic machines and the state's process for testing them.

    "You would have to have a horrible conspiracy going on," Dowdy said. "These machines get tested and re-tested."