Verify The Ballots

In dealing with the old Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan counseled, "Trust but verify." It's still good advice, even though Reagan and the Soviet Union have passed on. America is approaching one of its most crucial, and perhaps most divisive, elections in modern history. The ability of the people to trust their government to fairly and impartially administer elections is the very bedrock upon which is built our representative democracy. That would seem to be particularly true here in Florida, the state that made such a hash of the 2000 presidential election.

The state Division of Elections says "trust us" when it comes to overseeing voting results. But the division has a regulation that prohibits manual recounting of ballots cast on computerized voting machines in the case of close or disputed elections. This despite a state law that seems to mandate recounts in very close races.

The problem is that touchscreen voting machines used by 15 Florida counties holding more than half the state's voters produce no paper trail. Thus, there can be no manual recount.

This week, a coalition of civil rights groups challenged that rule. The groups want touch-screen machines to be fitted with printers capable of producing a paper trail so that if a manual recount is necessary, it can be done.

The challenges parallel lawsuits filed in both federal and state court by U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, which also seek to mandate a paper trail.

"Failure to allow a recount covers up malfunctioning machines and covers up when there is malicious tampering involved," said Alma Gonzalez, of the Voter Protection Coalition Round Table, to reporters in Tallahassee this week upon challenging the rule.

Added Howard Simon, director of the ACLU of Florida, "No one can argue that touch-screen voting machines are going to work 100 percent of the time. That's precisely why we must have a mechanism in place to recount all of the votes in close elections."

Polk County election officials believe in a paper trail. Voters blacken ovals next to candidates names. If a race is left unmarked, or more than one candidate is ed in a race, an electronic ballot box notifies the voter before the ballot is accepted. The machine's tally can be verified by a manual recount.

But with more than half the state's voters using touch-screen machines, the ability to do manual recounts would seem absolutely crucial to maintaining public confidence in the integrity of Florida elections. Dade and Broward County officials have already discovered potential problems with the touch-screen machines.

Elections officials argue that no paper trail is necessary because touch-screen machines contain audit logs that can be checked to confirm the accuracy of election results. Critics worry about the accuracy or integrity of the audit logs themselves, and argue that a manual recount of paper records remains the best way to maintain credibility in election results.

Not being technocrats, we cannot vouch for the infallibility of paperless voting machines. We suspect that neither can state- or county-level election officials. That is why Reagan's timeless advice seems so appropriate as a national election approaches in which Florida's votes may prove to be the crucial determining factor.

Yes, trust the machines. But verify their results with a paper trail that can be manually recounted.