Opinion - In Our View: Modern Voting

Sunday, July 11, 2004
Columbian editorial writers

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed could not have been more correct last Wednesday when he said: "The most fundamental quality to a democracy is using a voting system people can trust."

    Thus we agree with Reed's requirement announced last week that by 2006 every electronic voting machine in Washington state must produce a paper trail that will allow voters to verify their ballots.

    Still, if some critics are correct, trust only became an issue recently, with the arrival of electronic voting machines. The truth is, American voters have had to place an element of trust on occasion betrayed in voting systems for as long as there has been an America. From the first election, voters trusted that even the most rudimentary ballots would be gathered and counted properly and legally.

    Trust guides us beyond the absence of any perfectly foolproof voting system. Modern voters must decide how modern systems can help us conduct accurate elections and avoid such blunders as the Florida fiasco of the 2000 presidential election.

    Let no other chad hang in gross defiance of voters' trust.

    Clark County voters should understand the following facts about upcoming elections, and how modern systems can be implemented:

    * Although in September the court-mandated, single-party "Montana" primary will replace the traditional cross-party primary in Washington state, there'll be no local changes in September or in November's general election in the way votes are recorded.

    * However, the federal Help America Vote Act requires that by 2006 there must be at least one electronic voting machine in every polling site in the country.

    * Other Clark County changes in 2006 will include a reduction in the number of polling places from 67 to about 15. We view this as a necessary and appropriate reduction in the cost of local elections.

    Voters who prefer to vote at polling places will enjoy this new benefit: Instead of being assigned a specific polling place, in 2006 voters will be able to vote at any of the 15 "community voting centers."

    * According to Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey, each local electronic voting machine in 2006 will have a paper trail in compliance with Reed's requirement. The type of machine to be used has not been decided, but the level of urgency is not extremely high for changes required in 2006.

    * Clark County elections officials will be able to learn this year from two counties (Snohomish and Yakima) that will use electronic machines at all polling places. Those machines do not immediately produce a paper trail, but the machines will be retrofitted in time for the 2006 election. According to The Associated Press, Skamania County, which usually has all residents vote by mail, will this year have two machines at its county courthouse for use by disabled voters or others who want to try them out.

    * You might consider electronic voting as something worth trying; ultimately you might even prefer it. But if you prefer the traditional voting method, you'll be able to continue that custom.

    It's helpful to remember that the world of voting-machine vendors is highly competitive and extremely lucrative. Great demands are placed upon the modern systems, both by the federal government and by state officials, as we saw with Reed's announced requirement. There's ample reason to believe our nation is moving carefully and effectively toward the most modern and trustworthy voting systems available.

    After the confusion of 2000, we simply have no other choice.