Groups call for paper ballots to back up computers

07/13/2004

By JIM VERTUNO  / Associated Press

Fearing the potential for computer glitches and fraud, campaign watchdog groups and voting rights activists on Tuesday demanded state officials provide Texas voters with paper ballots to back up all electronic voting in the November elections.

Texas and many states around the country started switching to some type of electronic voting system in the wake of problems with punch-card ballots in the Florida election in the 2000 presidential campaign.

Touch screen and optical scanning systems were hailed as solutions to the problems. Thirteen Texas counties use electronic voting systems.

But now skeptics question whether computers are too easily subject to failure or manipulation and warn such problems rob voters of their ballot rights.

The groups gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday called for electronic voting machines to be outfitted with printers that can produce a paper ballot that records the vote cast. The rally was part of a national effort dubbed "The Computer Ate My Vote" day.

A paper ballot gives the voter the confidence their vote has been fairly counted and provides a record that can be used in a recount, the groups said.

"We are unified in our desire to protect and defend our voting system," said Madeleine Hervey of Common Cause of Texas.

Dan Wallach, a computer scientist at Rice University in Houston, warned even the most sophisticated electronic voting systems could have glitches and crash just like the average home computer.

And he warned that the machines could be manipulated to create voter fraud and false election results.

"We know computers go wrong in a wide variety of ways," Wallach said. "(And) you don't have to stretch too far to imagine that, my God, election fraud might happen. There might be people out there willing to invest time, money and resources to corrupting an election."

Secretary of State Geoff Connor said he is confident the system is reliable and noted that Texas voting machines must print audit logs and provide voters with a summary screen.

He said the concerns raised Tuesday were meant to create uncertainty and paranoia about the elections process.

"Texas' voting system certification and testing are among the most stringent in the nation," Connor said.

The groups at the Capitol said they would present Connor, an appointee of Republican Gov. Rick Perry, with more than 6,300 petitions supporting their cause.

Wallach, however, acknowleged that even if politicians and elections officials agree with them, it would be difficult to outfit computer ballot machines with printers in time for the November elections.

Connor said the Legislature opted not to require paper receipts when it considered electronic voting machines in 2001. He said he would not have the authority to order printers for the November elections.

Bev Harris, author of "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century" offered a solution. "Paper, pencil and a day off to count," she said.

The groups said they also want the secretary of state's office to open up the testing and certification process of voting equipment in Texas to a non-partisan auditor.

"All we have is a certification process that says `Trust us. It works,'" Wallach said.