E-vote pact not signed

COUNTY: Officials are still haggling with the state over posting election results at polls.

By IMRAN GHORI / The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino County officials are still haggling with the Secretary of State's office over an agreement allowing the use of electronic voting machines in November.

The Board of Supervisors agreed to settle its lawsuit against Secretary of State Kevin Shelley on Tuesday, ending a battle that began in April when Shelley decertified all touch screen voting machines in California.

As part of the settlement, the county agreed to provide extra paper ballots as an alternative to voters and implement other security measures.

But the two sides have not been able to complete a signed agreement because of a disagreement over one item: Shelley's insistence that the election results for each machine be posted at polling places and the registrar's office.

Daniel Haueter, chief deputy county counsel, said the requirement would delay the reporting of results by 20 to 30 minutes. The county also believes that the information would provide little security or informational value to voters, he said.

Supervisors Paul Biane and Patti Aguiar who were appointed to a subcommittee to oversee the settlement, will meet Monday with Haueter and county Registrar Scott Konopasek to discuss the issue.

Riverside County, which also was part of the lawsuit, also agreed to settle on Tuesday and signed its agreement on Wednesday.

Unlike San Bernardino County, Riverside's electronic voting machines do not include a printer so the county is not being required to post results at polling places.

Haueter said counties that don't use electronic machines but do have the capability to print results from individual machines are not being asked to post results either.

"This is ive enforcement because they are not requiring it for (non-electronic voting) counties that also have that capability," he said.

Carol Dahmen, a spokeswoman for Shelley, said San Bernardino would be recertified when it meets all of Shelley's security requirements.