Touch to Vote
More Americans to Vote on Electronic, Touch-Screen Systems in November

July 18, 2004 — When American voters line up at the polls this November, more of them than ever will be using touch-screen, electronic voting: A new study shows 50 million votes will be cast this way, with 28 states having at least one district using the method.
The process has its critics and champions.

During primary season this year, computer glitches around the country caused polls to open late and, in some places, actually stopped voters from casting their ballots.

Many of the malfunctions occurred in California, which has 40 percent of the country's touchscreen voting machines. In April, California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who says he is also troubled by the possibility of computer hackers breaking into voting software, took the extraordinary step of prohibiting county officials from using the new machines until they adopt specific safeguards.

Shelley wants to make sure the machines use "no wireless transmission, no Internet connection, [and] that the machines are kept in a secure location so no one can tamper with them."

The manufacturers of "e-voting" machines, who stand to make hefty profits if the technology is widely adopted, insist their products are well-tested and reliable.

"There's a 25-year history of using electronic systems in this country," says Alfie Charles of Sequoia Voting Systems. "They've been used very successfully throughout the country for hundreds, if not thousands, of elections."

Paper Receipts

Many critics and supporters of electronic voting agree that a simple enhancement to the system might help — paper receipts for each ballot.

California will require by 2006 all touch-screen units to produce a printed record that can be checked by the voter in the polling booth and held by county officials for use in a recount.

"When you go to an ATM to get your money, you always want to see a receipt to know that your transaction was correctly made," Shelly says. It's the "same thing we're talking about here."

California is not alone. Nevada will require paper back-up for touch-screen units in most places this November.

But so-called paper verification machines also have not been widely tested. And federal election officials caution that bringing back paper is a risky quick fix.

"If we put all of our eggs in the paper verification basket and the basket breaks that becomes the hanging chad of 2004," says DeForest Soaries, commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission.

Another Problem?

But the real problem may not be technological. Local officials, some scholars argue, have ceded too much responsibility to private corporations that are not accountable to the public.

"A common practice for local election officials is to let election companies run their election — [to] make up their ballot, set up their machines, and even count their tallies," says Ted Selker of the Cal Tech/MIT Voting Technology Project. "This is a dangerous practice