In Annapolis visit, Nader faults Md. voting system
Presidential hopeful volunteers campaign staff to monitor touch-screen machines
By Tom Stuckey
The Associated Press
Originally published August 9, 2004, 3:05 PM EDT
ANNAPOLIS Presidential candidate Ralph Nader today offered his campaign as a vehicle to "create a democracy activist corps" of poll watchers to monitor use of touch-screen voting machines in Maryland and other states in the November election.

Nader questioned the reliability of the electronic machines and criticized Maryland officials for using a system that does not provide a paper record of each voter's ballot.

Touch-screen machines will be used in all polling places in Maryland and Georgia as well as in some polling places in other states in the presidential election.

Nader said at a news conference in Annapolis that poll watchers would be able to monitor and report problems that arise from paperless voting machines.

Since many states do not allow observers into polling places unless they represent a candidate, he said his campaign would provide credentials "to citizen activists throughout the country."

Maryland officials say the touch-screen machines, which were used in all precincts for the first time in the March primary election, are reliable. They have defended the system against criticism that the machines are more susceptible to fraud than systems that use paper ballots.

Nader said poll watchers would not be able to guard against potential problems such as defective or fraudulent software and hackers breaking into the computer system, which state officials say can't happen because the voting machines are not online. But Nader said they could watch out for incorrect and incomplete ballots, machine crashes and defective voting cards that might influence an election.

The visit to Annapolis was the first for Nader since his supporters filed petitions a week ago so he can be on the Maryland ballot in November. He will be running as a candidate of the Populist Party, a revival of a short-lived, 19th-century national political party.

He criticized Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s stand on medical malpractice reform, saying the governor "is trying to restrict the rights of all Marylanders ... to have their day in court."

Ehrlich introduced legislation on malpractice reform called "malpractice deform" by Nader at the 2004 legislative session. The legislation to try to reduce the cost of malpractice insurance by restricting damages in malpractice cases was killed by the legislature.

"This is typical for governors who spend more time receiving money from insurance and doctor lobbyists and less time on the rampant epidemic of violence that is preventable but that is taking more lives here in Maryland than highway accidents, and I am referring to medical malpractice," Nader said.

He presented statistics that he said show that the number of malpractice claims increased only slightly in Maryland between 1996 and 2002 and that malpractice awards during that same period increased from $71 million to $73 million, a decrease of about 17 percent in inflated dollars.

Shareese DeLeaver, a spokeswoman for Ehrlich, said the governor "is committed to a balanced, realistic solution" to a crisis in health care caused by huge increases in malpractice insurance premiums, which are driving some doctors out of business, especially those in high-risk medical specialties.

Ehrlich appointed a task force to develop a proposal for the legislative session next year, a task force that Nader said has been stacked with members who favor restrictions on malpractice awards.

DeLeaver said the task force will cover a range of issues including tort reform, alternative dispute resolution "and, most importantly, patient safety initiatives."

"This task force is well-balanced, comprised of legislators, lawyers, doctors and health care practitioners with input from many other parties," she said.