Test confirms vote machine accuracy
Palm Beach County election officials say touch-screen machines pass vote-count test ‘perfectly’
 
Published Thursday, August 12, 2004
by Dale M. King in the Boca Raton News

The accuracy of Palm Beach County’s touch-screen voting machines was put to the test on Wednesday – literally.
In a bunker-style garage adjacent to the Supervisor of Elections office on Military Trail, 2 percent of the county’s 4,270 “voting units” whirred, clicked and chirped as they tabulated mock election results.
On the sidelines, poll watchers watched, skeptics pondered and election officials mused.
But when it was all over, they pronounced the apparatus A-OK.
“Everything’s perfect,” said County Commissioner Tony Masilotti at 4:10 p.m., about three hours after the testing process began.
He, along with Commission Chairwoman Karen Marcus and Election Board Chairman Judge Barry Cohen, spent some intense minutes poring over the paperwork from the just-completed test.
While election officials have signed off on the accuracy of the apparatus, not all voters have.
“I’m not confident about this equipment,” said Bruce Serell, a member of the Palm Beach Coalition for Election Reform. “This was a simulation. The machines were not in the election mode. They should have been put in the election mode.”
Before the test started, Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore explained that the machines have two settings – “test” and “election.” If they operate in the “election” mode, they shut down afterward – as a security measure.
“Shut down?” Serell said. “It doesn’t sound logical to me.
But the test was acceptable to Secretary of State Glenda Hood, who was in Palm Beach County Wednesday specifically for the checkup. “There are requirements in the state law that require every piece of election equipment to be tested. I have observed this test – and everything was done by the book.”
Hood echoed Palm Beach County election officials when she said the test Wednesday was aimed at bucking up voter confidence in the touch-screen equipment. It’s accuracy has been called into question by many, most vocally by U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, who is suing Hood and LePore for allowing 15 of Florida’s 67 counties to use voting apparatus that does not create a so-called “paper trail.” Such a trail is needed, he said, to meet the letter of the law on recounts.
LePore said voting equipment is routinely checked every year – within 10 days of an election. This year, Palm Beach voters can, for the first time, cast ballots early – starting on Monday. So the test had to be moved back. Normally, it would have been held closer to the Aug. 31 primary.
Wednesday’s closely watched test drew mainly touch-screen doubters and supporters. “I’m disappointed that more of the public isn’t here,” said Hood.
The crowd, media included, got to visit the heavily guarded room where all the voting machines – tucked away like luggage on tall shelves – are kept. Dozens had been set up for testing.
One election worker walked the line, turning them on and pushing in a test card. The chirping began.
“Each of those chirps,” LePore explained, “is a vote being counted.”
The machines tallied results of a simulated election. And that provided for one of the few light moments of the day.
As election officials examined the results, Judge Cohen looked up and said, jokingly, “Tell [sheriff candidate Ric] Bradshaw he lost.”
“Yeah, to Fred Mascaro,” said Masilotti.
Soon after, Cohen looked toward LePore and said, “The supervisor of elections lost to the write-in candidate.”
But Arthur Anderson, who is in reality challenging LePore in the Aug. 31 primary, didn’t find it amusing.
Asked about the testing, he said, “I take this phase as good for certain purposes, but it doesn’t meet the needs of restoring the public’s confidence.”
Like Serell, he said the machines should have been used in the election mode rather than in “test.” As a result, “it didn’t get to all the aspects of voting that people wanted to see.”
Anderson has been campaigning on a platform calling for a paper ballot trail. As a result, he has gotten Wexler’s support and that of many other Democrats.
The voting equipment that cost Palm Beach County voters some $15 million to replace the punch-card system that caused chaos in the 2000 election, did win praise Wednesday. “I have confidence in it,” said Marcus. She told residents: “Don’t be afraid to vote. The machines will function properly.”
“The best equipment in the world means nothing,” said Masilotti, “if people don’t come out and vote.”
Election officials said the machines checked Wednesday were chosen at random.