Paper printouts reassure some e-voters

Rebeca Rodriguez
San Antonio Express-News Staff Writer   22 August 2004

LAS VEGAS — Thousands of Silver State voters cast early ballots Saturday for their late-in-the-year primary, becoming the first to test a new technology at the heart of a national debate.

Electronic "touchscreen" voting, found in Bexar County and around the nation, is growing in popularity but Nevada is one of the few places to provide a printed version of the results for voters to see.

With an upcoming presidential election almost certain to be close, the memory of the 2000 presidential recount dredges up the specter of another protracted battle, this time in cyberspace.

Manufacturers say that the technology is highly secure and has internal cross-checks that ensure a reliable result.

But others worry that the computerized systems are subject to hacking and do not provide a way to independently verify the count.

They argue that a printed receipt, showing a voter his or her choices, would lessen the possibility that a vote is incorrectly counted.

The paper could then be set aside and used in a manual recount or to cross-check the machine count.

For example, in California, a percentage of the votes are counted using both the paper receipt and the electronic results.

"It's a normal auditing procedure," said Rebecca Mercuri, an electronic voting expert and founder of the consulting firm Notable Software.

Bexar County uses electronic touchscreen equipment manufactured by Omaha-based Election Systems & Software.

No printers have been certified by the Texas secretary of state's office, a prerequisite for their use in any Texas county.

Bexar County Elections Administrator Cliff Borofsky said officials are always looking at new technology, but printers cannot be implemented until they are certified.

Nevada's electronic voting machines are manufactured by Sequoia, one of the largest producers of touchscreen voting equipment in the United States, as is ES&S.

The Nevada touch screens function much like the ES&S machines used in Bexar County, but with an attached printer that lists a voter's choices on a continuous roll of paper resembling cash register tape.

Voters may make changes if their choices are printed incorrectly, but they cannot physically hold the results in their hand.

Once a vote is cast, the tape scrolls forward to protect confidentiality.

Still, some voters worry that the system is not "hands-on" enough.

Darlene McNamara voted at the Galleria Mall in Henderson, Nev., southeast of Las Vegas, on Saturday. After making her ions, she reviewed and confirmed the printed results through a Plexiglas pane.

"Maybe I'd be more comfortable if I could take the paper in my hand and check it and give it to a human being," McNamara said. "How do I know where that paper is going?"

But McNamara said that she generally feels the process is safe.

"We're going to have to trust the system," she said.