Losses minimal in e-voting flap

Kern to pay about $28,000 for lawsuit challenging machine ban, official says

By GRETCHEN WENNER, Bakersfield Californian staff writer   26 September 2004
 
The roller-coaster ride for Kern County's touch-screen voting system has apparently flattened out, at last.

Financial fallout from the past year's e-voting drama is minimal about $28,000, according to elections chief Ann Barnett. That's the county's share of legal fees from joining a lawsuit against Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.

The machines were sidelined by Shelley, and a federal judge upheld the ban.

That legal bill, Barnett said last week, is all the county will pay for its odd ride through electronic voting chaos.

Other expenses break down this way:

* Added costs for using an optical scanning system in November, which will require paper ballots, will be paid by Diebold, the company that made Kern's touch-screen system.

* Diebold's newest model will likely be in place here before the next major election. The system, which still needs certification from the state, will include a paper trail that can be verified by voters. Kern will get the upgraded system free, Barnett said.

* Some $5 million in federal and state reimbursement funds are rolling in to pay for the original Diebold system meaning Kern essentially got its touch-screen system free. "That's 100 percent cost recovery for the county," Barnett said.

* About $3.4 million of the reimbursement money is coming from the state; about $1.7 million from federal funds. Both funds, aimed at eliminating punch-card ballots, sprang from the "hanging chad" fiasco of the 2000 presidential election.

The touch-screen issue flared after March's primary election, when some counties reported problems with electronic machines.

Shelley held hearings on the matter and spearheaded a national movement against e-voting systems.

Critics questioned the lack of a paper trail and said systems were vulnerable to hackers.

In California, Shelley banned certain Diebold systems in four counties Kern, San Diego, Solano and San Joaquin.

Units in 10 other counties were restricted until security measures were met.

In June, Riverside County and disabled groups filed a lawsuit against Shelley, saying he'd overstepped authority and disenfranchised disabled voters.

Kern and several other counties joined the suit. A federal district judge sided with Shelley.

Kern and the other counties didn't appeal the decision.