Lawmakers continuing fight for computer ballot receipts

By Greg Wright
Gannett News Service
September 26, 2004
 

WASHINGTON Several lawmakers said this past week they will not give up a battle to give paper receipts to voters who cast computer ballots, despite objections from congressional leaders who are blocking their plans.

Opponents of voting receipts said bills by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., could threaten privacy. And supporters concede that even if the bills pass, there is not enough time to install computer ballot printers around the country by Election Day.

"I would say eventually it will move," Holt said. "It makes too much sense not to. It has too much support around the country."

About four out of 10 Americans are worried their vote could be tampered with or lost when they use a computer, according to a survey released this month by FindLaw.com, a legal services Web site. The survey of 1,000 American adults had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Only one state Nevada gives voters a paper receipt to prove the computer cast their votes correctly. Ohio and California are expected to adopt paper receipts by 2006.

Computer experts and voting rights groups have said electronic receipts are necessary because dishonest computer programmers could change voting machine results.

Requiring all states to provide electronic voting receipts would not be a bad thing if it bolstered confidence in elections, said Dan Seligson, spokesman for the Election Reform Information Project in Washington.

Reps. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., warned receipts could foul elections because requiring them would add more red tape to the voting process.

A law passed after the 2000 Florida election debacle gave states more money to install modern voting machines, including computer voting terminals or touch-screen terminals. All 50 states will have at least one computer voting machine in each precinct by 2006.

The law also created a committee to study uniform standards for electronic voting, said Ney, who does not support receipts. He said the committee needs more time to do its work.

Ney also worries that receipts could violate the secrecy of the ballot, especially for some handicapped people who must rely on others to help them vote.

Holt said the opposition from Ney and congressional leaders make it unlikely the House would take up his bill before Election Day. However, supporters hope the Senate will vote on Ensign's version of the bill.