Schwarzenegger signs bill banning paperless voting systems

RACHEL KONRAD

Associated Press  28 September 2004

SAN FRANCISCO - In a major victory for computer scientists and voter advocates, a new bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bans the use of electronic voting machines that don't produce paper records of every ballot cast.

The bill, which Schwarzenegger signed Monday, requires a voter-verified paper record in all counties statewide by the 2006 primary. Voters will not be able to touch or keep the records, but county registrars will keep them in lock boxes in case of recounts or audits.

Voting rights experts praised the bill, which prohibits the secretary of state from certifying new paperless systems after January 1, 2005. It also bans counties from purchasing such systems after January 1, 2006.

Legislators in nearly two dozen states have introduced similar bills. New Hampshire, Illinois and Oregon require paper backups in manual recounts, but those states have few, if any, touch-screen voting terminals.

By contrast, about 4.5 million registered voters in 10 California counties are eligible to vote on paperless terminals in November, representing one in 10 of all voters nationwide who cast electronic ballots. California is home to touch-screens by all major manufacturers - Election Systems & Software Inc., Sequoia Voting Systems Inc., Diebold Inc., and Hart InterCivic Inc.

"This will definitely help advance the paper trail issue elsewhere," said Kim Alexander, president of California Voter Foundation. "California represents a huge part of the voting equipment market, and all the major vendors have equipment here. If they want to keep their business here, they'll have to come up with a paper trail feature."

After a series of failures with paperless machines earlier this year, elections officials - from county registrars to the chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission - have expressed doubts about paperless systems.

In San Diego County's March primary, touch-screens failed to start properly after a power surge, disenfranchising an unknown number of voters who were turned away from the polls. Software bugs displayed the wrong ballots in some Orange County precincts.

Senior election administrators in Washington, Missouri and Ohio have asked for paper trails starting in 2006. Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller oversaw a Sept. 2 primary that provided paper records of ballots cast in almost every county.

E-voting critic Jim March called California's new law "a wonderful bill." The former computer system administrator is suing Diebold, alleging that the company installed shoddy and uncertified software in California's October recall election.

"This bill provides for a voter-verifiable paper audit trail, which we believe is one of the key reforms necessary to make electronic voting work," March said Tuesday.