Nonprofit group asks for beefed up ballot security

IOWA CITY Local election officials may face increasing costs to keep ballots and voting equipment secure before the Nov. 2 presidential election.

The Election Center, a nonprofit organization regulated by the Internal Revenue Service, has sent letters to county auditors' offices suggesting security measures officials should consider before the election.

The suggestion of increased security was rejected by the Iowa secretary of state's office, where officials said such measures aren't needed.

The Election Center suggested that 24-hour video cameras be installed anywhere voting equipment and ballots are stored, said Johnson County Auditor Tom Slockett.

The costs of such cameras could range from about $4,000 to more than $16,000, depending on the number of cameras installed, Slockett said.

"If there is not a close election, it will seem like it was excessive," Slockett said. "But if there is a close election and every action is scrutinized, people will be asking why we didn't do it."

Another suggestion is to install a lock system for the elevator that staff will use to transfer ballots from the county board room, Slockett said.

The estimated cost of such a system and key cards to provide access to the areas where ballots and voting machines are stored is $4,200.

Supervisors budgeted $477,939 for the 2004 election a 35 percent increase from 2003 but it's too soon to know if a budget amendment would be needed to cover the added costs, said Jeff Horne, county budget coordinator.

Phyllis Peters, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office, said local officials should decide what, if any, security is needed to protect ballots and voting equipment.

"But from our perspective, we have not seen those types of problems in the past and we're not recommending to counties that they need to consider this level of security," Peters said.

She said the secretary of state's office has been working with local elections officials to make sure technology is as up-to-date as possible and that election officials are well trained.

"Security can be measures like cameras, or making sure everyone is working through the procedures accurately and in a standardized way and making sure everyone's vote counts," she said.