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Paper trail of voting devices a hot topic Some fear lack of physical record could be this year's hanging chad
By PETE SLOVER / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN – Four years after Americans learned all too much about the imperfections of their voting systems, the effort to replace punch-card machines is still plagued by questions of accuracy and fairness. Then, "chads" were the offending party. This time, the battle is over the widespread lack of a "voter verifiable audit trail" – a paper record for machines that store and tabulate votes only electronically. Congress required states to replace punch-card machines in an election-reform package after the Florida debacle of 2000. When it comes to touch-screen and other electronic voting, advocates want a paper printout that voters could check before their vote is finalized. The record could also be used to recount or audit the machines' accuracy. Local elections officials, though, cite concerns over privacy and cost. Texas has a larger-than-average stake in the question of whether electronic voting machines produce a paper record. The state is well ahead of the rest of the country in converting punch-card balloting to electronic voting. Nearly half of registered Texas voters will vote electronically, compared with less than one-third of voters nationwide. Texas authorities haven't certified any electronic systems with paper trails for use here. Bipartisan consensus The lack of a paper trail is a big enough issue here that the platforms of both the Democratic and Republican state parties this year include a call for a paper-trail requirement – a rare bipartisan consensus. The two parties find common ground in their distrust of so-called black-box machines, which allow no independent verification. But they come at the issue from different angles. Republicans warn of government getting even bigger, with federally imposed technology limiting state officials' and precinct workers' roles in conducting elections. Texas Republicans coupled their stance against paperless voting with a call for a repeal of the Help America Vote Act, which, their platform says, "unconstitutionally dictates to the states the manner of administrating elections." Democrats see the paperless machines as ripe for GOP dirty tricks, hacking and tampering, pointing to a controversy in which the chairman of Diebold Inc., the largest manufacturer of electronic voting machines, pledged to help President Bush win Ohio. He has since apologized, and the company's executives have pledged to refrain from political activity. In their platform this year, Texas Democrats said paper trails would "protect our democracy from Republican campaign activities that violate our core democratic values." A Democratic congressman who has filed a bill to require paper trails and spot-testing of machines in all federal elections points out that his proposal has bipartisan support and is similar to other measures filed by Republicans. "There's no reason why it should be a partisan matter," said Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey. "We're taking about more reliable elections and better recounts." Opposition to rules But opposition to the paper-trail requirement has come from several quarters. Some Republicans are wary of an issue they see as a Democratic reaction to the Florida outcome. Some voting machine companies – especially those that don't have paper-producing machines ready to go – have treated the push for paper receipts as an implicit criticism of their products. The 2002 Help America Vote Act bans punch cards and lever machines as of November 2006 and requires improved access for voters with disabilities – notably those with impaired vision. Election administrators have said that the new paperless machines are already secure and more dependable than their predecessors. Anne McGeehan, who directs the elections division of the Texas Secretary of State's office, pointed out that the Texas Legislature considered and rejected a requirement for paper trail machines in 2001. She said voting reform activists hold many misconceptions about the "hackability" of the new machines. "Many of those advocates don't give the full picture of all the safeguards in place," she said. "That's completely wrong. [The machines] aren't connected to the Internet. There's no way you can do that." Some local officials worry that printers would add too much cost, complexity and maintenance to county election budgets already stretched beyond the $4 billion allocated by the federal government for new machines. And advocates for the disabled have expressed concern about mandated paper trails just as disabled voters are gaining the power to cast their ballots unassisted. They say there's no way for vision-impaired voters to enjoy the benefits of the paper trail with current technology without compromising the independence that is a central goal of the voting reform measure. Growing interest The paper trail issue has grown beyond its initial audience of policy wonks, techno-geeks and elections officials. It's captured a nationwide, grass-roots constituency. Current optical-scan technology – in which a voter marks a piece of paper that is read by a machine – provides a physical trail and could be modified to accommodate disabled voters at a lower cost than the new electronic machines, said Stanford University computer science professor David Dill. Dr. Dill, who founded VerifiedVoting.org to push for paper requirements, disputes figures that suggest electronic machines are more accurate than optical scan devices. "The vendors have been very successful in persuading people that these shiny new machines are the wave of the future," he said. "They have a general emotional appeal to modernity." The League of Women Voters initially endorsed electronic voting but rescinded its support this summer after hundreds of angry members voiced concern about the lack of paper records. Nevada has already required a paper trail for electronic voting, and several other states are moving toward that goal. Mr. Holt, the sponsor of the federal paper-trail measure, says his bill is stalled in a committee because of Republican opposition. But, he predicted, the 2004 presidential election will tip the scale. "There will be some irregularities: You can count on it," Mr. Holt said. "There will be a nationwide outcry for another wave of voting reform. So I believe that my legislation will be part of that – especially if Republicans feel votes were not counted properly."
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