'Independent audit' of new voting machines ordered

By MAUREEN HAYDEN Evansville Courier & Press November 9, 2004

The Vanderburgh County Commissioners voted unanimously to conduct an "independent audit" of the Nov. 2 election results, following complaints about possible malfunctions of the county's touch-screen voting machines. Reports of breakdowns of the machines and long voter lines that forced some voters to wait up to three hours to cast their ballots set the stage for the decision at Monday's meeting.

The commissioners agreed to seek proposals this week from information-security firms that specialize in elections and agreed to appoint a Republican and a Democrat to help oversee the audit process.  
"We need to make sure this equipment was working properly," said commissioners president Catherine Fanello, who last week issued a call for an independent evaluation of the performance of voting equipment used in the election. Fanello cited a series of complaints from election workers and voters, as well as reports around the country of other counties confronting problems with their touch-screen voting machines.Vanderburgh County is leasing the machines under a five-year, $2.9 million agreement.

Among the complaints Fanello said she'd heard was that the machines, manufactured by Election Systems & Software, malfunctioned for some who tried to cast "straight-party" ballots. Some who cast straight-party Democratic ballots saw their votes show up as votes for the Republican Party. Despite assurances from a company official that the equipment had passed federal standards and had withstood rigorous testing, Fanello said any computer-based technology has the potential to go awry.

"If you can hack into the Pentagon, surely anything can happen to touch-screen voting machines,'' said Fanello.

Robb McGinnis, a representative from Election Systems & Software, disagreed, saying his company's equipment and software had passed rigorous testing, including hacking attempts by computer experts. He acknowledged problems in the Nov. 2 election stemming from equipment that had to be rebooted, either by county elections officials or by company representatives. But he blamed "user error" for most of the problems.

County Clerk Marsha Abell said many poll workers failed to show up for training on the machines.

McGinnis said he "welcomed" an independent audit, though he didn't think it was necessary. Chuck Meny, who voted at a polling place in McCutchanville, said it took almost three hours for him and his wife to cast their ballots. Meny called for the commissioners to rethink their commitment to touch-screen voting. County Recorder Betty Knight Smith told the commission that her daughter had to wait three hours before she could cast her vote at a polling place in Scott Township.

"My daughter waited three hours, and the reason she did that was because her mother was on the ballot," said Smith, who won re-election. Commission member David Mosby, a Democrat who lost his bid for county commissioner to Cheryl Musgrave, voted for the independent audit, as did the sole Republican on the commission, Suzanne Crouch. Mosby said his vote should not be interpreted as a request for a recount. "As far as I'm concerned the election is over,'' said Mosby. "I just want citizens to have confidence in the voting process."