Invasion of the vote-scanners
Editorials   Cincinnati Enquirer   14 January 2005

Say goodbye and good riddance to chad, hanging or otherwise. Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell pulled a surprise Wednesday by ordering that optical scanner-based paper ballots, not electronic touch-screen terminals, would become the state's standard voting system.

Blackwell called the precinct-level scanner system, which would replace the infamous punch-card systems in most Ohio counties, "the most efficient and practical way to proceed." He's right. For more than a year, the state's chief elections officer has been tag-teamed on the voting machine issue - sued for Ohio's still having punch-card ballots, yet pilloried for trying to push the counties toward new technology.

The mandate behind voting machine changes is the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which Congress passed after the 2000 Florida punch-card fiasco. It was supposed to move the states away from the error-prone cards by 2004.

Blackwell's office originally gave the counties several options among machines to be funded with the $132 million HAVA allocated to Ohio. It certified two optical scan systems along with several electronic systems, but its preference for electronic systems seemed clear. When some counties balked at the speedy timetable or what they claimed were extra costs, Blackwell chose systems for them. Meanwhile, lawmakers required that electronic systems be retrofitted at extra cost to provide a "paper trail" of each vote - in other words, to turn them into fancy printers.

In November, 71 of Ohio's 88 counties used punch cards; 11 (including Clermont County) used scanners; six used electronic systems; two used Jurassic-era lever machines. Several counties planned a switch to electronics this year or next.

But now, the state will save $80 million by adopting optical scanners instead of electronic voting machines, according to Blackwell's office. Perhaps more important, notes the state's County Commissioners Association, it's the only option that won't cost counties more money.

Scanner technology is hardly new. The process should be familiar to anyone who's taken standardized tests as a student, filling in those little ovals with a No. 2 pencil. That type of ballot provides what has become the Holy Grail of election conspiracy theorists, a verifiable paper trail.

Having a uniform system statewide should lessen accusations of disparity and voter disenfranchisement.

But since voters are making marks on paper, it's not as foolproof as electronic voting, which can prevent "overvotes" and give voters ample opportunity to correct their ballots. Optical-scan votes are slower to tabulate, too.

It's not the ideal long-term solution, but adopting optical scanners statewide should end a controversy that received far more attention than it was worth.

Ohio should concentrate on other election reforms - such as voter registration and verification, provisional ballots, polling place accessibility - so that whatever machines are used, Ohioans will be confidant that the results are fair and accurate.