Travis County Reports Success With Voting Machines

KXAN-TV   21 January 2005  

While some states reported problems with their electronic voting machines in the last election, officials in Travis County have nothing but good things to say about the machines that Austin voters used.

Now the company that made those electronic voting machines has made them even more secure.

E-Slates, the electronic voting machines used in Travis County, just got a significant upgrade.

"We've made some significant improvements in the security of our electronic voting system," Michelle Shafer with Hart InterCivic said.

E-Slates creator, Hart InterCivic of Austin, has teamed with Symantec, one of the world-wide leaders in computer security.

"Voting system security has been a hot button topic over the past two years. So it's something people are very concerned about and focused on. That's another reason we want to do everything possible to have the most secure product on the market," Shafer said.

In addition to Travis County, E-Slate voting machines were used in Houston, Fort Worth and nine other states besides Texas.

"No our machines were not used in Ohio during this election," Shafer said.

In fact, Shafer says the E-slates got rave reviews. If you don't believe Shafer, just ask Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir.

"I'm very satisfied. I think our voters are well cared for with this kind of system," DeBeauvoir said.

"Hart InterCivic is one of the companies that's not been burdened with some of the problems that have plagued other companies in this field," DeBeauvoir said.

The E-Slate security improvements were not mandated by any federal or state agency. The folks at Hart InterCivic say they're just interested in keeping their voting machines ahead of the curve in both performance and security.

"We really feel strongly about the security of the system. It's good, but you're always looking for improvements because of the bad guys, you know, the hackers and all those kinds of people," Shafer said.

DeBeauvoir says the E-Slate past performances and new improvements give her some Texas bragging rights as she heads to Washington D.C. next month for a federal panel examining election equipment and security standards.

"I think so, but not so much that we get to brag, but because we've proven that it works," DeBeauvoir said.

Hart InterCivic officials say none of the security improvements will interfere with the ease of use of the machines.

The new, security improvement software will be installed on all of the county's E-Slate machines sometime this year.