Record votes on paper

Lawmakers must ensure there's way to recount ballots

Opinion    Charlotte Observer   02 February 2005

A legislative committee meets Thursday to take a least one more look at proposals designed to avoid a repeat of the election fiasco in Carteret County last fall and to help restore public confidence in the electoral process. When it takes its final look at recommendations, that committee must be sure to guarantee a way to recount votes when there's a contested election result.

The Carteret County case reflects some of the state's most nagging problems. An improperly programmed electronic voting machine failed to record the votes of about 4,438 voters leaving the close race for N.C. commissioner of agriculture in limbo. While the county and the state have the names of the voters whose ballots weren't recorded, there is no specific law allowing them to revote and settle the race. And without a proper record of how those voters were cast, there's no way to include their votes in a recount, of course.

The solutions are obvious. First, the state ought to settle on a short list of voting methods that the State Board of Elections could authorize the 100 county boards of elections to use. And the state ought to provide sufficient training funds to all elections officials to make sure they understand how to program and operate voting machines.

Second, the state ought to require a paper record so that voters can verify how they voted, and authorities can use it for an accurate recount if there's an election problem. Counties that use electronic or touch-screen voting devices would have to make sure those devices printed a paper copy that election officials would keep in case of a recount. Counties that use optical scanners already have a paper copy a generally reliable way of casting ballots as well as recounting votes.

Third, the state must specifically empower the State Board of Elections to resolve voting snafus such as the Carteret County election. The board should be able to declare a two-week period in which voters whose ballots were lost can fill out new ballots, in person or by mail, and to take other common-sense steps to resolve voting problems.

Fourth, the state should authorize local boards of election to keep one-stop voting sites open through Election Day to allow properly-registered voters to cast their ballots without having to go to their home precincts. One-stop voting sites have proven popular with the public in early voting, and keeping one-stop sites open for a county's voters through election day would boost participation in elections and provide a service to voters.

Often overlooked in amid the concern over the 2004 general election is that in most cases the balloting went smoothly. What catches the news media's fancy, of course, are the foul-ups that delay naming a winner and make people wonder whether their votes counted. State and local elections officials work hard to ensure that all legitimate votes are counted. The legislature should commend them for that effort and give them the tools they need to do that critically important work better.