A pinball performance

Cincinnati Post    Editorial   19 April 2005

Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's efforts to replace punch card ballots with a new generation of voting machines calls to mind a machine of a different sort: a pinball machine.

What started off as an orderly process to bring Ohio into compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act has devolved into a fumble-with-the-flippers, follow-the-bouncing-ball spectacle.

Originally, after Ohio learned it would get $132 million in federal funds for the purpose, Blackwell proposed to have Ohio's 88 county election boards choose a voting system that would comply with the federal law. His office solicited proposals from vendors, tested their machines and prepared a list of those deemed qualified. The approved voting systems were essentially of two types. One was an optical scan system featuring a cardboard ballot marked with a pencil. The other was a electronic system in which voters made their picks from choices displayed on an electronic screen.

Blackwell originally wanted the new systems deployed for the 2004 general election. But challenges were filed about the security of the electronic machines Blackwell had approved. The Ohio General Assembly demanded that any new voting system include a printed receipt of the ballots cast at every machine. Electronic machines used in other states got mixed reviews.

In January, citing budgetary concerns and a need to move quickly to meet the federal deadline (states must have complaint systems by the first federal election in 2006) Blackwell hit the flippers again. He decreed that the entire state would switch to optical scan systems. That triggered complaints from local officials, lawsuits by several election boards and a declaration by Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro that Blackwell lacked authority for such a mandate.

Late last week Blackwell hit the flippers yet again. County election officials will have a choice after all, he said, between the two approved optical scan systems or an electronic system with a printer capability. So far only one vendor, the Canton-based Diebold Election Systems, has a compliant electronic system. Blackwell said the company has agreed to a price of $2,700 per machine, which is $264 less than the company's initial quote for the same system without a printer. Vendors have until May 13 to seek certification for printer-equipped electronic systems.

By all accounts, local election officials are pleased at having a choice. But it wouldn't be surprising if Blackwell has to hit the flippers again because of fresh legal challenges.

Blackwell says he's determined to have the new voting systems in place for the November 2005 elections. That's a good target. That election will feature local government, school board and judicial races. The new systems are designed to prevent overvoting, which causes the invalidation of an entire ballot because too many choices were made in a given race. In Cincinnati City Council races, where two dozen or more candidates typically contend for nine seats, about 2.5 percent of all ballots are rejected because of overvoting.

Ohio voters deserve modern, reliable voting systems. It's time to finish the game, install the upgrades and be done with it.