Coalition for Voting Integrity considers electronic voting
By: KRISTI FUNDERBURK     Newtown Advance   07/06/2005
   
After an introductory speech on the importance of voting, a troubling microphone delayed the Coalition for Voting Integrity-sponsored forum last Monday evening, causing a room of Bucks County residents to become even more skeptical of the possibility of switching from lever to electronic voting machines.
Mary Ann Gould, co-chairwoman of the Coalition, arranged the forum, which was held in the Bucks County
Courthouse in Doylestown, to exemplify the significance of the voting issue and of the options citizens have with funding from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
"I think Bucks County does have an excellent reputation for using lever machines," Gould said. "Now the question is, do we keep them? There are several options, some of them very problematic. The last thing
anybody here wants is a worse situation."
HAVA was born after several problems with the electronic voting machines popped up in the 2000
presidential election. The money provided is to fund the replacement of old voting machines to ensure every vote is registered and counted.
Awaiting county officials' decision of which option is best, experts introduced their own studies and
theories of which machines work versus machines that do not. Panelists included Dr. Rebecca Mercuri,
forensic computer scientist and president and CTO of Notable Software, Inc.; Beth Feehan, voter activist; Teresa Hommel, computer professional and election integrity activist; Marybeth Kuznik, poll worker; and Michelle Mulder, counsel to Congressman Rush Holt. Bob Moore, a member of the Coalition for Peace Action in Princeton, N.J., and Sheila Green, who successfully decertified electronic machines in Beaver County, Penn., were scheduled but unable to attend the forum.
The panelists were able to show the disadvantages of electronic voting machines with a demonstration and
also retellings of their own experiences. Hommel set up a Fraudulent Voting Machine to demonstrate why
e-voting machines do not work. The program offers two candidates in a presidential race: John Doe and Mary Smith. In Hommel's "real election," a voter can choose Doe every time, but Smith will still win because the machine reverses the tallies. Without an audit, Hommel explained, the election director would see no errors since the number of voters is equal to the number of ballots. "Nobody's computers are secure. I am a devotee of levers. Lever machines are the hardest to tamper with," she said.
To several audience members, Hommel's demonstration was enough to understand the problems with electronic voting. Bucks County resident Tom Ulrich was an example.
"I think in the demonstration she did she said it all," he said. "We have to think seriously. This
should be appalling to all Americans."
But the explanations by other panelists intrigued the audience to stay for more. Mulder broke down what HAVA really means, Kuznik illustrated the options if the lever is kept and the best options if the lever is to be replaced, Feehan explained the importance of the issue for citizens, and Mercuri clarified the facts that no one can ensure the security of a computer.
Resident Nancy Thomer said she was surprised with the amount of information provided by the all-female panel. "I'm extremely glad I came and I think it's interesting we have five people and all were women,"
Thomer said. "Everyone knew what they were talking about, they knew the topic and could put it across in
terms we know."