Optical-scan systems are best choice for voting
By AIMEE ALLAUD    Opinion   The Buffalo News

7/21/2005  
 
 In a recent oped article in The Buffalo News, Jeffrey Zaino of the American Arbitration Association questioned whether New York State would be ready for the 2006 elections. Zaino's concern is shared by the League of Women Voters of New York State.

Passing legislation that would pave the way for timely implementation of new voting machines in New York State has been a league priority for the past two years.

The delay by the Legislature until June in addressing this issue means that elections in 2006 may occur under less than optimal conditions as elections officials and voters will not have the necessary time to be trained in the application of new identification procedures and the use of new equipment.

A primary goal of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) has been to enable states to improve their election administration by providing funding for that purpose.

Elections officials and voters should be aware that voting machines are only a single component in a larger system.

Many of the risks inherent in the use of particular voting systems - optical scanners, punch card systems, lever machines and electronic systems - can be substantially reduced by improving such management practices as personnel training and by instituting rigorous administrative procedures, such as chain of custody protocols.

A comprehensive statewide voter education program will be mandatory for success.

The state League of Women Voters supports the use of precinct-based optical-scan voting systems. We believe they best meet the following criteria: secure, accurate, recountable and accessible. They are currently in use in 36 percent of precincts in the U.S. and by 35 percent of registered voters in such states as Minnesota, Michigan, Oklahoma and West Virginia.

Optical scan is a mature technology, in contrast to electronic voting equipment. Optical-scanning systems are used for standardized tests and for New York State Lottery tickets. Optical scan is a paper-based system that produces a countable ballot in contrast to an electronic voting machine.

If mechanical, electrical or human error causes interruptions to the voting process, voters can continue to vote on paper ballots that will be securely retained until they can be counted.

In addition, a possible consequence of choosing electronic voting machines might be that because of their complexity, elections officials would decide to contract with voting machine vendors to conduct the operation of all machine-related functions of elections, from programming and maintenance to the counting of votes.

Such actions would risk a loss of voter confidence in the integrity of our voting system. The conduct of elections is the responsibility of government, not the private sector.