Ballot box builders compete for bid

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

By ERICA ZARRA   The Montclair Times

The scene resembled an electronics trade show more than the Essex County Elections headquarters in Newark.

The July 27 demonstration, prompted by Montclair activists, allowed different voting machine manufacturers to compete for the approval of Essex County Superintendent of Elections Carmine P. Casciano, who intends to an upgraded electric model by next month.

Each vendor?s enthusiastic sales pitch ? centered on guarantees of security and reliability, combined with carefully choreographed hands-on demonstrations and glossy brochure distributions ? did little to make the decision easier for uncertain members of the Essex County Freeholders Board and citizens perusing the stations.

Initially, all three models displayed appear similar for obvious reasons. The big red handles are gone and, rather than flipping a lever, a voter presses a touch-pad.

But it was difficult for demonstration attendees to deduce which model is best, especially considering New Jersey?s continually changing requirements.

?We aren?t looking for a difficult procedure,? said Freeholder Vice President Patricia Sebold while at the demonstration. ?It?s important we make it as simple as possible for people.?

Of the three machines on hand, only the Sequoia Voting Systems? Advantage is certified for use in New Jersey.

Liberty Elections Systems? Liberty Vote meets federal requirements, but has only been used in Europe and still must present itself to the state for approval.

The Avante Vote-Trakker has neither federal nor state certification, and has never been used in an election, but is modeled after a smaller version operated in several states, including New Jersey. Last year, the Vote-Trakker was refused state certification because it lacked accreditation from one of the federally recognized independent testing labs.

However, the Avante Vote-Trakker does have an integral feature that its competitors lack: a paper trail function.

A new state law mandates that by 2008, all electronic voting machines must include voter-verifiable printed receipts, which enable citizens to double-check their ballots before officially casting them. This aims to reduce questions should a recount be needed.

Liberty displayed a prototype printer, while Sequoia Advantage representatives admit they have not yet developed the paper receipt requirement, but intend to address this within the next 12 months.

Avante and Liberty representatives said they intend to have their machines certified in New Jersey by September.

With deadlines looming, the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders is feeling the pressure of this extremely expensive purchase. They stand to lose millions of dollars in federal reimbursements if the county fails to comply. The freeholders have already set aside $7.5 million for the expenditure, of which $4 million will be reimbursed by the state through federal funds.

?We?re looking for solid technology and comfort,? Casciano said.

Casciano favors the Sequoia Advantage: ?It has a great reputation, people are familiar with it, and I believe it?s accurate. We don?t want people to be confused or afraid to vote because they don?t understand the machine.?

Casciano said it is more difficult to verify the Liberty model?s success in countries like Holland and France, while the Avante Vote-Trakker does not have a record to check.

Essex County officials have been negotiating to purchase 700 units of Sequoia?s Advantage model. Retrofitting the Sequoia machines with a paper documentation device is expected to cost $1.4 million.

Sequoia currently manufactures nearly 64 percent of all electronic ballot boxes in New Jersey.

?We want them to be full-faced, that?s definite,? Casiano said of the model that displays the entire ballot to the voter in the same way as a pull-lever voting machine.

Right now, the state Attorney General?s Office has only one full-face electronic voting machine of the six approved for use.

Though the order for a paper-trail requirement in electronic voting machines comes from the state, the demonstration was prompted by concerns closer to home.

This exhibit was scheduled after a surprise deal Casciano made with Montclair voting-rights activist Katherine Joyce during the freeholders? meeting on July 13.

Just before the freeholders authorized $7.5 million for the purchase of new voting machines, Joyce agreed that she and other members of the Essex County Task Force on Voting Rights would not convince a majority of freeholders to vote down the funding, as they did last June.

Joyce then submitted to Casciano a list of possible vendors to be invited.

Although only three out of six attended, some attendees said it was important for people to be exposed to machines other than the Sequoia.

?I loved the demonstration because it showed democracy at work,? said Montclair voting activist Trina Paulus. ?All of us, vendors, citizens, freeholders, and representatives from the Attorney General?s Office, let go of our bias for the afternoon to see what these options had to offer.?

But what disappointed Paulus was not having the full range of possible voting machines on display. She hoped a second exhibition would include certain optical scanners, which she believed is the most accurate way to vote.

?This demonstration is a good step, but we still need more time to research,? Paulus said. ?This is a major, big decision, we need to stop the clock and extend the deadline. We need time for more meetings.?

Casiano said he would delay making his recommendation to the state in case other voting machines such as the Liberty or Avante get certification. Right now, he intends to make a ion in September so the machines can be in place by Jan. 1, 2006.