State: Counties to meet deadline on voting systems

By Nancy Petersen   Philadelphia Inquirer    11 August 2005

HERSHEY - State election officials said yesterday they were confident that counties would be able to meet the end-of-the-year deadline for purchasing new electronic voting systems that meet federal standards.

"I want to assure you that the Department of State understands how essential it is to review and certify systems as soon as possible," said Pedro A. Cort?s, secretary of the commonwealth.

Cort?s, speaking at the annual convention of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, said that so far only one system has been certified by the state, but reports on several others are pending.

Delays at the federal level and confusion over guidelines have slowed down the certification process at the state level, Cort?s said.

He said the state will not accept for certification any system that has not been reviewed and certified - or at the very least is in the pipeline - at the federal level first.

Further delaying the process is the shortage of qualified independent consultants who can conduct tests on the systems.

"People with the technical know-how and the credentials are in high demand," Cort?s said. Every state in the country is undergoing the same countdown, he said.

Under the Help America Vote Act adopted by Congress in 2002 in response to problems with voting machines in the 2000 election, counties are required to replace all punch-card and lever voting machines with certified systems by Dec. 31, 2005.

To comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, each precinct is required to have at least one machine that will allow people with disabilities to cast their votes without help.

The law requires that the systems have to be up and running, election workers trained, and voters educated on how to use the machines by the next federal election - the May 2006 primary.

Bucks County Commissioner James F. Cawley said the deadline is unrealistic. He said Bucks is required to replace more than 1,000 lever machines that have worked perfectly for years. "We want to make sure these systems are screened and vetted before we make any decision," he said. "If that takes more time, so be it."

Delaware County also uses lever machines.

Chester County is the only county in the Philadelphia area, and one of 11 statewide, that still uses punch-card ballots. It, too, will be required to replace its entire system.

In Montgomery County, voters use a system developed by Sequoia Voting Systems which, with the addition of an audio component for the visually impaired, should make it compliant with the law, said Joe Passarella, director of Montgomery County Voter Services.

A report on the Guardian system by Danaher Corp. which is used in Philadelphia is pending.

None of the systems the state is certifying is required to have a paper receipt for voters showing how they cast their ballot because the state election code doesn't require it, Cort?s said.

Passarella said that such "paper trails" are fraught with problems. "If you are going to give a paper receipt, others can see how you voted," he said. "I think it takes away from the integrity of the vote."

Doug Tinkey of the Department of General Services said he plans to have a cooperative purchasing contract ready to go by Sept. 1 that will have at least 12 certified systems on it. Under the terms of the contract, counties could buy their systems without going through a competitive bidding process, he said.

"It will speed up the process but it will give counties a good deal," he said. "They will have good support, good training and good delivery so they can have their systems up and running by May 2006."