Paper trail turns tide for voting machines

By Eric Stringfellow    The Clarion-Ledger    25 August 2005

When Secretary of State Eric Clark announced in July plans to purchase new touch-screen voting machines, he didn't seem prepared for the boo birds, especially from other Democrats.

There were a litany of concerns from a litany of sources about Diebold Election Systems, which was awarded a $15 million contract to provide 5,164 machines statewide at no cost to counties.

Critics argued Diebold was too closely linked to Republicans and that Clark chose a vendor without consulting enough individuals and organizations.

Eric Stringfellow 
The most common complaint was that the machines could not provide paper verification of votes, a component Clark said would be added with additional funding.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Bolton, called the proposed purchase "ridiculous." The Legislative Black Caucus, the NAACP, and the Mississippi Democratic Club echoed softer but similar sentiments.

Instead of resisting, Clark regrouped and renegotiated. The machines will have a paper verification component, which is great for Mississippi.

Breakthrough

The machines will include printers that will allow each vote to be verified, Clark said. "This was a major breakthrough in terms of getting a comfort level with these machines," Clark told The Clarion-Ledger Editorial Board on Monday.

Clark always wanted printers. He planned to purchase them if Congress funds the third year of reforms outlined in the Help America Vote Act of 2002. This legislation mandates that scanner, lever and punch-card machines be replaced by Jan 1.

Seventy-six counties have signed on to Clark's plan, which he dubbed "the Wal-Mart approach," because the more machines that are purchased, the cheaper the price.

And the boos have softened.

"This is a victory for the voters of Mississippi," said Derrick Johnson, state NAACP president. "It is important to voters that their votes can be verified. We need this to protect the integrity of our elections."

Thompson seemed to agree, but still sounded skeptical.

Questions remain

"It could have been much smoother and probably cheaper had specifications gone out indicating what was desired and vendors allowed to compete," he said. "Diebold has essentially created a monopoly on voting machines in Mississippi.

"But at the end of the day, at least we have a system of voting that has a paper trail. The question remains whether there will be enough spare machines and training on these machines. Have contracts been let? How will the process proceed? Will it be similar to the process by which we got these machines? Such a process will be suspect."

Clark, during the state NAACP's monthly meeting last week, said he would work to ensure that vendors hired as trainers will reflect the state's population.

The machines are expected to help reduce the residual votes, or votes that are ruled defective and are not tallied.

The machines also will feature components to assist physically challenged voters, as well as voters who can't read. "This will mark the first time that voters who can't read will be allowed to cast a private ballot," Clark said.

Still, Thompson and other critics have a great point ? about the process and the end result.