Registrar Says Bill Won?t Drive Up Election Costs

Thursday, September 22, 2005

By Brett Rowland    Hollister Freelance

Hollister - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering whether to sign into law a bill that would require election officials to create a paper trail to audit the results of electronic voting.

The bill, SB 370, authored by State Senator Debra Bowen, (D-Redondo Beach), would build upon an existing law that requires all electronic voting machines used as of 2006 to produce a paper trail that voters can use to verify that their votes have been recorded correctly.

Starting with the June, 2006 primary, San Benito County voters will be able to cast ballots via electronic touch-screen voting machines that provide voters and election officials with a paper record of each vote. Voters can test the machines at the San Benito County Fair, Sept. 29 to Oct. 2.

SB 370 would force election officials to use the paper trail to conduct the standard 1 percent manual recount required by state law. Currently, electronic records are used to meet that requirement, which is intended to ensure accuracy.

?The 1 percent manual count law ... can?t be complied with,? Bowen has said. ?Election officials have begun relying on the electronic machine?s own tally to do the manual count, which only serves to undermine the law designed to provide an independent audit of California?s election results.?

The governor has not taken a position on the bill, but the California Association of Clerks & Elections Officials is opposed to the law on the grounds that it will drive up the cost of elections without being fail-safe.

Although he hasn?t read the full text of the bill, San Benito County Registrar John Hodges doesn?t believe it will raise the price of local elections.

?I am told that it will not cost any more than previous years,? Hodges said.

Hodges said he isn?t sure if the new machines will be any more accurate or efficient than the old punch cards.

?Our old machine, which has been banned by the federal government, was a darn good machine and I hated to see it go, but the new touch-screen is the latest technology in voting being used throughout the country.?

The county received $800,000 in federal money to purchase the new voting system, which is also used by Santa Clara and Monterey Counties, Hodges said. In addition to the touch-screen machines, voters will also be able to use paper ballots that, unlike punch cards, require votes to circle their ions.

?The effectiveness of these machines has yet to be seen, but to be in compliance (with the law) these are the only two options,? Hodges said. ?We don?t have much of a choice.?

Although voters have a choice between two voting methods, Hodges predicts there will be long lines for the touch-screen machines.

Staff writer Matt King contributed to this report.