Voting machines near certification, but paper ballots to be used Nov. 8
By Roman Gokhman
San Joaquin News Service    Sep 28, 2005

Twelve paper jams and 21 screen freezes are the reasons why voters will once again use paper ballots during the Nov. 8 election.

Despite county efforts to get its 96 electronic-voting machines certified this summer, several glitches - that have reportedly been fixed but still need certification - will keep the machines in storage until at least next spring, San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Deborah Hench said.

The county bought 96 TSX Voting System machines from manufacturer Diebold in 2002. They were used, successfully, for the first time in the March 2004 primary election. But the following month, the Secretary of State's Office decertified all e-voting machines in the state and mandated that that all machines have a paper audit trail.

The audit trail is a print-out that a voter looks at to make sure everything is OK, but the voter does not take the form; it is kept as information for future audits.

Last July the, the Secretary of State's office asked the county to test the entire system in a practice election.

"This test had never been done before and there was no measure of passing or failing," Hench said.

The results answered important questions such as how many rolls of paper were needed for the audit trail and what to do in case a machine fails.

A study also discovered that nine machines could have had a paper jam, which meant that out of more than 700 virtual votes, the print-outs on 12 might appear smudged. However, that would not have affected the vote itself, she said.
"The Secretary of State's Office thought that it was not good enough," she said.

Several machines also froze 21 times. While no votes or information were or would be lost, it took time to reboot, she said.

The state decided not to authorize the use of the machines until the number of errors could be reduced.

Diebold researched the problems and found both hardware and software issues. The manufacturer fixed all of them, Hench said. The machines were also tested and passed by a federal certifier.

Diebold official Marvin Singleton declined to comment on the extra work put into the machines to make sure they operate correctly. Other phone calls to the manufacturer were not returned.

The next step in the process is for the Secretary of State's Office to schedule additional tests. Hench said she believes they will be certified by November, and that all of the machines will be ready for use in a real election for the 2006 primary.