Touch-screen voters feel exposed

By Lori Buttars     The Salt Lake Tribune    05 October 2005

  
FARMINGTON - Don't toss out those old voting booths just yet.
    Farmington residents who tried out new electronic voting machines in Tuesday's primary elections generally gave the devices positive reviews, but say they felt, well, a little naked.
    "It was like standing in the shower with no curtain," said David Stone as he left Farmington City Hall after casting his first electronic vote.
    The Diebold machines - which will be installed at voting precincts throughout Utah by 2006 - sit atop stands and have tilt-top screens and plastic covers that can be adjusted. But some
Related Articles  
Oct. 4 Primary Results
Primary Elections: Mayors of Murray, Sandy win first round
voters felt they lacked privacy.
    "I was worried the people behind me could see who I voted for," DeAnn Stone said. "We have neighbors who are running, and I could see where that would be awkward."
    Still, most voters praised the touch-screen machines for their ease and efficiency.
    Election judges happily explained the machines to each voter, answering questions from a pamphlet they received during a training session.
    "It was pretty slick, a little like doing my online banking," Michelle Maxfield said. "The only thing I worried about was if I pushed the screen hard enough and then there was that little review at the end that told me if I did."
    The machines allow voters to review their choices before casting their electronic ballots.
    Some voters said a bigger election would give them a better idea about the new system. Farmington, the first Utah city to use the new machines, had only three races Tuesday.
    "There were only three buttons to push so it wasn't difficult," Warren Toone said. "If there were a lot of people or propositions to vote for, it could get confusing."
    Other voters don't trust the technology, especially in a day of bank fraud and identity theft.
    "I never liked the punch system," said Carolyn Lamb, who prefers marking an "X" by the candidate's name. "But I'm still suspicious of these. Looks like someone could hack into it and fix the election to me."
    Election judge Sally Clark explained to Lamb that each box contains an individual memory card. As a backup, voters can check a printout of their vote before it scrolls back inside to a sealed cannister, which would be opened only in the event of a recount.
    That didn't satisfy Lamb, who said it was impossible to know just what the judges were doing when they "activated" the voting card. The reusable cards are reprogrammed by the election clerk and given out after each voter signs in.
    "They could be programming it to say whatever they wanted it to say," Lamb said.
    And what would happen in a power outage or if one of the machines were to be unplugged?
    "They all have battery backups that last three hours," judge Dianne Wheeler said. "We would shut half of them off and use the other ones until they stared to wear down. See, they all have indicators that change colors as the batteries wear down."
    Brigham City will join Farmington in using the Diebold system in the Nov. 8 general election.