Split vote on voting machines: Montclair activists demand accessibility and accuracy

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

By ERICA ZARRA
of The Montclair Times

With the September deadline passed, Essex County has yet to make a decision in the battle of the ballot box builders.

A new state law mandates that by 2008, all electronic election machines must include voter-verifiable printed receipts, which enable citizens to double-check their ballots before officially casting them. This aims to reduce questions should a recount be needed.

Ballot boxes must abide by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which mandates that all electronic models have a paper recount, disability access, and multiple-language capabilities. A machine lacking these functions could be disqualified from consideration.

However, the bidding process has raised queries of its own as both Essex County officials and political activists deduce which model is best ? or even compliant with the evolving law.

?Although this has taken longer than anticipated, we?re getting closer to a decision,? Essex County Superintendent of Elections Carmine P. Casciano told The Times.

After briefly favoring the Liberty Elections Systems? Liberty Vote, which meets federal requirements but has only been used in Europe and is still pending state approval, Casciano is once again leaning toward the Sequoia Advantage.

?Not all of the Sequoia?s features are good, but it keeps with the law,? he said.

This logic does not satisfy the Essex County Task Force on Voting.

The group started an online petition, which has already garnered a couple hundred signatures, demanding a ballot box that employs modern voting technology and accessibility standards, can be easily and inexpensively d, and provides a voter-verified auditable paper record, as required by New Jersey law.

?It is a pity that the Attorney General?s Office did not go out and proactively seek alternatives to the Sequoia,? Task Force member and area resident Katherine Joyce said of the frontrunner, which currently accounts for 64 percent of electronic voting systems in the state.

?And delaying this recommendation certainly worries me as I thought we were on solid ground with the Liberty,? Joyce said. ?To prefer the Sequoia again is a regressive decision, and problematic for us all. I had hoped for a different outcome.?

Activists? main concern is that the Sequoia lacks an upgraded voter-verifiable paper trail and certain handicapped accessibility features, though Casciano contends the machine meets the 2002 federal accuracy standards and will comply with the latest requirements by 2008.

The Task Force has additional qualms, particularly the decision?s economic implications.

The Sequoia Advantage is a $10,000 purchase: $7,000 for the actual machine, $2,000 for printers, and $1,000 for the accessibility features, including audio headsets for the visually impaired, which the Task Force claims several other counties eradicated as they were not working properly.

Still, Task Force members assert the state has already purchased 3,000 additional Sequoia audio headsets ? before counties have made their decisions.

?Spending this much money on old equipment is wasteful,? Joyce said, referring to the Advantage?s 18-year-old internal processor.

Casciano disagreed.

?People complain that the Sequoia is old, but it works and its purpose is to count the votes, not go to the moon,? he said.

Part of Casciano?s support for the Advantage is due to his disdain for the Liberty?s under-vote function. On that machine, if a person has four options and only casts three ballots, then the machine does not immediately count the ions until reconfirmed by the voter. Casciano worries that people will push the buttons and leave without realizing they must still verify their choices.

?I?d rather choose the Sequoia because the Liberty?s under-vote feature will discount a lot of ballots,? he said.

As the clock ticks, the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders is feeling the pressure of this extremely expensive purchase. The county may lose millions of dollars in federal reimbursements if it fails to comply with federal guidelines. The freeholders have already set aside $7.5 million for the purchase of 700 electronic voting machines, of which $4 million will be refunded by the state through HAVA funds.

Retrofitting about 700 Sequoia Advantages with a paper documentation device is expected to cost an additional $1.4 million.

Sequoia manufactured more than half of all electronic ballot boxes in New Jersey. If the machines are not HAVA-compliant, then this could set off a statewide scramble to find upgraded electronic models for approval next month and installation by January 2006.

Joyce hinted at an extension to this deadline. Casciano said that if the county agrees on a model by the New Year, then it will still be reimbursed.