Touchscreen optimism grows

Greg Kane    The Record Oct 13, 2005

STOCKTON San Joaquin County's top elections official hopes a recent test of touchscreen voting machines in San Diego will lead to the equipment's certification for June's primary election.

State elections officials in late September tested 100 Diebold TSx machines to monitor how they'd hold up in an actual election, county Registrar of Voters Deborah Hench said. It was the second large-scale examination in three months of the ATM-like machines, which haven't been cleared for use since the March 2004 primary.

More than 1,600 of the TSx machines have sat in a Stockton warehouse awaiting certification since that election. The county agreed to buy the equipment for $5.7 million three years ago, although only $858,000 has actually changed hands, Hench said.

California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson refused to certify the machines after a similar test in Stockton in July exposed paper jams and screen freezing problems. In the most recent exam, however, no freezes and only three jams were reported out of more than 11,000 votes cast, Hench said Wednesday.

"I'm cautiously optimistic," Hench said, adding that "there's a good chance" the machines will be certified.

McPherson on Wednesday acknowledged that the latest test "went better than the one in Stockton" but had no further details on the outcome. A report recommending whether to certify the equipment is expected to be released in the near future, and a decision could be made by late November, he said. 
The machines were banned after San Diego and Alameda counties reported problems during the March 2004 primary. A state edict that each ballot cast leave a paper trail also forced officials to retool some of the equipment.

The Nov. 8 special election will feature paper ballots in San Joaquin County.

McPherson last week outlined a series of conditions that voting systems must meet before being considered for state elections. Those include a guideline that the systems undergo "volume testing" similar to what the TSx has seen in recent months.

A new division overseeing voter system technology has also been under the secretary of state's office, McPherson said. A nationwide search is under way to appoint a director for that office.

The action will have little effect on San Joaquin County and its touchscreen equipment, since all of the requirements have already been met, said Kim Alexander, president and founder of the Davis-based California Voter Foundation. The new set of rules ensures that companies have all the bugs worked out before they market equipment to California counties, she said.

McPherson "wants to make sure that counties aren't stuck with a lemon," Alexander said.

San Joaquin, San Diego and Kern counties are the only state jurisdictions to hold onto the TSx machines. Alameda County used the equipment in 2004 but has since switched to another provider.

When nearly 100 machines were tested in Stockton in late July, 10 percent reported paper jams and others suffered screen freezes that required rebooting. McPherson denied the system's certification soon after but left Diebold with the option to try again.

Hench has said San Joaquin County never had problems with the equipment during an election. The county plans to hold onto most of the $5.7 million it agreed to spend on the 1,625 machines until the certification issues are cleared.