Paper trail could safeguard Wis. electronic voting system
By Brittany Jones   The Daily Cardinal   October 14, 2005

State legislators presented a bill that would amend Wisconsin's electronic voting system to the Committee on Campaigns and Elections Thursday.

The bill requires new electronic voting machines throughout Wisconsin to generate a complete paper ballot and provide any coding used in the machines' software to the public.

In the public hearing, State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and State Sen. Jeffrey Plale, D-South Milwaukee, voiced their support of Assemby Bill 627. With new electronic voting machines being implemented, the legislators stressed the need for a paper trail.

"People [need to] know their vote is going to count," Pocan said. He added the requirements for paper records will preserve the public's confidence in the government.

Plale praised the new electronic machines as "wonderful, quick, and easy to use," but asked the committee to "imagine the possibilities" of hacking or damage to the voting machines without a paper trail.

"[New machines] could disenfranchise thousands of people with something as simple as a power surge," Plale said.

Under the Help America Vote Act, each polling location in Wisconsin must have voting systems for individuals with disabilities, including non-visual accessibility for the blind and visually impaired by Jan. 1, 2006.

The State Elections Board has budgeted $18 million to purchase new equipment for the HAVA standards. Legislators supporting the bill want to make sure the new equipment provides the most accurate voting system possible for Wisconsin.

State Rep. Stephen Freese, R-Dodgeville, chair of the committee, pointed out how Illinois has implemented similar laws, and would like to "mirror" those. Freese also questioned who would be providing the new voting equipment.

"We want to make sure we have competition on who makes the machines," Freese said.

State Rep. Robin Vos, R-Burlington, asked if the bill would apply to districts without electronic voting machines already in place, including his own district.

Plale cited the HAVA requirements and said most counties are required to have touch-screen machines implemented soon.

The committee's vice chair, State Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, voiced concern on technical problems with the new machines.

"What happens if the machine screws up, and you find out [after the election] there was some computer glitch?" Gundrum asked.

Plale pointed out how the paper ballots would "build that extra safeguard."

"[We're] trying to prevent a problem before it occurs," Plale said.