S.B. County voting machines test printers

October 30, 2005

By DUANE W. GANG / The Press-Enterprise

Voting machines

On Nov. 8, as voters head to the polls, a close eye will be on San Bernardino County.

Election officials from across the state and as far away as Chicago will be on hand to watch how the voting machines work in the most populous county in the nation to have a paper trail on its electronic touch-screen ballots.

The state considers the technology critical to voter security and confidence and has ordered counties to attach the printers to electronic machines by 2006.

The printers produce a paper trail like a cash register and allow voters to review their choices.

"It is a way of proofreading," said Kari Verjil, San Bernardino County's registrar of voters. "Like proofreading your homework."

San Bernardino County election officials wanted the printers installed for this November's special election in advance of the state's deadline.

Waiting to test the system in the June 2006 primary election, with more on the ballot, would have proved difficult, Verjil said.

About 200 people already have cast ballots in early voting and so far there have been no problems, Verjil said. She said she does not expect any difficulties during the election.

However, getting the system up and running was no small endeavor.

It took election workers a month last summer to retrofit the county's 4,000 electronic voting machines to accept the printers and another three weeks to test each one, said Terry Kouba, the county's interim chief election deputy.

The printers are on the left side of the voting machine and are enclosed in glass. Voters can review their choices up to two times but cannot take a printed record with them. Voters can instead get a stub that proves they voted, Kouba said.

Once voters finish casting ballots, the printouts scroll out of view, keeping the vote secret.

Each printer has a secrecy seal and a matching serial number to make sure the printouts are not tampered with.

Training began last week to teach election inspectors and clerks how to operate the machines, Verjil said.

To the Polling Places

A sea of the blue-boxed voting machines sat five and six high on pallets last week at an election warehouse waiting to be moved in 12 Enterprise rental trucks to 410 voting sites across the county.

When the machines arrive, poll workers will attach the separate printers. The machines will be programmed only to work at specific polling locations.

The county first began using electronic voting machines, without the paper trail, in the March 2004 presidential primary.

Verjil, who began work in San Bernardino County this summer, said state election officials will observe voting at sites in Ontario.

Officials from Cook County, Ill., which is considering buying machines from the same company, also are expected to observe voting in San Bernardino, Verjil said.

The paper trail boosts confidence in the voting process, particularly among older voters who are less familiar with computers, she said.

Younger voters are more trusting, she said.

Verjil recently demonstrated the voting machines to high school students.

"The kids are not used to paper," she said. "It took us a while to explain why this is necessary."

A few voters casting ballots early last week at the registrar of voters office were pleased with the process.

"That was slick," said Jennifer Snyder, 61, of Upland, who voted on an electronic machine for the first time.

The screens were big enough for older residents to read and easy to understand, she said. Her husband was glad there was a paper trail.

The printout was a way to make sure he voted the way he wanted, said Bill Snyder, 66.

Joel Halle, 71, of Fontana, who holds a master's degree in computer science, said the voting machines impressed him and gave him confidence in his vote.

"I was able to go back and correct something," he said.