|
Counties worry about paper trail Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/6849670.htmhttp://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/6849670.htm
Posted on Wed, Sep. 24, 2003
High-tech election gear about to go?
Even chads are looking good to Broward leaders, who are considering dumping their electronic voting machines for a lower tech system.
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD
Miami Herald
California counties under pressure to abandon punch-card voting may be able to pick up a bargain from Broward commissioners, who are now talking about getting rid of the county's two-year-old, $17.2 million touch-screen voting system.
After saying ''so long, chad'' and embracing touch-screen voting equipment, Broward commissioners are thinking about replacing their electronic equipment with an optical-scan system that leaves a paper trail.
''We might,'' said Commissioner Ilene Lieberman.
Commissioners want a report on how to retrofit their 5,200 touch-screen machines to print out paper records.
But, they reasoned, if the price is right, why not trade microchips for pencil and paper? At an estimated cost of $1,000 per touch-screen machine to add printers, some commissioners say they could sell off the high-tech system and buy the cheaper optical-scan equipment. It achieves the same result, commissioners point out: a paper record of votes.
''People want a printed piece of paper showing what they voted for,'' said Commissioner Lori Parrish. ``People want a hard copy of something for a recount.''
Federal courts in California have struggled over whether to allow punch-card systems to be used in the Oct. 7 recall election, even as counties across the U.S. are under federal mandate to upgrade aging voting systems. And as more states discard old systems and go shopping, computer scientists and election activists have pointed out security concerns with electronic voting equipment.
Especially alarming to many was a Johns Hopkins University report that questioned the security of systems made by Diebold Election Systems -- which are not used in South Florida.
''It appears that there are ways to hack into these computers,'' said Commissioner John Rodstrom. ``Even if you can't, folks think you can. I think you can, and that absolutely bothers me.''
''It's true. The public does not trust what they cannot see,'' said Margaret Nelson, a Pembroke Pines voter who spoke up at Tuesday's meeting.
But officials with Elections System & Software of Nebraska, which sold Broward and Miami-Dade their voting equipment, was quick to separate itself from Diebold. They emphasized their confidence in the security of the ES&S systems, but said they're worried about widespread questioning of touch-screen security.
''That's obviously not a good thing,'' said Todd Urosevich, a vice president of customer support for ES&S. ``It's not a good thing for the electorate, it's not a good thing for election administrators and it's not a good thing for the vendors.''
All but 15 of Florida's 67 counties use optical-scan equipment. Voters use a pencil to mark paper ballots similar to the test cards used by students; the ballots are counted by tabulation equipment that reads the marks.
Optical scan ballots can't prevent voter mistakes, but Florida law requires a scanner in every precinct. Cards are run through the scanner while the voter waits, and if there are two votes for one office, or other ambiguous reponses, the machine kicks out the card and voters can make corrections.
Commissioners say they're returning to the position they held two years ago when the Legislature ordered Florida counties to replace the punch-card systems after their performance came under fire during the 2000 presidential recount.
Optical-scan systems are generally much cheaper than touch-screen systems. When Broward County spent $17.2 million on touch-screens, estimates for optical scan systems were $5 to $7 million.
At that time, commissioners were very wary of Supervisor of Elections Miriam Oliphant's push for touch-screen systems. They complained that the equipment she wanted lacked a paper trail for a recount, would be quickly outdated and above all, was expensive.
But Oliphant rallied condominium leaders and advocates for the disabled, who argued that touch-screen voting gave blind people their first chance ever to vote a secret ballot.
Broward commissioners, overwhelmed by Oliphant's grass-roots efforts and still sensitive about the 2000 presidential recount, eventually changed their minds. Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties -- equally under the spotlight in the election -- also purchased touch-screen systems.
Tuesday, Oliphant pointed out that she had recommended a different touch-screen system, not the ES&S iVotronic machines the county eventually bought. And adding paper ballots to the existing equipment is just another costly endeavor, Oliphant said.
''We have one of the most expensive voting machines being used,'' Oliphant said. ``The paper receipt? That's additional money.''
The whole discussion Tuesday made some commissioners recall fondly their time with punch cards. But not Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger, a member of the canvassing board that examined thousands of hanging and pregnant chads while the country waited for a result in the presidential election.
''Those punch cards don't look so bad,'' Rodstrom said.
''They do to me!'' Gunzburger said.
|
|
