The Bush cabal is going to have more trouble in
Fraudida...
Palm Beach Post: California will require that its
touch-screen voting machines provide paper printouts
for each ballot cast, but Florida's top elections
official says she does not favor a similar standard
here.
P.S. Here is an extraordinary moment on SeeNotNews'
Lou Dobbs' MoneyLies: "In our poll result tonight, 97
percent of you voted to say digital voting machines
should be required to print a paper record of each
vote. Only 3 percent said no."
Save the US Constitution, Show Up for Democracy in
2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
Saturday, December 6
Florida won't require printouts of touch-screen votes
By George Bennett, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 6, 2003
California will require that its touch-screen voting
machines provide paper printouts for each ballot cast,
but Florida's top elections official says she does not
favor a similar standard here.
California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's recent
paper-trail edict is scheduled to take effect by 2006.
The action in the nation's largest state -- and
America's largest market for new voting hardware --
hands a potentially precedent-setting victory to
opponents of paperless electronic voting.
"You have to wonder if it will California-ize the
market, if paper trails will become a de facto
requirement," said Doug Chapin of Electionline.org, a
nonprofit group that monitors election reform.
As manufacturers develop ballot printers to accompany
touch screens, Florida will be "very open-minded" in
reviewing any printers submitted to the state for
certification, Secretary of State Glenda Hood said
this week. If printers are certified, Hood said,
counties would have the option of using them.
But Hood said making a paper trail a statewide
requirement is not necessary because Florida has
multiple safeguards to assure the accuracy and
security of touch screens, which are used in Palm
Beach County and 14 other counties.
"Florida has led the nation in providing security and
certification," Hood said. "At this point in time,
with the satisfaction that the supervisors continue to
show... and the fact that we haven't had complaints
from voters, I have a high confidence level."
With punch-card ballots falling from favor after the
2000 election, paperless touch-screen systems have
emerged as the leading new technology. A small but
vocal group of computer scientists, Internet posters
and other critics has charged that electronic voting
machines are susceptible to errors and fraud and need
a paper backup if questions arise about an election.
The criticisms gained attention in July with a Johns
Hopkins University report claiming security problems
with Diebold touch screens. This week, a report by the
Ohio secretary of state's office found security flaws
in touch screens made by all four of the nation's
major manufacturers. The Florida State Association of
Supervisors of Elections issued a six-page statement
last month defending touch screens and their
reliability. The association says touch screens reduce
voter errors and are more accessible for voters who
are disabled or don't speak English. Also, the
association says, paper receipts would add costs and
create "a new set of issues and challenges such as
paper jams, running out of ink and paper and the
realization that they are a mechanical piece of
equipment."
The supervisors' report accuses touch-screen critics
of "committing a huge disservice to the voting public.
The continued unfounded attacks on these systems erode
the public's confidence."
Touch-screen manufacturers have defended the accuracy
and security of their products but have also
positioned themselves to take advantage of any demand
for a paper trail.
Sequoia Voting Systems, which makes the touch screens
used in Palm Beach County, will market a ballot
printer early next year that would add about $500 to
the cost of an electronic voting machine, said company
spokesman Alfie Charles.
Elections Systems and Software, which makes the touch
screens used in 11 Florida counties, says its products
are secure and accurate. But spokeswoman Becky Vollmer
said ES&S is developing a printer "for those who would
like an added layer of confidence."
george_bennett@pbpost.com
Posted by richard at December 7, 2003 10:21 AM