January 4, 2008 - Wanting to avoid a repeat of the 2000 presidential elections, in which pictures of people hand counting Florida ballots and looking for hanging CHADs were indelibly etched in the minds of most Americans, Congress acted. They passed a law which essentially requires all states to implement computerized voting systems by 2010. But now several states have decertified equipment that they have already purchased and others may follow. The question is, "Does electronic voting bring with it the possibility of someone stealing the election?" The answer will probably make you very uncomfortable.

For more that two centuries, Americans have voted by secret, paper ballots. When an election is too close, or if an impropriety is suspected, there are rules that can be used to trigger a recount of those ballots. But what do you do when there are no ballots? When all of the voting has been logged and recorded as computer data and there is no paper trail?

This is a question that more and more states are starting to ask. It led California to decertify a variety of electronic voting machines earlier this year. Reasons for this move included the fact that some of the machines didn't provide voters with a paper record of their vote, and that the source code used by the machines was not available to the state for review. According to the machine's manufacturers, that is because the computer code they use is proprietary to them. There is only one problem with that logic. If no outside parties can review the code, then there is no way to confirm that the code is working properly or tabulating votes accurately.

After California's move, Colorado followed suit. In Colorado, the Secretary of State has decertified 3 out of 4 brands of voting machines owned by various governments across the state. Also banned were two types of machines used to count paper ballots. The reason for the ban was because the machines had problems with both "security and accuracy"; both real issues when it comes to the integrity of elections.

Ohio is also reviewing its electronic voting machines and will likely decertify them prior to the presidential election.

At the same time, West Virginia has said that it is comfortable using its electronic machines; which are some of the same types that have been decertified by Colorado. This is disconcerting since a number of independent organizations that have reviewed electronic voting machines have found that some of them can be easily hacked, and in some cases, actual votes can be changed.

Tests have also found that data entered into the machines can be intercepted on mobile devices if the machines are setup to transmit data on a wireless network. This poses not only concerns about the integrity of the voting process, but it also leads to some large issues involving privacy. The basis of the American voting system is that ballots are supposed to be secret. Once that secrecy is violated, the entire system is open to manipulation by vote purchasing schemes, extortion, etc...

The decertification of equipment in Colorado may create some real problems for the state. They may not have enough time or the resources to go back to paper ballots so the state is considering forcing all residents to vote by mail. Currently, Oregon is the only state that does this.

These issues are also creating problems for the federal government. So far, more than $3 billion has been spent at the federal level to help the states convert to electronic voting systems. As it turns out, a good deal of that money appears to have been completely wasted.

Because the primary season is upon us, ACCESS wants you to know that all electronic voting machines are not created alike. If your poling place offers the option of electric or paper ballots, choose paper. If you don't have that option, then try to insure that any electronic voting machine that you use provides a paper receipt.

To get information about the types of machines that will be used in your area, call your local registrar of voters. They should be able to tell you. If you are not happy with the answers you get, then consider voting by absentee ballot. It may be too late to do this for the primary depending upon what state you live in, but it is something that you should consider in elections going forward.

by Jim Malmberg

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