It’s fair to say that voter confidence has waned since hanging chads, butterfly ballots and court orders settled the outcome of the 2000 presidential election.
This year, some election experts are raising a red flag about the reliability of electronic voting machines that are being used in Colorado and elsewhere around the country, some for the first time. Some experts believe the new technology can fail or be tampered with – and manipulated to affect the results of an election.
In less than seven weeks, voters will choose a new Congress, and Colorado has a full slate of state and local races. This close to Election Day, the choice of voting systems should be a settled issue. However, lawsuits have been filed in at least eight states, including Colorado, challenging the security of voting machines.
The Colorado case is scheduled for trial today before in Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares. The lawsuit seeks to ban widespread use of four types of machines on grounds that they are not secure. It was filed by 13 Colorado voters who are registered Democrats, Republicans, independents and Green Party members. This suit and some others are coordinated by a California group called Voter Action.
Mike Williams, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, says he will ask the judge to allow only one direct-recording electronic machine per polling place so Colorado can comply with the federal law that requires polling places be accessible to handicapped voters. Other voters would use paper ballots that would be tallied using optical scanners. Williams acknowledged that the judge has already made it known he is “uncomfortable” imposing a ban on any use of the machines.
Kristen Holtzman, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said “we will argue on behalf of the secretary of state’s office that the machines provide as much security as any other available voting method. They tested well in the primary, and the electronic printout is an important barrier against tampering or fraud.”
Douglas County Clerk and Recorder Carole Murray, head of the Colorado county clerks association, said that while it would be possible for the clerks to prepare paper ballots, there isn’t time to train poll workers on how to handle them. Moreover, she said, many counties got rid of scanners when they bought new touch-screen machines earlier this year. Murray believes any concerns can be dealt with by the counties, including security.
The lawsuits reflect broader concern. In July, the House Science Committee heard testimony from witnesses who said it is easy for even a relatively unsophisticated person to hack into a machine. But a potentially bigger problem involves programming errors.
The era of electronic voting is upon us, and technology and security arrangements deserve extreme scrutiny. Any of us whose PCs have been hacked or corrupted can easily imagine problems that could hang up an election. It’s imperative for election officials to put these systems under a microscope in November, when they meet their first major test, assuming they overcome the court challenges now underway.
