Time to Outlaw Paperless Electronic Voting
From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/043007N.shtml
Monday 30 April 2007
Four years ago, when I began publicly opposing paperless electronic voting, passing a federal law to require
voter-verified paper records (VVPRs) seemed an impossible dream. Rep. Rush Holt (D-New Jersey) introduced such a bill in
2003, and another in 2005, but both bills languished in committee until the clock ran out.
The dream is now achievable, due in part to the unending stream of problems caused by paperless voting machines in
recent years. HR 811, the third incarnation of the Holt bill, is a critical measure. It's needed to protect the
integrity of our elections, and it has very good prospects of being enacted. It already has 210 co-sponsors in the
House, where only 218 votes are required to pass it.
Two provisions in HR 811 are especially vital for restoring trust in American elections: A nationwide requirement for
voter-verified paper records, and stringent, random manual counts of those records, to make sure they agree with the
announced vote totals. The requirements in the Holt bill are superior to those in almost every state of the country
(there are now 22 states with significant amounts of paperless electronic voting, and only 13 states require random
audits of VVPRs).
Success is not assured, however. The forces that have blocked previous bills are still active, especially vendors of
current poorly performing equipment. Also, various concerns, reasonable and otherwise, have been raised about the bill
by other parties.
Some groups insist on optical scan machines, which read and count hand-marked paper ballots, and are not supporting HR
811 because it still allows the use of touch-screen machines. However, under HR 811, those machines must be equipped
with so-called voter-verifiable paper trails, which print a paper copy of the vote that can be reviewed by the voter
before being cast. Most of the current generation of inferior paper-trail machines would not be allowed under HR 811,
which requires the machines to preserve the privacy of voters and requires the VVPRs to be printed on high-quality
paper. This will create a strong incentive for local jurisdictions to purchase optical scan equipment. Furthermore, HR
811 makes the paper records the official ballots of record in audits and recounts, and requires election officials to
post a notice explaining to voters the need to verify their VVPRs.
I would personally prefer to see optical scan machines used nationwide, if supplemented by equipment to allow voters
with disabilities to vote privately. If groups objecting to HR 811 can cause such a bill to be introduced and line up
the votes in Congress to get it passed, that bill will have my support. Meanwhile, those of us who have actually talked
to Congressional staff have not seen significant support for such a requirement. It seems that we have a choice between
HR 811 or continuation of our current "Kafka-esque" paperless system (as a French politician recently described it).
Another small but noisy contingent is opposing HR 811, sometimes without revealing their true agenda, because they will
be satisfied only with a nationwide system of hand-counted paper ballots. In theory, we could adopt hand-counting of all
ballots. However, hand counting is rarely used now. It is politically unrealistic to believe that the overwhelming
number of jurisdictions that have been using automated voting in various forms for 40 years or more are going to go back
to hand counting. HR 811 does not prevent hand counting for those communities that want to do it, but it provides a
realistic solution for the rest of us.
Some are troubled by the role of the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) under the bill. Like many others, I,
too, lack confidence in the EAC as currently configured. But HR 811 gives only minimal responsibilities to the EAC. I
can live with that if the other provisions of the bill are enacted.
Finally, election officials have expressed concern over whether the time frame of HR 811 is feasible. On the one hand,
I want passionately to avoid potential meltdowns in the 2008 general election, and I am not convinced that the
possibility of simply purchasing optical scan equipment has been adequately considered by those jurisdictions currently
using paperless electronic voting. On the other hand, it is obviously necessary to allow adequate time for
implementation of the bill. Congress has heard all sides of this argument, and I am confident that it will strike the
right balance. If the implementation date needs to be extended, I hope it will be done in a way to encourage the
earliest possible elimination of paperless electronic voting, so that the maximum number of voters will be protected in
2008.
HR 811 will no doubt change as it travels down the long, winding legislative road. With some luck, the bill will
survive with the key provisions intact, and may even improve.
A good bill that becomes law is better than a great bill that doesn't. HR 811 will start moving soon.
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The Verified Voting Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization championing reliable and publicly verifiable
elections. Founded by Stanford University computer science professor David Dill, the organization supports use of a
voter-verified paper ballot (VVPB) enabling voters to check that their votes are recorded as intended and allowing
election officials to perform recounts and random audits.
Verified Voting Foundation, 1550 Bryant St., Suite 855, San Francisco, CA 94103.
Telephone 1-415-487-2255. Fax 1-940-403-2255.