Los Angeles Times
September 23, 2004
It doesn't take a Luddite to wonder whether tapping an electronic touch screen
is really as safe as marking a paper ballot.
Last fall, for instance,
e-voting machines recorded an amazing 144,000 votes in Indiana's Boone County,
which has fewer than 19,000 voters. County Clerk Lisa Garofolo said "I about
had a heart attack" watching the impossible numbers roll out on her computer
screen. She traced the problem to software programming errors, not deliberate
fraud. But hackers across the country have brainstormed ways to tamper with
election results. In test sessions overseen by Johns Hopkins University
personnel, invited hackers showed alarming success against one Diebold model of
touch-screen machine.
Even so, ready or not, roughly one-third of U.S.
voters are supposed to use touch screens to vote in the November election. In
California, that includes 11 counties that cumulatively have 20% of the
electorate.
Fans of electronic voting, including members of a ballot
project at Caltech, sa y voters themselves ought to be more vigilant. In a
report issued Tuesday, they recommended that voters stop and double-check their
choices on the summary screen that should appear at the end of any e-voting
session. And, they said, don't be shy or ashamed about asking for help with
unfamiliar procedures — assuming, of course, that hastily trained
volunteers at election sites know enough to offer help.
Some tech-heads
dismiss voters' desire for a paper printout. Too expensive, they say. Too
cumbersome. But Nevada this month conducted a smooth statewide primary using
touch screens with a paper printout. The paper trail is saved in case a recount
is needed. Sure, some trees died, but the need for voter confidence justifies
it.
The voter watchdog in California ought to be Secretary of
State Kevin Shelley. He should be helping counties set up independent oversight
of e-voting machines to guard against tampering. But Shelley's own missteps and
alleged political use of federal voter r egistration grant money led to calls
Tuesday for an investigation. He's distracted, to say the least.
Shelley hasn't managed to create a statewide voter registration database, a
master list that can be checked if a voter turns up in the wrong polling place
or a name falls off the rolls. Without it, California will have trouble
claiming its full share of $3.8 billion in federal election aid for the
states.
Voters may long for the return of Bill Jones, the Republican
secretary of state who was termed out in 2003 and has gone on to run a hapless
and nearly hopeless Senate campaign against Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer.
Jones was perfectly suited to be an election watchdog. It's an indictment of
political term limits that he couldn't stay in a job he did so well.
Back in the real world, a bill requiring all e-voting machines to produce a
"voter-verified paper audit trail" by January 2006 sits on Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's desk waiting to be signed into law. Schwarzenegger should sig
n the measure, SB 1438, even though it's no help for November. As Ronald Reagan
said, "Trust, but verify." At least, that is, until voters nationwide get a lot
more comfortable with e-voting.