Benefits of Voter Paper Trail Justify Cost of Machines
The following appeared as a Guest Column in the Cedar Rapids Gazette
By Tom Slockett, Johnson County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections
Did you know that
Carteret County, N.C., lost more than 4,400 votes on new electronic
voting machines in the 2004 presidential election? This was more than
the margin of victory in a statewide race.
In contrast, for the same election, Nevada began implementing machines
with a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail. A statewide audit of 145
machines and 64,424 votes matched electronic totals with paper records
at 100 percent accuracy.
Now is the time for voters to decide which system they prefer. During
2006, all voters will cast ballots on equipment purchased after the
2000 presidential election. Problems that year in Florida spurred
Congress to mandate two key requirements for voter-operated ballot
machines:
Second-chance voting.
Voters must be informed when they make certain types of errors on their
ballots and be given the opportunity to make corrections. Otherwise,
for example, if two choices are made for the office of president, no
vote for that office can be counted.
Accessible voting equipment.
More people with visual impairment must be able to vote a secret ballot
without assistance. One device per precinct, such as a Direct Recording
Electronics or touch-screen voting machine, must be equipped with
earphones.
No
voting system in place for the 2000 presidential election met these
requirements. This fact, along with federal funds to grease the skids,
made the decision to purchase new voting equipment a practical reality
nationwide.
The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail allows choices on a touch screen
as they are simultaneously printed out beneath Plexiglas on a roll of
paper that scrolls next to the screen. Different languages can be
selected and either viewed or heard with headphones. Choices are
printed until mistakes are corrected and the printout correctly
displays the voter’s choices. The printout scrolls out of sight onto a
storage roll inside the machine after the voter has checked it. This
printed vote can be recounted to prove that the results reported by the
computer accurately reflect voters’ choices.
This system is a powerful disincentive against corrupt programming or
alteration of electronically stored vote totals due to the existence of
proof.
A Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail sounds good, so what’s the catch?
Simply put, it costs more. Many more trees are killed with a paper
audit trail, and additional chemicals are required for thermal paper,
toner or ink. Costs are incurred for inventory, storage and recycling
or disposition. Printers jam, and the serial record of votes on a paper
roll requires special procedures to preserve the secrecy of the ballot.
People with vision impairment can’t verify their votes on most existing
Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails. At significant additional cost,
technology exists to include a scanner with character recognition and
voice software to allow independent verification through headphones.
Voting technology is continuing to evolve and improve. Direct Recording
Electronics systems without a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail may
someday work in practice, as experts say. But with no paper trail, only
a relatively small percentage of voters actually have the
sophistication to verify vote totals based on their own knowledge,
without reliance on ‘‘experts.’’
The advantage of a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail is that any voter
can understand its verification process. The paper record of votes
individuals have verified with their own eyes or ears are simply
counted and totaled. At this point in time, during significant change
and controversy regarding reliability and accuracy of voting machines,
care in reassuring the voters of the legitimacy of our elections is
critical.
Yes, the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail system costs more. How much
is it worth for voters to be confident that their ballots are counted
as they are cast? Action: Contact your legislator to let them know you want your vote verified.
(Source)
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