County wants its e-voting system OK'd
Sunday, July 4, 2004

By JAY GOETTING
Register Staff Writer

A federal judge's tentative opinion released Friday morning in Los Angeles has already had local ramifications.

Napa County's Registrar of Voters John Tuteur has fired a single page letter off to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley requesting recertification of Napa's Sequoia Voting Systems electronic touchscreen ballot boxes for the November election.

Napa County was one of several around California that was not certified by Shelley's office and had refused to go along with several of his directives attempting to restore public confidence and assure accurate balloting in the upcoming races.

In Friday's ruling, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California called Shelley's decision, to decertify some voting systems until he is satisfied that manufacturers have complied with certain conditions, a reasonable one.

"It is based on studies conducted and information gathered which convinced him that the voting public's right to vote is not adequately protected by the systems currently in place," wrote the judge.

The action was brought by a combination of elections officials and representatives of people with disabilities. They had sought an injunction prohibiting Shelley from imposing restrictions on the touchscreen system. "The Secretary's assertion that he has a right to make policy is breathtakingly wrong," they said.

But the court said it is the Secretary of State's job to assure an accurate and verifiable vote which outweighs the plaintiffs' interest in the case. The judge added the evidence does not support the fact that the systems would impose a discriminatory effect on disabled voters. "It is clear they will not be deprived of their fundamental right to vote," Cooper said.

Tuteur's letter to Shelley states, "Napa County will comply with the directives set forth in your April 30, 2004, memorandum," adding, "Napa County will have paper provisional ballots available at each polling place on Election Day."

That was one of the bones of contention between the local registrar and Shelley. Tuteur had maintained that providing excessive paper ballots when most ballots are cast electronically was tantamount to holding two elections, but he said he didn't want to "play chicken" with the November election.

Since the judge's ruling remains tentative at this point, Shelley's office's only comment was, "the ruling speaks for itself."

Shelley spokeswoman Carol Dahmen said of Tuteur's correspondence, "We are reviewing the letter and look forward to working with the county toward recertification of their touchscreen voting system."

Tuteur noted Napa County had already complied with extensive training requirements for poll workers and a requirement that no wireless or Internet hookups be available for the electronic voting devices.

Allowing provisional electronic voting as an additional alternative is part of Tuteur's request, although he said he could be flexible on that point. He pointed out that Santa Clara, Tehama and Riverside counties have had that practice in past elections.

Tuteur told Shelley he is making the move, "so that we proceed with mutual understanding toward a successful, accurate and secure implementation of this important election. We understand that our vendor, Sequoia Voting Systems, has met all vendor requirements for recertification."