Paperless voting pushed
State deadline looms for disabled access
By By JAMES MILLER   Daytona Beach News-Journal   21 March 2005

DELAND ? When the political oven of the 2000 presidential recount was at its hottest, Volusia County elections officials stayed relatively cool, scouring paper ballots with marked ovals.

Paper has been local officials? ballot of choice even for disabled voters who can use touch screen systems with relative ease ? partly to allay public fears about the security of the vote. And Volusia has mostly steered clear of the touch screen vs. paper debate.

Not anymore.

Volusia County could be forced to buy its first paperless voting system in order to meet a state deadline for disabled-accessible voting.

The machines would be put in alongside the existing system, but after facing vocal public opposition, the County Council put on the brakes, asking for more time from the Legislature and more information.

But the move, which reflects a nationwide debate, could put local officials on the spit ? as the first to push for a delay that advocates for disabled voters fervently oppose.

"I am concerned that if the anti-technology lobby were to win here, it would be the edge of a wave that we would have problems with across the state," said Douglas Towne, executive liaison for the Disability Relations Group and the state Division of Elections? consultant on accessible elections.

"Obviously, we have to make sure elections are secure, I have no problem with that," Towne said. "We also have to make sure they?re accessible."
The ?paper trail?

Debate about the need for a "voter verifiable paper trail" emerged after federal and state elections officials turned to touch screen machines as a remedy for some of the ills of the 2000 presidential election.

Along the way, a number of computer scientists pointed out potential vulnerabilities in both electronic voting systems and the certification processes meant to guarantee them.

In 2003, Douglas Jones, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Iowa, called for decertification of Diebold Election Systems existing touch screen systems, citing what he said were insecure software codes.

At a popular level, those reports have translated into fears of electronic fraud ? computer hackers manipulating election results. As evidence, some skeptics have cited differences between exit polls and final vote tallies. They?ve raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest created when executives from voting machine manufacturers openly back political parties and candidates.

"Machines without paper trails invite fraud," said Jack Wrightington, an Edgewater resident who pressed the council not to purchase a paperless system at its March 10 meeting. "Even if there is no fraud, such a system invites suspicion."

In response, some states have introduced requirements for a "voter verifiable paper audit trail" for touch screens.

In an optical scan system, the ballot is the paper trail. In a touch screen system, one option is to have printers that display a person?s vote before he or she submits it. Elections officials would store the paper record like a ballot. In January, Diebold Election Systems, the vendor for the county?s current optical scan system and manufacturer of the touch screens it may buy, submitted a printer for federal-level review.

California was the first state to require a paper trail, effective in 2006. But at least seven other states have similar rules, and lawmakers in several others, including Florida, have introduced legislation that would require it.

"I don?t see any really good arguments against it," said Iowa computer scientist Jones.

Locally, advocates of a paper trail mustered between 40 and 50 people for a County Council meeting two weeks ago.

"We feel that?s the only way to gauge whether or not the election is straight up," said Ron Cahen, legislative chairman of the Volusia/Flagler American Civil Liberties Union.

Others disagree.
The disabled

Generally, elections officials, including the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, have touted the touch screen technology?s security and accessibility, as have the manufacturers.

Volusia elections chief Ann McFall said she prefers a paper ballot system for disabled voters so that it matches what the county already has, but with a deadline looming, one isn?t available.

Tim Augustine, her chief operating officer, pointed out that votes cast on touch screen machines are stored in more than one location in case of a breakdown.

"The beauty of the technology with the touch screens is (the manufacturers), not having paper ballots to fall back on, built in redundant memory sources within the units to make sure there?s no possibility of losing votes," he said.

The company that makes the touch screens Volusia is considering defends the technology.

"I don?t want to say it?s silly or ridiculous, but the fact is there?s never been a factual case of a security issue with a touch screen," said David Bear, a spokesman for Diebold Elections Systems.

Some of the technology?s strongest defenders are advocates for disabled voters, who point out that many disabled people are used to relying on technology and were unable to vote independently and in secret until the advent of easy-to-use touch screen machines with headphones where they can listen to the choices.

Elections officials aren?t sure how many voters will benefit from the disabled-accessible equipment. Disabled advocates say they?ve waited long enough and fear that any delay will lead to more.

"In this era of digitization, paper is something that?s antiquated," said Angela Katsakis, disability vote project coordinator with the American Association of People with Disabilities. "It?s a false security."

Katsakis cited the work of Michael Shamos, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, who argues that the threats to electronic voting are hypothetical and shouldn?t undermine a system that is actually more secure than a paper-ballot system.

"This is a lot of rumor and speculation based on a theory that?s never been proven," Katsakis said. "All this is based on theoretical conjecture. They?re not perfect. No voting system is perfect."

Florida disability consultant Towne added another wrinkle.

"If they?re going to print out a copy of your vote that you can look at, they have to have one for me in Braille that I can look at," he said, before adding that test Braille ballots have proven to be easily damaged.
The future

Nationwide, lawmakers are trying to sort out the issue, said Dan Seligson, editor of Electionline.org, which describes itself as a nonpartisan, non-advocacy clearinghouse for information about election reform.

"This year, the arguments for some sort of paper verification have gotten even stronger, and legislatures have gotten even more receptive. That?s what I?ve seen," Seligson said.

He said he thought some officials were swayed by an election mishap last November in Carteret County, N.C., when an electronic voting machine wasn?t programmed to accept the number of votes that were cast on it. Thousands of votes were simply lost and never recovered.

"The lesson there is you can test the machine, you can certify the machine, but if somebody does something stupid with a touch screen voting machine, there?s no way to ever figure out what happened," Seligson said.

How the issue will be resolved is unclear. But for Volusia County, it must be decided soon.

The state requires county elections chiefs to have disabled-accessible voting equipment in place for the first election after July 1, which could come as early as September.

So far the state has approved only touch screen equipment. A system similar to Volusia?s hand-written ballots is under review by the state, but officials say there?s no way to know when it might be certified.

Despite the council?s resolution asking for a delay, County Chairman Frank Bruno said he thinks the county may have to buy touch screen machines, which could later be replaced if voters don?t adjust to them.

"It?s not as complicated," he said, "as everyone wants it to be."