Board delays voting system
Proposed bill requires electronic machines to produce paper records

By Michael Hewlett   Winston-Salem JOURNAL     22 June 2005

The Forsyth County Board of Elections voted yesterday to keep its options open as it faces a looming deadline to buy new electronic-voting machines.

The board voted to extend its request for proposals until Dec. 31. It had been set to expire June 30.

Forsyth County could lose about $322,000 in federal money if it does not have a new voting system in place by Dec. 31. And the county faces a state-imposed deadline of 2006 to get rid of its punch-card voting machines.

However, North Carolina has not issued its request for proposals, which could ultimately determine which voting machines Forsyth County can buy.

Kathie Chastain Cooper, the county's director of elections, recommended extending Forsyth's request for proposals, but said that officials still have to wait for the state's decision. The county does not want to buy a machine that officials later find out is not state-certified, she said.

John A. Redding, a member of the elections board, also asked that Cooper write a letter to state and federal officials requesting some relief if the county cannot meet the deadlines.

The General Assembly is considering bills that would require voting machines to produce a paper record of a vote.

Electronic-voting machines have come under scrutiny in the past few years. Critics have said that they are vulnerable to tampering by anyone with basic computer-programming skills, and that many of the machines don't produce a paper record of each vote.

More than 20 people came to the board meeting yesterday, many wearing pink signs advocating a paper trail.

Joyce McCloy, a coordinator for N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting, said she wants to make sure that what happened in Carteret County does not happen in Forsyth County.

Carteret County lost 4,438 votes last year, prompting the formation of the Joint Select Committee on Electronic Voting that issued several recommendations for improving North Carolina's voting system.

Carteret County lost the votes after an electronic-voting machine ran out of memory to store them. An engineering flaw allowed voters to continue casting votes, but the votes were irretrievably lost.

The error led to delays in certifying winners for two statewide offices - the commissioner of agriculture and the superintendent of public instruction.

Some people who came to the meeting left upset. They did not like standing in a small meeting room with not enough chairs to accommodate everyone. Some also objected to the fact that the meeting provided no opportunity for them to speak.

Eric Elliott, the secretary for the elections board, asked that the board state more clearly in its agenda when there will be public comment. The meeting yesterday did not have an agenda item for public comment.

Elliott assured people that they will have a chance to speak before the board makes a decision to buy voting equipment.

Others also criticized Cooper and the board for not making minutes to the board meetings immediately available. Cooper said that the board, which does not have monthly meetings, approves minutes before making them available to the public.

Cooper said she wants to put out accurate minutes and it would not make sense to release minutes that have not been approved by board members. Board members might make changes before they approve the minutes, she said.