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By Ryan Lillis - Bee Staff Writer

Last Updated 1:02 am PDT Thursday, October 19, 2006
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

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Yolo County election officials are skeptical that many vision-impaired voters will use the county's 150 electronic voting machines in next month's election.

They're even more skeptical that many of those same voters will need to hear instructions in Vietnamese.

Yet two weeks ago, when officials began programming the machines, the directions for use by voters with vision disabilities came out in Vietnamese.

The timing of the discovery about one month before the Nov. 7 elections lessened the shock. But the county's top elections official said the error shows just how sticky the move toward electronic voting can be.

"We thought it was extremely charming, but on account of the county not having many blind Vietnamese voters, we e-mailed the company and they sent us the right software," said Freddie Oakley, the Yolo County clerk recorder.

If not for her self-described "paranoia," Oakley and other Yolo County election officials might not have discovered the glitch until Election Day.

"It would have been a horrible surprise," she said, adding that Hart, the Austin, Texas-based company that provides the software, sent the correct program within 36 hours.

Several states across the nation are moving toward electronic voting machines and away from paper ballots. The move has become a political issue and has many election officials bracing for a hectic Nov. 7.

Oakley has recruited a few dozen computer science graduate students from the University of California, Davis, to help with the machines next month. The technology will be available in each of the county's polling locations. Voters without disabilities will use optical-scan ballots.

Proponents of electronic voting say the machines are the only technology that provides voters with disabilities equal access to the voting process and are particularly useful in counties where several languages are spoken. Opponents argue the systems are complicated and expensive.

"These machines are, for the most part, not state-of-the art in terms of electronic-based appliances, and they are very expensive for what they are," Oakley said. "I think any of these machines is vulnerable to attack by hackers, so I think time will show that these have not been the wisest investment for the United States."

The issue divides the major secretary of state candidates.

Bruce McPherson, the Santa Cruz Republican who took over the office last year, is a staunch supporter of electronic voting systems, saying that California's standards for the technology are the toughest in the nation.

State Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey, McPherson's opponent, argues the systems are difficult to maintain and that many voters lack confidence that electronic voting technology will accurately count their votes.

Don't expect Yolo County to go completely electronic anytime soon.

"We will never go to complete paperless voting in Yolo County as long as I'm clerk," Oakley said.



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