But when Free Press editor and this article's co-author Bob Fitrakis asked a panel why partisan for-profit vendors were allowed to conduct elections and manage poll books on secret, proprietary software, Wilkinson replied that the machines could be observed for accuracy and logic. He failed to mention that accuracy and logic tests do not confirm security.
Meanwhile, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Farrell said the SOS office reimbursed counties for the paper ballots, and that �two lines come in handy� if the e-voting machines fail. Brunner required BOE�s to vote in public this year on how machines would be allocated, avoiding 2004's infamous race-based mis-allocations that forced voters to wait up to seven hours in Columbus.
Dr. Ted Allen, an OSU Associate Professor, said voters using machines took two minutes longer to vote on average than those using paper ballots. An expert in �waiting line analysis theory,� Allen said that without early voting this year, voters in Franklin County using the same number of machines as in 2004 might have waited as long as 30 hours to vote. Paper, he said, �pushes down waiting times.� Allen also stated that without Brunner's early voting reform, waits would have been up to 15 hours on Election Day in Franklin County even with the newly added voting machines.
Peg Rosenfield of the League of Women Voters demanded that Ohio �go back to the signature� in verifying voter registration. Computerized poll books, she said, open the door to provisional ballots and disenfranchisement of the kind that may have cost Kilroy her 2006 race. Rosenfield advocated random audits after each election and scanners that could immediately spot undervotes that would immediately alert voters of their potential omissions.
A major shift at the conference came with Cuyahoga Director Jane Platten, who has taken over a county plagued by irregularities in 2004 and 2006. Platten advocates full transparency and has established 'hotlines' for stakeholders including all minor parties on the ballot so they could directly access BOE officials on Election Day.
The big red elephant in the room was underscored by Candace Hoke, Director of the Center for Election Excellence, who complemented Brunner on making �security front and center.� The $1.5 million Everest Report commissioned by Brunner has shown that e-voting machines are vulnerable to manipulation. With registration lists in the hands of private partisan vendors like Triad in half of Ohio�s counties, without reliable security checks, potential mass disenfranchisement remains a major problem.
The conference underscored the fact that the legacy of J. Kenneth Blackwell and 2004's stolen vote continues to permeate Ohio's electoral process. But the Kilroy outcome and the conference that accompanied it underscored the change that has come to the Buckeye State, and that is likely to push even further toward secure, reliable elections.
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Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman have co-authored four books on election protection, including AS GOES OHIO: ELECTION THEFT SINCE 2004, available at www.freepress.org, where this article first appeared. Their radio shows are broadcast at WVKO-AM 1580, Air America in Columbus.
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