A point all the panelists agreed on was that nothing is ever done about problems until they reach a crisis level. The damage is usually done first. So we have to commend the panelists for their foresight. They already know that 43 states will be using equipment more than 14 years old and 14 states will be using even older systems. I thought that optical scanners were supposed to last for 20 years--that's what my grassroots group advocated as part of our arguments to replace DREs with them back in the mid-first decade of the 2000s. Were we wrong? We had done our homework.
Neal Kelley informed us that certified systems still rely on Windows 2000 operating systems, which were outdated by 2010. Pam Fessler noted that in Virginia, a suggestion to purchase all new equipment was rejected. Edgardo Cortes said that as a rule less-privileged communities in Virginia have bad experiences with voting systems, while those that are more affluent have far fewer complaints. [Is that democracy in action, since a recent study profiling the typical voter in this country found that she is white, affluent, and well educated?] The same point had been made in the Brennan Center's report. Ms. Fessler later said that problems in underprivileged areas could reach crisis levels. Mr. Norden responded that in Ohio, Virginia, and other overburdened states we don't have enough information; lots more work is needed.
Ms. Fessler said that one solution is the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) helping out local jurisdictions to figure out specific problems and report them to elections officials. This they are doing, according to a blog published at EAC's website the day after the panel event, "Commissioner Masterson on Aging Voting Technology."
Two EAC commissioners were in the audience, vice-chair Tom Hicks along with Matt Masterson, quite defensive and at the same time conciliatory. The three commissioners, appointed last December, have been working like greased lightning to do work that piled up since 2010, when all incumbent commissioners had stepped down, unreplaced for four years due to political kerfuffle--the commissioners are appointed by Congress. Four years.
Another problem is that election officials are so heavily dependent on the vendors for technical support, since the maintenance and repairs require a specialized level of knowledge the officials haven't acquired. We need to be independent. Election officials must come to think like IT professionals, said Mr. Masterson. He is sure that this crisis can be dealt with since people are aware of it now and working to fix it. EAC is soliciting input from the public.
Ms. Fessler asked Mr. Cortes to weigh in. He expressed relief that the EAC is up and running again and is looking forward to using new systems with open-source and off-the-shelf (OTS) components. Mr. Norden later added that L.A. County has spent many years developing their own system--open source so that they won't have to rely on vendors and designed to reach out to many categories of voter.
At this point members of the audience contributed their reactions. The first asked why we can't use HCPB if they are used so successfully in any number of European countries [some of whom tried and then ditched DRE systems]. Mr. Norden's reply was that better technology will make paper voting easier; systems had improved since those of this generation. Mr. Lewis pointed out that paper voting is much easier to use in European countries. [I wondered why--but the panel had pointed out how decentralized our voting systems map is; European countries' systems are uniform, dictated from top to bottom at the federal level.]
Mr. Lewis was less optimistic about system changes. He said that politicians won't want to change machinery that elected them. The people want what's new and better, but the age-old politics of election technology changes slowly. We won't see change any time soon.
Another member of the audience said that he had developed an open-source voting system that has already interested New Hampshire. He said it would debut on September 28. I asked him to send me information on it when he does release it. He said he would.
Mr. Kelley mentioned that he is working with advocacy groups in Orange County to deal with changing demographics; Mr. Cortes said that he has a very good relationship with activist groups and appreciates their work reaching out to and educating voters and helping them to register and obtain voter IDs. [This latter issue wasn't even mentioned during the event, perhaps because there might have been disagreement among the panelists.]
On the theme of activism, Mr. Lewis noted that 77 percent of U.S. voters are concentrated in 25 to 30 percent of counties. Urban centers are where the problems are. The more we can do to work together, the better. In resource-starved situations, tradeoffs are the solution. Election officials need help.
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