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California Severely Limits Electronic Voting

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Steven Rosenfeld
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"There is not enough paper. There are not enough printers - in California and across the country," Weir said, adding only paper from certified printers can be used for ballots. "If you push people back to paper ballots, no vender can support all of California."

But Bowen predicted that California counties could and world meet the deadlines she set, including transitioning to new systems where paper ballots are counted by scanning. She said all California now use these systems for their absentee ballots. While these voting systems were not hacker-proof, the fact paper ballots were used ensured voter intent could be determined in a recount, she said, which touch-screen systems lack.

"No one has to start over, Bowen said. "No county is in a position where they cannot use equipment they don't already have.

Bowen said federal funds were still available to help counties buy new voting systems. Moreover, she said cost should not be an issue, saying her directive to safeguard the vote was on par with other government agencies acting to protect public health or safety.

"I reject the notion that I should not require significant changes to be made to California's voting systems because the money has been spent (on flawed machines)," she said, adding other government agencies - like NASA or the Food and Drug Administration - don't wait to act on a known threat because of cost.

Bowen announced her decision at the 11th hour - before midnight Friday night - just shy of a 180-day legal deadline for changing procedures in upcoming elections. As reporters waited throughout the day and night, county election officials called some reporters saying they had heard rumors of Bowen's decision. One commented that she would defy Bowen's orders, saying her rural county has never had a problem with electronic voting. Weir, who drove to Sacramento for the Secretary's announcement, said that scenario, if true, could end up in court, although county supervisors would first have to commit to paying the legal costs of challenging the Secretary of State.

"It would not be shocking for us to be sued, so we spent some good lawyer time," Bowen said, in response to that scenario and explaining why her Friday announcement was delayed until minutes before midnight. "My decisions will hold up. They are much more mild than decisions prior secretaries have made."

Bowen's directives are the second time a California Secretary of State has decertified electronic voting machines. In 2004, then-Secretary of State Kevin Shelly barred the use of Diebold touch-screen machines in Alameda and San Diego Counties after the voting systems broke down in the March primary election. Then, the machines did not start up and properly function, forcing voters to use paper ballots or return later in the day to vote.

California's new touch-screen voting machine policy will likely have a national impact. Other states, including Florida, Connecticut and Ohio are undergoing similar reviews of their touch-screen voting systems. Meanwhile, Congress is reviewing its first-ever legislation to regulate electronic voting. The proposed bills in Washington largely echo California's law, which require a paper trail for touch-screen machines and audit standards. Other federal agencies are also reviewing security standards for electronic voting machines.

"I think much of what we have done here will be incorporated into standards that will be adopted at the federal level," Bowen said.

Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow at Alternet.org and co-author of What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election , with Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman (The New Press, 2006).

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Steven Rosenfeld  covers democracy issues for AlterNet. He is a longtime print and broadcast journalist and has reported for National Public Radio, Monitor Radio, Marketplace,  TomPaine.com  and many newspapers. (more...)
 
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