Election watchdogs keep wary eye on paperless e-voting systems

Posted: November 06, 2012

We all know that this year's election is one of the closest we've ever faced. No matter what your political beliefs, or who you're going to vote for, you want that vote to actually count. There are some concerned watchdog groups out there, paying close attention to paperless voting machines. We all hope that the paperless machines will work properly and our voices will be heard. Don't forget to head to the polls and excercise your freedom - cast your vote.

As the clock winds down to what could turn out to be an extremely close presidential race, some election watchdogs are keeping a wary eye on paperless electronic voting machines that are scheduled to be used in several key states and jurisdictions around the country.

Paperless systems are basically Direct Recording Electronic systems (DREs) in which voters cast their ballots in a completely electronic fashion by using push buttons or touchscreens.

Some DREs allow voters to print out a paper copy of their ballots to verify that their vote was cast as intended. Election watchdog groups such as Verified Voting and Common Cause and academicians have insisted that such a voter-verifiable paper-audit trail (VVPAT) is vital to ensuring the integrity of the vote in jurisdictions that use DREs.

But a total of 16 states will, to varying extents, use DREs that do not support a paper trail as their standard polling place equipment, according to Verified Voting.

Of these, six states—New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana—will be completely paperless. All ballots that are cast in these states will be on DREs that support no paper trail whatsoever.

The remaining states, which include Texas, Colorado, Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania, will use a mix of paper ballots and DRE voting systems that are paperless. But even here, the states of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Tennessee will be almost completely reliant on paperless electronic voting systems.

For instance, all but two counties will use paperless DREs in Tennessee, while all but seven of 134 countries in Virginia will use paperless systems. Meanwhile, in a handful of states like Florida only voters with physical disabilities will use paperless DREs.

DRE causes some worries

The extensive use of these systems in the upcoming elections is troubling, said Pamela Smith, the president of Verified Voting. Ideally, all jurisdictions around the country should be using voter-marked paper ballots and optical scanners for counting the votes, Smith said.

Read the entire article Election watchdogs keep wary eye on paperless e-voting systems.

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