We in the Florida 13th Congressional District, with the misfortune of being represented in Congress by former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, are acutely conscious of the problem of patent defects in our voting systems. Election 2000 reminded us – and the rest of the world – that every vote counts and that we must count every vote. Transparency and verifiability of electoral processes are also essential to our system of representative democracy. Not only must election results be accurate and not subject to clandestine manipulation, but also voters need to have confidence that their ballots are being cast and counted in accordance with their wishes. Toward these ends, Jan Schneider advocates legislation requiring that electronic voting machines produce voter verifiable paper trails and have publicly accessible source codes.
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 ("HAVA"), Pub. L. 107-252, passed in the aftermath of Election 2000, is a welcome piece of legislation. Over the next few years, it will require states to adopt a number of electoral improvements, including with respect to provisional voting, statewide voter registration databases, and voter identification requirements. States choosing to participate in a federally-funded buyout to replace punch-card and lever voting machines will be required to purchase equipment that adheres to minimum standards in detecting spoiled or uncountable ballots. It must also allow each voter the opportunity to review the entire ballot before casting it.
HAVA does not, however, go far enough, and it may even be creating even more serious electoral problems. Many states are replacing notoriously problematic and antiquated machines with "touchscreen" or other direct recording electronic ("DRE") voting systems that suffer different flaws. DRE voting machines record selections in the memory of the machine, where the voter cannot see them. A summary does appear on the screen before a ballot is cast, but the voter cannot be certain what is actually recorded. Further, the computer technology used by the DRE machines carries real risks that program flaws – or, worse, tampering with the software – could change votes and even the outcome of elections. Since ballots are secret, there is no way to detect or correct any recording or compilation errors. Even if an election outcome is obviously absurd, the only options are to accept a patently wrong result or to hold a new election.
To correct such deficiencies, in response to an increasing chorus of concerns by election reform specialists and computer security experts, Representative Russ Holt introduced the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 (H.R. 2239) last May. This bill would require all voting machines to produce an actual paper record by 2004. Such record, often referred to as a "voter-verified paper trail," would enable voters to check the accuracy of their votes and election officials to verify votes through manual audit in the event of a computer malfunction, hacking, or other irregularity. The bill would ban the use of undisclosed software and wireless communications devices in voting systems, restricting electronic communication to outgoing reports of vote totals only. It would also require that electronic voting system be provided for persons with disabilities by January 1, 2006, one year earlier than the current deadline in HAVA. In addition, the bill would require mandatory surprise recounts in 0.5% of domestic jurisdictions and 0.5% of overseas jurisdictions. A companion bill (S. 1980) has been introduced in the Senate by Florida Senator Bob Graham.
As this is written, H.R. 2239 currently has 94 cosponsors in the House of Representatives – not including Congresswoman Katherine Harris. Voter verified paper trails and open source codes would enhance the security of electronic voting machines and increase confidence in our electoral systems. Here in Florida in Election 2002, among other problems, brand new voting machines lost over 100,000 votes due to a software error. We must do better in 2004.
Jan Schneider would cosponsor and actively promote H.R. 2239.
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