AZ: New legislation adds reliability to voting process

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/136032

Our view: Recounts in close races, plus selected hand-counting, are mandated
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.02.2006

Everyday, frustrating computer experiences — network failures or crashes that send data into a cyberspace black hole — and security vulnerabilities make some voters nervous, wondering if one of our most precious rights as U.S. citizens, the right to vote, is in peril.
The legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Janet Napolitano and practical security steps help ensure the reliability of the election process and should quell some of those fears.
East Valley Republican Sen. Karen Johnson, with backing from Tucson Democrat Rep. Ted Downing, sponsored the measure that establishes an audit system to check elections.
A needed safety net
Basically, after the polls close, 2 percent of the precincts in each county will be selected at random and the ballots will be hand-counted in three races — one legislative, one statewide and one national — and on one proposition.
"If it is the year of a presidential race — and that race is not randomly selected when we draw the national sample — it is still sampled," said Downing.
If the hand-count and the machine count do not match, there is a second hand-count. If the disparity remains, there will be a full hand-count that may or may not be limited to a single race.
Southern Arizona Republican Rep. Jonathan Paton said the bill also includes a provision for court-mandated recounts. If a race is too close to call, 5 percent of the precincts are to be hand-counted to make sure they stack up with the machine count.
"If the race is close there is a way to add some finality to the recount," Paton said.
The legislation is a significant change to Arizona election law. Prior to Wednesday morning, hand-counting ballots was illegal and there was no audit system, Downing said.
"This is a huge change in the rights of the people," said Downing, who was an active co-sponsor of the bill because it created a safety net.
Touch-screen concerns
The new law addresses some of the concerns about touch-screen voting machines, like the ones Pima County recently purchased.
Last month, the five-member Pima County Board of Supervisors approved buying 409 Diebold Elections Systems machines.
The county had to spend $2 million in federal money to be in compliance with the Help America Vote Act, which requires that disabled people be able to vote privately without assistance. The county bought one machine for each precinct.
The county didn't comparison-shop. Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer told Pima County to go with Diebold because it uses the company's optical scanners — the fill-in-the-bubble system used for the past several years.
When the supervisors passed the motion to buy the touch-screen equipment, they also directed their staff to test the equipment before it is approved for use in the September primary.
The equipment began to arrive Friday, said Pima County Elections Director Brad Nelson. His department began an "acceptance test" this weekend that will continue through the coming week. This is not one of the security and accuracy tests the supervisors mandated; it is a check to make sure all the equipment was received and is operational.
Tom Ryan of Arizona Citizens for Fair Elections said, "There's really no way that the local people can adequately assess the risk of the new machines." He questions the county's ability to test the software and whether the software complies with the Federal Voting System Standards.
Republican Supervisor Ray Carroll, with Democrat Richard Elías, voted against the county's purchase of the touch-screen machines. Carroll said he did not feel pressure from the secretary of state to make such a quick decision. He'll be watching the testing process and attending system demonstrations, he said.
A report from the Task Force on Voting System Security convened by New York University's Brennan Center for Justice, reported in Thursday's Star, included recommendations for electronic voting machines addressed by the new legislation: random audits to check a machine's tally against its paper trail and random tests of selected machines on Election Day to identify problems that crop up.
Because of the serious questions about the security of the machines, voter-advocate Ryan said he would like more of the touch-screen machines checked, at least during the first few elections in which they are used.
The task force recommendations reported in the Star also included having voters check the record of their vote, which Nelson said would be routine in Pima County.
Nelson said a voter-verified audit trail is required in Arizona. After a ballot is complete on the touch-screen machine in the voting booth, the voter must ask for an electronic summary; audio feedback is available for the visually impaired.
The voter has the chance to correct a miscast vote and to alter the ballot if he or she skipped an item. When the voter is satisfied with the ballot, he or she presses the "cast ballot" button. The ballot is recorded by the machine electronically and on a spool on a box in the booth — the voter-verified trail for the audits, Nelson explained.
The task force also recommended that elections departments ban wireless components.
There are no wireless functions in the machines, Nelson said. "They are stand-alone — the only thing they are connected to is power."
Ryan said the machines have slots that could make it possible to insert a wireless communication device.
County must be thorough
As the adage goes: "Forewarned is forearmed." Many of the risks and glitches of the new touch-screen machines have been identified.
When the county digs into its security- and accuracy-testing phase, it should be exhaustive in its thoroughness and replication of as many scenarios for fraud as possible.
Every voting system has its flaws, such as hanging chads and smudged marks. Knowing the imperfections and vulnerabilities gives the elections division the information it needs to address those issues.
With the new law and thorough security scrutiny and mitigation, our community's right to vote and accurate election results should be preserved.