WASHINGTON — Disclosure of an election computer glitch that could drop ballot totals for entire precincts is stirring new worries that an unofficial laboratory testing system failed for years to detect an array of flaws in $1.5 billion worth of voting equipment sold nationwide since 2003.
With less than three months before the presidential election, the hotly contested state, Ohio, along with others, continue to have problems with E-voting technology
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August 18th, 2008
This editorial is published in the August 3, 2008 New York Times.
Congress has stood idly by while states have done the hard work of trying to make electronic voting more reliable. Now the Senate is taking up a dangerous bill introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Robert Bennett, Republican of Utah, that would make things worse in the name of reform. If Congress will not pass a strong bill, it should apply the medical maxim: first, do no harm.
Electronic voting has made great strides in reliability, but it has a long way to go. When reformers push for greater safeguards, they often argue that future elections could produce the wrong result because of a computer glitch or be stolen through malicious software. That’s being too nice.
The New York Times Editorial
Electronic voting is notoriously vulnerable to technical glitches and vote theft. By now, most states have passed good laws requiring paper records of every vote cast — an important safeguard. But that is not enough. States also need strong audit laws to ensure that machine totals are vigilantly checked against the paper records. That is the only way that voters will be able to trust electronic voting.
By John Washburn
This article was posted at Washburn's World and is reposted here with permission of the author.
While Court Leaves Door Open For Future Challenges to Restrictive ID Laws, Center Calls on Lawmakers Across Country to Enact Laws That Protect the Right to Vote
Today the Brennan Center for Justice criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold Indiana's voter identification law the strictest in the country but noted that the decision did not give other states a blank check to block eligible voters. The Brennan Center called on lawmakers across the country to reject similar laws and to pass affirmative legislation protecting the right to vote.
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WASHINGTON--Eight years after glitches marred the 2000 presidential elections, Americans are still struggling over voting machine technology amid growing concerns about the reliability of electronic systems.
By PR Newswire
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new report by electionline.org details how five states that implemented electronic voting have chosen or are considering statewide paper-based optical scan systems.
"Back to Paper" explores the process by which California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Ohio -- having adopted electronic voting systems -- subsequently decided to de-certify, re-examine or re-think their use.
