Electronic voting machines to be subject to 'voluntary' safeguards

1.00pm - By ANDY SULLIVAN

WASHINGTON - A new US election commission said on Wednesday it could not require districts using electronic voting machines to install printers or other secure backup systems to ensure that votes are counted properly.

Amid a heated debate over the merits of new touch-screen systems, the US Election Assistance Commission said it hoped to develop voluntary guidelines for the electronic systems that will be used by one in three voters in November.

"At the end of the day, we can't tell districts what to do," said commission chairman DeForest Soaries at the first hearing held by the commission.

The commission, set up after the controversial 2000 US election, is set to give out US$2.3 billion ($3.66) billion to help states upgrade error-prone voting systems such as punch-card ballots that led to a protracted recount battle in Florida that year.

E-voting systems will be used in precincts in more than half of all states in November.

Election officials from Georgia, New Mexico and Los Angeles said the systems were easy to use, cut down on voting errors and allowed blind voters to cast their ballots in private.

Others were less enthusiastic. California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley decertified one-third of the state's e-voting machines last week following revelations that manufacturer Diebold Inc installed untested software.

"Touch-screen systems can be reliable and secure, but the evidence to date suggests that they are neither right now," said Shelley, who mandated printers or other security measures for the state's remaining e-voting machines.

Without an external printer or other security measures to ensure that votes are recorded properly, elections are vulnerable to the same glitches and hackers that plague home computers, he said.

Also speaking at the hearing, Johns Hopkins University computer-science professor Avi Rubin and Kevin Chung, chief executive of manufacturer Avante International Technology Inc., said external printers should be required.

Other experts cautioned that printers could simply cause more problems. Installing printers on all voting machines would take at least a year, said William Welsh, a board member of Elections Systems & Software, another manufacturer.

A better bet would be to set up a library of approved software so officials can ensure they are not running a hacked system, said Kennesaw State University computer-science professor Brit Williams.

- REUTERS

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