One of the truly scary controversies that hands over our democracy is the system of electronic, touch-screen voting that will be in place this November. Several blogs cover this issue thoroughly, so I don’t mention it as often as I probably should, but if you know anything about it, you know these systems are ripe for unchecked fraud and abuse.
For a quick, visually-entertaining primer on this, Tom Tomorrow drew us a picture (literally) last fall, which I highly recommend. The guy can do more in six frames than most of us can do in 600 words.
In a nutshell, there are a few companies manufacturing touch-screen voting machines used widely nationwide. A few serious problems plague the machines and the system. Non-partisan tech experts and state investigators have reviewed the security flaws and determined that the machines are easily manipulated. Worse, the machines leave no paper trail, so it’s difficult, if not impossible, to know when a mistake has occurred.
And, to add insult to injury, the machines are owned and manufactured by Bush loyalists who are committed to helping him win a second term.
It’s important to note, however, that there’s no reason for this to be a partisan issue. Everyone should want a fair and reliable system that accurately counts votes. Our democracy depends on it.
Thankfully, there seems to be some — not a lot, but some — progress in generating bi-partisan attention for this issue in Congress.
As Roll Call reported this week:
Amid media and academic reports that electronic voting systems may be vulnerable to manipulation, more than a dozen House lawmakers have asked the General Accounting Office to conduct a ‘high priority’ study of the security of electronic voting systems.
In a letter dispatched Friday to Comptroller General David Walker, Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) and ranking member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) joined several other Members in asking the agency to closely examine optical scanners, punch-card readers and direct-recording electronic voting machines.
The letter seeks “best practices that can be implemented to improve the security and reliability of the electronic voting process” as well as a post-election survey of state and local election officials to determine whether they are complying with their states’ policies and procedures to ensure security and reliability.
Because I am understandably viewed as a partisan, let me emphasize that the 13 members who requested the GAO investigation actually featured more Republicans than Dems. Good for them.
As pleased as I am to see movement on this, I’m still concerned it’s not happening quickly enough. The GAO does reliable work, but it’s time consuming. Chances are, unreliable direct recording electronic machines will be used this November, no matter what. A GAO report may help lawmakers create a more accurate system for the future, but I’m nevertheless concerned about this year.
That said, progress is progress. Bi-partisan concern for the integrity of elections is very encouraging and hopefully the GAO can help provide Congress with a plan for improving what is clearly a flawed system.