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After the 2000 presidential election cast massive negative attention on the use of punch-card balloting, many states bought computer voting machines, technically known as direct-recording electronic (DRE) devices, to replace punch-card and lever machines. Experts testified that touch-screen, paperless machines were the proverbial wave of the future, and in fact, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) -- enacted by Congress in 2002 -- allocated $325 million for states to upgrade to the new equipment. HAVA essentially mandated that states install at least one DRE in each precinct to accommodate disabled voters. In 2003, researchers began to question the conversion to DREs citing serious concerns that the machines were susceptible to fraud, manipulation or errors that would cast election results into doubt. In 2004 misuse of electronic machines led to the loss of 4500 votes in one North Carolina county -- enough votes to affect the outcome of several races. Then, in Florida's 2006 election for the 13th congressional district, there was a stunning "under vote" of at least 18,000 DRE ballots in a race determined by a slim 369-vote margin. A preliminary GAO investigation into the cause of the under vote was inconclusive. However, on February 8, 2008, the GAO released its final report to the U.S. House of Representatives, which established with "reasonable assurance" that the voting machines did not contribute to the large under vote. Although the U.S. House eventually dismissed a challenge to the FL-13 election, it was another episode that cast doubt on the reliability of DREs. Many legislatures are reexamining whether the rapid shift to DREs was a good move. (Please see link for Back to Paper: A Case Study by electiononline.org) In 2007, all or some voters in 33 states used DREs. However, in recent months state election officials in Florida, California, Maryland, Ohio, and Colorado have abandoned or decertified several of the most widely used electronic voting machine models. Florida will now use optical scan machines in which ballots are marked by hand, like a standardized test, and then fed into a reader for tabulation. Used in 29 states, optical scan provides a ballot that can be examined in the event of a recount or a post-election audit. In December 2007, Ohio's Secretary of State urged immediate conversion to optical scan and the legislature has since considered this proposal and measures to fund vote centers, expand vote-by-mail, and appropriate necessary funds to implement optical scan in the 56 of Ohio's 88 counties that relied on DREs in its controversial March 4th primary. Ballot shortages, storms, floods, power outages and higher than expected turnout delayed final returns until well into the day after election day. Meanwhile, Iowa's legislature recently approved SF 2347 to enact a $ 4.6 million state-wide conversion to optical scan machines in time for the November elections. Skepticism about the adequacy of DREs has prompted a growing contingent of states to require that the machines produce an auditable paper trail -- the so-called "voter verified paper audit trail" (VVPAT). VVPAT refers to receipt-like "ballots" -- a print-out of the ballot that can be verified by the voter before casting the actual electronic version. In the 2004 presidential election, only Nevada had a VVPAT law in effect. By 2007, 16 states required it. Two examples are Oregon House Bill 2169 (2005), and Wisconsin Assembly Bill 627 (2006). Twenty-two states have adopted post-election audit procedures to help restore confidence in the election process. On January 15, 2008, New Jersey became the newest of these when S-507/A-2730 was signed. This distinctive law requires audits of election results in randomly selected districts and uses the results of elections to determine when and how an audit should proceed. In addition, several states, including Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Tennessee are all considering legislation to improve accuracy or auditing capability with DREs. (See NCSL's online Election Law Database for these bills and others) Fortunately, Congress has avoided mandating a one-size-fits-all approach for states, but has looked at legislation to force states to adopt VVPAT. New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt introduced "emergency legislation" (H.R. 5036) asking Congress to appropriate funds for any DRE state that is willing to convert to optical scan or other paper-based voting systems in time for November's election. The House rejected the measure on April 15, 2008. Rep. Holt's bill would have authorized funds for states that implement post election manual audits within the same time frame. Related Links HAVA: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/HAVApage.htm GAO Final Report: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08425t.pdf Committee on House Administration: http://www.cha.house.gov/view_press_release.aspx?r=20080208130233 FL-13 Research Study: http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/elj.2008.7103 Ohio's EVEREST Study: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/info/everest.aspx Vote Centers: http://www.larimer.org/elections/votecenters_tab.htm Vote-by-Mail: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/documentvault/WashingtonStatesVotebyMailExperienceOctober2007-2066.pdf Trust But Verify Report (Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations): http://www.state.tn.us/tacir/PDF_FILES/Other_Issues/trustbutverify_phase1.pdf Oregon's HB 2169: http://www.leg.state.or.us/05reg/measpdf/hb2100.dir/hb2169.intro.pdf Wisconsin's AB 627: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/acts/05Act92.pdf Back to Paper: A Case Study by Electiononline.org: http://www.electiononline.org/ NJ SB 507: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/AL07/349_.HTM NCSL Election Law Database: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/taskfc/database.htm
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