From Iowans for Voting Integrity's Sean Flaherty
A citizen group has urged Governor Culver to provide funding for paper ballot equipment in time for the November 2008 elections. The Governor has said that the state should consider a vote by mail system before funding new voting equipment, and there is discussion of a small vote by mail pilot project in 2008. This would leave many counties using touch screen voting machines in 2008.
“A vote by mail pilot should not distract the state from the urgent need to replace touch screen machines in time for the Presidential election,” said Sean Flaherty, co-chair of Iowans for Voting Integrity. “Even with paper trail printers, touch screen machines are not as reliable as precinct-based optical scan systems.” Paper trail printers can jam, are unchecked by many voters, and store votes on a continuous roll, making recounts cumbersome. Precinct-based optical scan, by contrast, is a proven and increasingly popular voting system.
Precinct-based optical scan systems are similar to many standardized tests. The voter marks a paper ballot with a pen or pencil, or by using an electronic aid for voters with disabilities, and the ballot is read by an optical scanner and can be recounted easily by hand. Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro advocates full funding for a statewide precinct-based optical scan system.
Touch screen voting is revealing itself to be a failed experiment, with the last few years seeing equipment failures and revelations of severe security vulnerabilities.[i] The same touch screen voting machines used in 78 Iowa counties are falling out of favor around the nation. California, even though its touch screens have a paper trail, will not allow the touch screens to be used as a primary voting system in its February 5 primary.[ii] Florida has also chosen to replace its touch screens with precinct-based optical scan rather than add paper-trail printers to its existing touch screens. And in Ohio, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has called for Cleveland-area Cuyahoga County to replace its touch screens with optical scan and paper ballots in time for Ohio's March primary.[iii] Cuyahoga County's paper trail printers failed disastrously in the November 2007 elections, with up to 20% of printouts unreadable.Vote by mail is also problematic. Recent scholarship has cast doubt on the claim the vote by mail increases turnout.[iv] Wisconsin and Minnesota, which have regular polling places and allow voters to register on election day, have higher voter participation than Oregon, the only state with a universal vote by mail system. Oregon's voter participation is not much higher than Iowa's.[v] And because the voting process takes place over a number of weeks, it is harder for citizens to observe the process.
“With vote by mail, it's very hard for citizens to observe the chain of custody of ballots,” said Flaherty. “Iowa has great laws that allow candidates' workers and citizens to watch polling places and election night tabulation, but it really isn't possible watch the chain of custody over many weeks of voting.” The same is true for Iowa's early voting and absentee ballot process, but making this system universal would only compound the problem. The University of Iowa's world-renowned voting systems expert Douglas Jones has opposed vote by mail for this and other reasons: vote by mail may pose a long-term threat to the secret ballot, and ballots counted at a central location are not counted as reliably as ballots counted at the polling place.[vi]
The cost of precinct-based optical scan equipment could run from $8-10 million, which may have motivated the Governor to look at vote by mail. Flaherty said, “We understand the Governor's desire to cut costs, but on the scale of Iowa's $6 billion-plus budget, $8-10 million is a bargain for democracy's machinery.”
[i] http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1680451,00.html
[ii] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20070813/ai_n19476126
[iii] http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1197019941287340.xml&coll=2
[iv] http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070419/news_lz7e19kousser.html
[v] http://www.iowansforvotingintegrity.org/Voter Participation Oregon vs. EDRStates.doc
[vi] http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/voting/colorado_postal.pdf
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