Election Day glitches fuel debate

The court-ordered probe into the breakdown of 10 new touch-screen voting machines in Fairfax County on Election Day is fueling a larger debate about how high-tech equipment should replace aging manual devices.

Proponents say the new technology is faster and avoids the sort of debacle caused by “hanging chads” during the 2000 presidential election in Florida. But critics argue that the touch screens are vulnerable to hacking and tampering, and they oppose private companies playing such a major role in counting votes.

The use of touch-screen voting machines has led to an onslaught of lawsuits around the country. The latest was filed yesterday by the Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland, which wants state election officials to reconsider a $55 million contract with the touch-screen voting machine manufacturer after the problems that arose in Fairfax this week.

“The state has ceded responsibility for counting and reporting election results to a private corporation,” the complaint states. “Ensuring the integrity of the vote cannot occur if the state does not count the votes in a transparent way.”

Maryland election officials said they had not yet reviewed the complaint. However, they said they will go forward with plans to install 11,000 new touch-screen electronic voting machines in time for the March presidential primary.

Similar plans are under way across the country as state and local governments are spending tens of millions of dollars to overhaul their systems for recording votes. Under the federal Help America Vote Act, localities must upgrade manual voting machines by 2006.

“There’s this panic because nobody wants to be the next Florida,” said Rebecca Mercuri, a Pennsylvania-based engineer and professor at Bryn Mawr College who has testified before Congress on electronic voting. “Everybody’s just running out and buying this stuff.

“The counties are doing the best they can, but I don’t think in some cases they know what they’re getting.”

Officials in Fairfax County earlier this year bought 1,000 new laptop touch-screen computer voting machines from Texas-based Advanced Voting Solutions (AVS) for $3.5 million. County officials said the purchase was worth the money because it would produce faster returns.

The machines’ debut Tuesday did not go as planned, however. The vote returns came in slower, machines broke down in nine precincts and Republicans filed a lawsuit that challenges the results.

Things went smoother in neighboring Arlington County, where officials purchased 205 machines for $500,000 from AVS in September. “It was the first time we used them,” said Linda Lindberg, general registrar for the County Election Board.

“We had some minor issues,” she said. “It’s brand new, so you’re bound to have few issues. A few machines froze up a couple of times, but we fixed it. We learned a lot.”

AVS President Howard Van Pelt yesterday called the problems in Fairfax a “hiccup,” and defended the new technology against critics who say the system is susceptible to sabotage and software problems.

“It didn’t go as smoothly as we would have hoped,” Mr. Van Pelt said. “But overall, the poll workers loved it and the voters loved it. It was the first time. From poll workers to voters, there were a lot of things people had to learn.”

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