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E-Voting Paper Trails In Pennsylvania
by Michael Martinez
Voting-rights activists in Pennsylvania sued state election officials Tuesday over the use of machines that do not produce paper trails.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the state's Commonwealth Court, seeks to block the use of touch-screen voting machines this year unless they produce physical records of every ballot cast for verification purposes. The plaintiffs in the suit include Voter Action and representatives from the Coalition For Voting Integrity, the Eastern Technology Council, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, among others. Voter Action has filed similar suits in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and New York.
According to the plaintiffs, the certification of touch-screen voting machines by Secretary of State Pedro Cortes violates the state's election code and constitution. The suit cites recent incidents in Berkes County and Philadelphia where machines have broken down and votes were lost.
"The very integrity of the election process is at stake here," said Mary Kohart, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "In elections using these computerized voting systems, the machines can be subject to tampering and malfunctions where there is no independent record allowing either voters to verify their own votes or election officials to recount all votes if necessary."
The suit claims that all but 10 of the state's counties will be affected this year by the inadequacy of touch-screen machines. It also alleges that the methods used by election officials to verify such equipment are flawed and that the machines are vulnerable to tampering.
"Even without the ability to audit, however, the defects in the certified [machines] used in Pennsylvania have become apparent as they were used in actual elections, rather than discovered, as the legislature intended, by the secretary during a properly conducted certification process," the suit alleges.
Voter Action co-Director Holly Jacobsen said in a release that the state should return to a paper balloting system to ensure that elections administered this fall are fair and accurate.
"Paper balloting, with ballot marking devices for the disabled, is a less expensive, more secure and accountable option, which is why states like Michigan and New Mexico and hundreds of counties around the country have switched or are making the switch in time for the November elections," she said.
In other e-voting news this week, the Election Science Institute on Tuesday released a scathing report on the performance of equipment earlier this year during the primary election in Ohio.
Experts at ESI were paid by election officials in Cuyahoga County to review a marred primary held there in May. Technical glitches and the loss of memory cards forced election officials to conduct a manual recount that delayed results for six days.
According to ESI's report, "meaningful improvements" to the county's election system are not likely to occur before 2008, let alone this fall. In a letter to Cuyahoga County election commissioners, ESI Project Director Steven Hertzberg said it would be dangerous to use the current system during a close election.
"Relying on this system in its present state should be viewed as a calculated risk in which the outcome may be an acceptable election, but there is a heightened risk of unacceptable cost," he said.
Maine Eyes Statewide Broadband, Mobile Access
Maine. Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday announced the creation of a group to oversee the implementation of an initiative to ensure high-speed Internet access and cellular telephone coverage throughout his state.
The Connect ME Authority will be comprised of five members: Kurt Adams, the chairman of the state's Public Utilities Commission; Dan Breton of Verizon Communications; Mitch Davis of Bowdoin College; state Chief Information Officer Dick Thompson; and Jean Wilson of L.L. Bean. The group's first meeting will be later this month.
"We have reversed the trend of the 1990s where people were leaving the state," Baldacci said in a release. "Youth are staying in Maine, and others are moving to Maine because of our quality of life, our natural resources, our cultural heritage and our traditional New England downtowns. All of that is very good news for our state and for the people of our state."
Educating Parents About Videogame Ratings
Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker will team with the Entertainment Software Rating Board to launch a public-service campaign to educate parents on videogame ratings.
Radio and television advertisements will be hitting the airwaves within the next several weeks. They will urge parents to learn about the ratings system and to check the ratings of games before they purchase them for their children.
"As a father, I know about the tough decisions parents face today about the media they allow into their homes," Baker said in a release. "Parents need and deserve all the help they can get, and the ESRB ratings are an effective and informative resource that allows parents to decide if the videogame their child wants is appropriate."
Verizon Urges Relaxed Video Rules In Massachusetts
Verizon on Wednesday urged public regulators in Massachusetts to streamline the company's application for a video franchise in the Bay State.
At a hearing on Verizon's request, company officials argued that delays in approving the application have harmed consumers by denying them the benefits of competition in the market. Verizon earlier this year asked the state's Telecommunications and Energy Department to set 90 days as the time limit for localities to respond to applications for cable franchises.
"We've seen cable rates decline when wireline cable competition is introduced around the country," John Conroy, a vice president of regulatory of affairs at Verizon, said in a release. "Consumers are losing money while cable monopolies are raking it in. Every day the giant cable monopolies can keep a competitor out of the market is a great day for them and a bad day for consumers."
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