By JARED S. HOPKINS
Capital News Service
Friday, January 20, 2006

WASHINGTON - After half a decade of pressuring state lawmakers to implement change, Maryland advocates for paper-trail records for electronic voting appear to be close to seeing results.

A bill requiring the use of paper records in elections is expected to be introduced in the House of Delegates as early as Monday, according to Delegate Sheila Hixson, D-Montgomery County, a former of opponent of such legislation.

Hixson, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, now says she will sponsor the bill and might even propose it as emergency legislation to assure paper records are in use for the November elections.

With paper-trails, a vote is cast in one of the state's electronic voting machines, but a paper record is kept in the event of a recount or allegations of impropriety. After a voter votes electronically, a printer attached to the voting machine prints a receipt with all or any candidates selected. Voters could see the paper behind a piece of glass and, after verifying it, the paper would be dropped into a lockbox and saved for up to a year.

Maryland began phasing in electronic voting machines in 2001, but problems arose shortly thereafter. Proponents of having a paper trail protested that changes in the law were needed, but legislation was never passed. With 27 states now requiring paper trails in elections, however, it appears that the time might have come for Maryland to adopt paper trail.

During a meeting Tuesday in Silver Spring with her constituents and members of TrueVoteMD, an activist group for paper-trails in Maryland, Hixson said Republican delegates are so supportive of paper-trail records she would not be surprised to see a "141-0 vote in favor of the bill."

House Minority Whip, Anthony J. O'Donnell, R-Calvert County, is not opposed to paper-trails but said ultimately cost will be the deciding factor.

A final cost estimate will not be drawn up until early next week but last year's failed legislation listed $28.6 million, according to an analyst in the Ways and Means Committee.

Among the provisions in a draft of Hixson's bill are that results must be counted and posted online on election night. Additionally, the machines - subject to a public demonstration at least a month prior to the election - should accommodate the blind and deaf. All software must be certified at least 30 days before the election as well. The bill also calls for a random audit in the case of a discrepancy. The bill would take effect June 1, 2006.

Delegate Elizabeth Bobo, D-Howard County, said she is "very optimistic" the bill will pass.

"I wouldn’t support just any paper-trail bill," she said. "This really addresses the problem."

TrueVoteMD, a group of 3,000 volunteers, has played a key role in pushing for paper trail legislation. The group has lobbied legislators from both parties, sued a board of elections official, and received support from more than a dozen groups, including the recent backing of the Service Employees International Union, the nation's fastest growing union.

"Paper is the most reliable record of voter's intent," TrueVoteMD co-founder Linda Schade said. "Political pressure's on the legislators to do something about this bill."

Electronic voting, which has been adopted by most states since 2000, is quicker than mechanical lever machines and can accommodate more people at a time. It also gives visual or motor help to the handicapped and support different languages. They prevent over-voting and under-voting, and can support elections with multiple races and even unique voting systems like approval voting or instant run-offs.

Critics of the machines, however, allege they are beset by problems like bugs and viruses, and say there are overwhelming security and corruption concerns. In North Carolina in 2004, more than 4,000 votes were lost because of a malfunctioning electronic voting machine.

Diebold Inc., which manufactures Maryland's machines, already makes machines that produce paper ballots. But because state law does not require them, they were never purchased. A representative for Diebold Inc. did not immediately return a phone call made Friday.

Schade herself has provided pressure. She said that one obstacle to the bill passing was State Board of Elections Administrator Linda Lamone, who Schade said has long opposed paper-trail machines, citing cost and time constraints. Schade, along with several government officials sued Lamone on allegations that she knew of the problems associated with Diebold's voting machines and did nothing to improve them.

Lamone declined to comment on any of Schade's allegations.

"My position is we do not know whether a paper trail is the viable solution to whatever concerns have been alleged. We don’t know if they are real or not," Lamone said.

Hixson's emergence as the House's strongest proponent of paper-trail ballots is somewhat of a surprise. For the last few years she had blocked legislation, according to TrueVoteMD. They allege that, in 2004, after a bill passed the State Senate unanimously, she stripped away the election protection and refused to negotiate. They also say that in 2005 she refused to bring the bill up for a vote.

Hixson disagreed with TrueVoteMD's "interpretation" of her actions and said additional time was needed to get the support. She also worked with state Democratic Chair Terry Lierman on the current bill.

"Now there's a better chance getting it passed," Hixson said. "It's a better bill."

Bobo said that the necessity of paper-trails supersedes all topics in Annapolis -- including the budget, minimum-wage, and health care reform.

"I'm just happy [Hixson is] at the point that she's at, however she arrived at that point," she said. "I don’t think there's anything more important than this because if people can't be confident in their vote when they cast it, then that’s bedrock to a democratic society."

Even if the bill passes the way it was submitted in the house, the Senate could still make amendments, and if both houses pass it, Ehrlich could veto it. In the past he said he supports a paper-trail but cited costs. He also is likely to veto if other bills are added on to the paper-trail one. Those entail bringing voting to college campuses and allowing ex-felons to vote. Lawmakers, however, have said it "unlikely" that another bill be attached.

Twenty-seven states have signed into law the requirement of paper ballots, according to VerifiedVoting.com. Earlier this month Connecticut announced that it will use its mechanical lever voting machines one more time in 2006 because no vendor provided alternatives that meet federal and state requirements.