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Voting system revamp possible |
Plan would replace electronic machines
By Kelly Brewington
Sun Reporter
Originally published March 6, 2006, 10:18 PM EST
A proposal to replace the state's electronic voting equipment with a
system that provides paper verification could pass one chamber of the
General Assembly this week, House Speaker Michael E. Busch said Monday.
Under the plan, Maryland's Diebold machines would be shelved for this
fall's primary and general elections, with an alternate system taking
their place.
Busch said he supports the move to a paper trail as the best way to ensure a secure election.
"The fact is that the Diebold system has come under scrutiny
nationally," he said. "Done with accuracy, I think the Diebold machines
are the best systems in the world. But the question here is about
security."
The replacement proposal also has the backing of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich
Jr., who told the State Board of Elections Monday he supports the
legislation.
"Maryland's lack of a paper trail means we are no longer a national
leader in election systems and that our equipment is susceptible to
system failures under which we would be technically unable to re-create
election results because we have no paper ballots," Ehrlich said in a
letter to the board.
Monday's developments show that the long-standing worries of voting
reform advocates are reaching the highest levels of state government.
Critics have long complained that the state's Diebold technology is
vulnerable to hacking, and that the system should produce a paper
record that could be audited after close or contested elections.
The drive to adopt a paper trail is gaining momentum after the governor
chided the state elections board two weeks ago, asserting he had lost
faith in its ability to conduct fair and secure elections.
Ehrlich continued that criticism Monday in a letter to board Chairman
Gilles W. Berger and expressed support for the House bill that would
abandon the Diebold Elections System touch-screen voting machines in
favor of optical scan equipment, which the state would lease for a
year.
Democrats, however, note that the governor vetoed a bill last year that
would have studied paper records, and that his administration supported
the machines after commissioning a study to examine their flaws in 2003.
Del. Sheila E. Hixson, a Mongtomery County Democrat who sponsored the
bill, estimated the cost to lease the equipment at between $12.5 and
$16 million, while the elections board has indicated it would cost more.
While the paper-trail proposal may have support in the House, its prospects in the Senate remain unclear.
Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, who has accused Ehrlich of
attempting to cast doubt on the state's election system as an election
year ploy, said Monday he's concerned there is not enough time to
transform Maryland's election system by the September primary.
"This is not something you do willy nilly or overnight because of the
whim and the caprice of the governor in an election year," he said.
Miller said the Senate will consider the bill, and that while the paper trail is a "laudable goal," time is running out.
"The question is, 'Is the juice worth the squeeze,'" he said. "The
millions to rent all these machines, train all these people, in a small
window of opportunity the concept is ludicrous to think we can do this
overnight."
Ehrlich says he supports the House bill but the letter does not specify
how the state will pay to lease the equipment. Henry Fawell, an Ehrlich
spokesman, did not offer specifics Monday.
"We will work with the General Assembly to find an appropriate funding
solution," he said. "Those discussions will be ongoing in the coming
weeks."
In 2003, Maryland spent more than $55 million to adopt the Diebold
electronic voting equipment abandoning in many places an optical scan
system in which voters mark paper ballots which are then recorded by a
machine.
Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, a Baltimore County Democrat who introduced a
paper-trail bill in the Senate, said without a promise of funding, the
proposal's fate of remains uncertain.
Ehrlich's letter also asks that the State Board of Elections to support
legislation that would push the implementation of early voting until
2008. The Democrat-led Assembly passed a bill last year authorizing
some polling places to be open for five days before the elections, a
move they said would boost turnout. Ehrlich vetoed legislation but
Democrats overrode his veto early this session.
Democrats said Monday that Ehrlich's criticism is an attempt to delay
the new law. "He wants to confuse Maryland voters and most importantly,
he does not want to allow early voting," said state Democratic Party
Chairman Terry Lierman.
The governor's letter is the latest in a back-and-forth between him and
the staff of the state elections board, a relationship that has been
highly politicized.
Ehrlich's latest letter to Berger also asks the State Board of
Elections to order an independent agency and a security firm to test
Maryland's voting equipment, in light of recent controversies over
similar Diebold-manufactured machines in California.
Controversy of Diebold's voting products increased last December, when
a computer expert successfully hacked into the machines in Leon County,
Fla.
The much-publicized hack alarmed California officials, who ordered an
independent test of their system's software. Last week, Berger told
Ehrlich the codes on California's memory cards -- where votes are
stored -- are the same as those used in Maryland.
Diebold officials have stood by the company's equipment in California and Maryland.
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