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Paper ballot bill crumbling |
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Electronic voting machines seem likely to be retained
By Kelly Brewington
Sun reporter
Originally published April 7, 2006
The Maryland General Assembly appears close to
abandoning a proposal for paper ballots this fall, opting instead to
retain the state's electronic voting machines.
For months, a bipartisan group of politicians and advocates has
clamored for a voting system that provides paper audits. Without them,
they assert, it would be impossible to detect whether the state's
Diebold Elections System software had been hacked or had produced
inaccurate results.
The measure seemed on a fast track to approval after the House of
Delegates unanimously voted last month to switch to an optical scan
system, and the governor included money in his budget to pay for it.
But the Senate is on a different course, and it appears unlikely
the voting issue will be resolved by the time lawmakers adjourn on
Monday.
Republican lawmakers and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. say they are
frustrated by the inaction and are concerned that this fall's voting
could be riddled with problems.
Worries about the voting machines, they say, are compounded by a
series of election changes adopted by the Democrat-controlled
legislature - including measures to enable voters to cast provisional
ballots outside their home jurisdiction, and to allow some polls to
open five days before the election.
Democrats overrode Ehrlich's vetoes of those measures early in the
session, arguing they would encourage voter turnout. But Republicans
fear a darker outcome.
"What we've done in a series of bills is ... set up an environment
that should someone want to come into Maryland to stir up voter fraud
or try to steal an election, we have the classic situation to allow
that to happen." said Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the House minority
whip from Southern Maryland. "I just hope that for political reasons
these folks have not jeopardized our democracy."
House lawmakers of both parties hoped a new voting system would
assure accuracy and security. But the Senate has not moved on the House
bill and, twice this week, lawmakers postponed a floor debate on a
Senate version of the measure.
At one point, Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, a Baltimore County Democrat
and head of the committee that considers elections issues, proposed a
mail-in election modeled after an Oregon system. But lawmakers nixed
that idea.
Hollinger insists she wants paper-trail legislation to pass, but
is concerned that the manufacturer of an optical-scan system will not
be able to deliver the equipment by the September primary. But other
lawmakers, including Sen. Andrew P. Harris, the Republican whip from
Baltimore County, think she is trying to kill the effort.
Meanwhile, an aggressive grass-roots group is pressing legislators
to adopt a paper-trail system. Members of TrueVoteMD have spent
weekends in the Baltimore County district of Hollinger - a candidate
for Congress - gathering signatures for a petition calling on her to
pass the House bill.
Volunteers have also gone to Senate President Thomas V. Mike
Miller's district, gathering hundreds more signatures, said Linda
Schade, a co-founder of the organization, who believes Diebold's touch
screens are riddled with security flaws..
"I don't think the Democrats want to come out of this session not
having done something on this issue," she said. "The national
Democratic Party has been behind this for several years. ... So for
goodness sakes, let's get something done."
Initially, the debate over whether voters will cast ballots this
fall with pen and paper or with computers was mechanical, centering on
whether Diebold's software was faulty. Computer scientists are divided
on the issue, but the machines functioned in Maryland without
widespread problems during the 2004 election.
But in February, Ehrlich weighed in, saying he no longer had faith
in the State Board of Elections' ability to conduct a tamper-free
election because of controversy over Diebold systems in other states.
He also demanded pushing back new early voting procedures. Since then,
the issue of voting systems has been mired in partisan wrangling.
Democrats have accused Ehrlich of switching his position on paper
trails, since last year he vetoed a proposal to study such systems.
They say he is trying to cast doubt on the election.
"It's an opportunity to say if it doesn't go their way they can
challenge it in court," said Del. Obie Patterson, a Prince George's
County Democrat who backs a paper trail bill. "I just believe that's a
scare tactic to raise fear. All of this hype could be a good strategy
to discourage voters ... " Joseph M. Getty, the governor's policy and
legislative director, maintains that early voting and provisional
voting with the electronic machines is a recipe for fraud. Getty thinks
the machines need further testing to ensure accuracy.
Last week, Republican lawmakers staged a walkout in the Senate,
protesting a Democrat-led committee's naming of early-voting poll sites
and a move to give the state's elections administrator greater control
over local jurisdictions.
The chairman of the State Board of Elections also objected to
early voting, submitting testimony last month on a bill that would
delay its implementation for two years. He called the Democrat-led move
to name the polling sites an attempt to give the party an edge in the
election.
"I think it's basically an obscene gesture of gaming the system to
benefit one particular party," said Gilles W. Burger. "The whole idea
behind polling places and how we conduct our elections is supposed to
be fair on all sides."
Burger said local election supervisors are nervous about the
changes and hope the legislature offers guidance soon on how the fall
elections will be conducted. He also hopes the elections board will be
able to implement a statewide system that tracks when and where voters
cast ballots.
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