Bibliography of Three Leading Maryland Newspapers' Coverage of the Verifiable Voting Issue

Maryland Gazette Articles

Voting system too vital to change, Oct. 9, 2003
Frederick County is far from the electoral fiasco in Florida and the current chaos in California, but problems there and elsewhere have led to sweeping changes that will affect everyone. Some are long overdue reforms, while others may be worse than the problems they are trying to solve.

City to use flawed voting machines: Officials take their lead from the state, Oct. 8, 2003
Gaithersburg has decided to use the state's new electronic voting machines in the Nov. 4 city council election despite a recent state analysis that acknowledged certain flaws that could lead to fraud and errors.

Voting machines will be ready by March primaries, Oct. 3, 2003
ANNAPOLIS An analysis of the state's new $55.6 million electronic voting system found 66 flaws that could lead to fraud and errors, but many of the weaknesses and how they will be fixed remain a closely guarded state secret.

Caveat emptor when picking out a lobbyist, Oct. 3, 2003
Hiring a lobbyist is like buying a house or car. "Buyer beware," advises Suzanne S. Fox, executive director of the Maryland Ethics Commission, which monitors lobbyists.

State keeping quiet on flaws in machines, Oct. 1, 2003
Report: New voting system at 'high risk’
ANNAPOLIS -- An analysis of the state's new $55.6 million electronic voting system found 66 flaws that could lead to fraud and errors, but many of the weaknesses -- and how they will be fixed -- remain a closely guarded state secret.

City gets go-ahead to use electronic voting machines, Oct. 1, 2003
Thanks to a directive from the governor's office last week, Rockville will move ahead with plans to continue use of electronic voting machines that an academic study panned this summer.

Rockville elections board lashes report on voting machines, Sep. 5, 2003
ROCKVILLE -- Members of Rockville's elections board derided a Johns Hopkins study criticizing the state's electronic voting machines during its meeting last week, calling it "fantasy" and its methodology "pathetic."

Voting machine critic was a board member for competitor, Aug. 27, 2003
The leader of a Johns Hopkins research team that issued a scathing report on software flaws in the Maryland's new voting machines revealed Sunday that he sat on the advisory board of a competitor to Diebold Election Systems, which makes the machines.

Ehrlich orders check on voting system, Aug. 8, 2003
ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. trusts that the maker of Maryland's new electronic voting machines has fixed software glitches in its system, but on Wednesday he ordered an independent review of the system just to be sure.

No more recounts, Aug. 5, 2003, LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The article, "Report shows major defects in new voting machines," just adds to the many problems published about the Diebold machines on which the state just spend $56 million.

Hopkins professor says new electronic voting machines should be rejected, August 06, 2003
Maryland's newly purchased electronic voting machines should be scrapped because the software that runs it has major security flaws, a Johns Hopkins professor said.

Voting software assailed, July 25, 2003
GAITHERSBURG -- Maryland's newly purchased electronic voting machines should be scrapped because the software that runs them has major flaws, a Johns Hopkins professor said Thursday.

Voting machines approved, July 25, 2003
The state's Board of Public Works approved a $55.6 million contract for 11,000 new voting machines last week, a move that will assure the state has one voting system for next year's presidential election.

Washington Post Articles

Md. Democrats Want Outside Audit of Voting, October 21, 2003; Page B4
Democratic legislative leaders called yesterday for independent auditors to study problems with Maryland's voting machines, saying they do not trust Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to resolve the matter on his own.

Scrutiny Of Voting Machines Limited: Va., Md. Officials Fear Virus Threat, October 12, 2003; Page C1
The new touch-screen voting machines that Fairfax County and other jurisdictions have spent millions of dollars to acquire are hailed by elections officials for their speedy tabulations, their wireless transmission capability and their simplicity for voters.

Ehrlich Seeks Probe Over Ballot Machines Contractor, Reviewer Used Same Lobbyist, September 28, 2003; Page C8
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) has asked state investigators to look into the opposite interests of a well-known Annapolis lobbyist who represents two companies involved in the overhaul of the state's voting machine system.

Md. Plans Vote System Fixes After Criticisms Security Review Finds 328 Flaws in AccuVote, September 25, 2003; Page B8
An independent review released yesterday found 328 security weaknesses, 26 of them critical, in the computerized voting system Maryland has just purchased, flaws that could leave elections open to tampering or allow software glitches to go undetected.

Voting Machines Will Be Scrutinized: Study Suggests Tampering Could Be Risk, August 14, 2003; Page T3
Montgomery County officials this week expressed concern about the findings of a report questioning the security of new electronic voting machines and said the state must make sure the machines are tamper-proof before using them throughout Maryland.

Jolted Over Electronic Voting: Report's Security Warning Shakes Some States' Trust, August 11, 2003; Page A1
The Virginia State Board of Elections had a seemingly simple task before it: Certify an upgrade to the state's electronic voting machines. But with a recent report by Johns Hopkins University computer scientists warning that the system's software could easily be hacked into and election results tampered with, the once perfunctory vote now seemed to carry the weight of democracy and the people's trust along with it.

Safeguarding Maryland's Votes, August 10, 2003; Page B6, Editorial
GOV. ROBERT L. EHRLICH JR. (R) made the right call Wednesday when he ordered the security features of Maryland's $55 million voting system to be reviewed. The recent report by the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins University cited numerous vulnerabilities in the touch-screen technology, problems that manufacturer Diebold Election Systems has denied. Now the state -- and its voters -- will have a chance to know for sure.

Ehrlich Orders Voting System Security Study, August 7, 2003; Page B1
Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) yesterday asked a contractor with expertise in computer security to review the electronic voting machines that the state recently agreed to purchase for up to $55 million and plans to put in every precinct before the 2004 election. The review comes two weeks after computer scientists at Johns Hopkins University said the voting system was so flawed that a 15-year-old hacker could tap into the software and tamper with election results.

A Soft Touch -- for Voter Fraud?, August 3, 2003; Page B6, Section: Editorial
MARYLAND RECENTLY committed more than $55 million to buy touch-screen voting machines. Now a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University suggests that the machines may be vulnerable to fraud and other abuse. The warning deserves to be taken seriously.

Voting Equipment Displayed: Calvert Could Be Using Touch-Screen System by 2004, July 31, 2003; Page T3
Calvert County could begin using a new, albeit controversial, electronic touch-screen voting system by the 2004 election. State election officials, as well as a representative of the system's manufacturer, demonstrated the machines to the Calvert commissioners on Tuesday. The new voting system, according to preliminary projections, could cost the county roughly $265,000, to be paid as part of a lease agreement with the state.

Voting Machine Study Divides Md. Officials, Experts, July 26, 2003; Page B1
For some in Maryland, the report yesterday by Johns Hopkins University computer security experts that electronic voting machines could easily be hacked into set off alarm bells. But for others, including the state officials who recently signed a $55.6 million agreement to put the units in every voting precinct by March, the report is one more example of technological hysteria." "The study should be setting off alarm bells," said Del. William A.
Bronrott.

New Voting Systems Assailed: Computer Experts Cite Fraud Potential, March 28, 2003; Page A12
As election officials rush to spend billions to update the country's voting machines with electronic systems, computer scientists are mounting a challenge to the new devices, saying they are less reliable and less secure from fraud than the equipment they are replacing. Prompted by the demands of state and federal election reforms, officials in Maryland, Georgia, Florida and Texas installed the high-tech voting systems last fall.

Md. Voting System's Security Challenged: Electronic Cheating Too Easy, Study Says, July 25, 2003; Page B1
A touch-screen voting system that Maryland has just agreed to buy for $55 million and install in every precinct in the state is so flawed that a 15-year-old with a modicum of computer savvy could manipulate the system and change the outcome of an election, computer scientists at Johns Hopkins University said yesterday. An analysis by the Information Security Institute suggests that voters could cast their ballots repeatedly and poll workers could tamper with the ballots.

Baltimore Sun Articles

Election Worries at a Glance, (Published: October 30, 2003)
Questions have been raised recently about touchscreen electronic voting machines, even as many states explore switching their election systems over to them. Some of the latest developments: * A July study by Johns Hopkins and Rice universities found one ... more

Groups Question Voting Machines' Accuracy, (Published: October 30, 2003)
Doubts about the trustworthiness of electronic voting machines are growing among election officials and computer scientists, complicating efforts to safeguard elections after the presidential stalemate of 2000. With just over a year to go before the next ... more

Uncle Sam keeps SAIC on call for top tasks, (Published: October 26, 2003)
When the Pentagon wanted to assemble a team of Iraqi exiles to assist in restoring postwar Iraq, it gave the job to a company with a name not chosen for flashy marketing: Science Applications International Corp. When Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. wanted ... more

New voting machines to be reviewed, (Published: October 21, 2003), Page: 2B
The Maryland General Assembly yesterday asked for its own analysis of the state's planned purchase of electronic touch-screen voting machines, including a review to determine whether an earlier study ordered by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. was "free of ... more

Ethics panel to scrutinize Md. lobbyist
Ehrlich asks commission to examine relationships in voting machine issue
Genn had represented 2 clients
New touch-screen system found to have serious, but fixable, security flaws
(Published on: September 27, 2003), Page: 1B
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. asked the State Ethics Commission yesterday to examine the relationships of a well-known Annapolis lobbyist after learning that he represents competing interests in the debate over whether Maryland should buy costly new touch-screen voting machines. Top Ehrlich aides said they did not learn until this week that Gilbert J. Genn, who was registered to lobby on behalf of Diebold Election Systems, the manufacturer of the electronic voting machines, was also authorized.

Voting machine concern arises
Md. push for touch-screen leaves Antonetti `uneasy'
' The combination for disaster'
State wants to convert 19 counties by primary
(Published on: September 26, 2003), Page: 1B
Maryland's rush to convert 19 counties to touch-screen voting before the March 6 primary election will impose a tough deadline, local officials say, leading Howard County's elections administrator to warn yesterday that the pressure could create "the combination for disaster" on election day."I feel very uneasy about it. There are too many loose ends," said administrator Robert J. Antonetti, who has a staff of seven and 33 years of experience running election

Voting system found to have election risks
Independent study says Md.'s touch-screen device is vulnerable to tampering
State believes flaws can be fixed
Work to ensure security starts
plan proceeds to use machines in March
(Published on: September 25, 2003), Page: 1B
An independent review of Maryland's proposed touch-screen voting system released yesterday found a "high risk of compromise" by malicious outsiders who might want to tamper with election results. But state officials believe the flaws can be fixed quickly, and are continuing with plans to distribute the machines statewide for the presidential primary election in March. Officials unveiled selected portions of an evaluation by California-based Science Applications

Primary to be test for new machines, (Published: September 9, 2002)
Maryland is about to enter a new age of electronic, touch-screen voting with tomorrow's primary election. About 40 percent of the state's 2.7 million registered voters -- those who cast their ballots in Montgomery, Prince George's, Allegany and ... more

GOP taking over state, local election boards: Control seen as important in deciding close votes, (Published on: September 4, 2003), Page: 1B
Maryland Republicans, exercising the rights of gubernatorial victory, are taking control of election boards and the voting mechanisms they oversee in a little-noticed shift that could produce huge election day dividends.Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s win in November means that the governor's Republican appointees dominate not only the state Board of Elections, but also the election panels in all 24 local jurisdictions - some of which are overwhelmingly Democratic.

A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE: When a Hopkins computer scientist declared a new breed of electronic voting machinery to be junk, he cracked open a wide and costly debate, (Published on: August 25, 2003), Page: 1D
In neither appearance nor demeanor does Avi Rubin suggest the aura of a troublemaker. He is slight in stature, bespectacled, well-spoken and neat, if informal, in dress. In conversation, you detect confidence but not quite braggadocio. He does not seem to be a threat to democracy. Judging by the reaction to Rubin's most recent work, though, this 35-year-old Johns Hopkins computer scientist might as well be the reincarnation of Josef Stalin, so dangerous is he to the American ...

State confident voting plan will prove secure: Counties' officials briefed on study of new machines, (Published on: August 16, 2003), Page: 2B
OCEAN CITY - Maryland's top elections official expressed confidence yesterday that an independent security review of expensive new electronic voting machines would yield few problems, and the touch-screen system would be in place statewide for the presidential primary in March. At the same time, state elections administrator Linda H. Lamone acknowledged that the state and counties are making contingency plans in case the $55.6 million contract with Diebold Election Systems is canceled ...

Ballot sanctity, (Published on: August 8, 2003), Section: EDITORIAL, Page: 10A
FREE AND FAIR elections are such a cornerstone of our democracy that all guesswork must be removed from tabulating the results. If a recount is needed, it should leave no doubt that the recorded outcome reflects the voters' wishes. No such guarantee comes with the more than 11,000 touch-screen voting machines Maryland officials have contracted to buy. There is no paper trail; detailed recounts are impossible. In more trusting times, concern about an electronically fixed election ...

Voting machine review ordered
Hopkins study of flaws in security prods action
Purchase no longer `a certainty'
California firm to analyze touch-screen system, (Published on: August 7, 2003), Page: 1B
In the wake of a study revealing security flaws in the costly touch-screen voting machines Maryland has agreed to buy, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. ordered an outside review yesterday of the electronic system scheduled to be in place for next spring's presidential primary election. Science Application International Corp. of San Diego will complete the evaluation in four weeks, delivering findings that will determine whether Maryland moves forward with the $55.6 million purchase of new ...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, (Published on: July 31, 2003), Section: EDITORIAL, Page: 16A
The accuracy of vote count matters most Recent attempts to improve the method of voting have focused too much attention on the mechanics of the process rather than its honesty ("Scientists say `nay' to computerized voting," July 27).While it may be desirable to make the process of voting as easy as possible, it is more important that it reveals the real intent of the voter, with little chance for tampering. The best way to accomplish this would require more paper, ...

Taking away paper ballots asks for trouble in close vote, (Published on: July 31, 2003), Page: 1D
When I first voted in Baltimore County, I thought I'd found election nirvana. Instead of waiting in a long line for one of four voting machines, I got a paper ballot and directions to one of a dozen little stand-up desks. The ballot was clear and unambiguous. With a felt-tip marker I completed a little arrow next to the name of each candidate I wanted. Then I slipped the ballot into an optical scanner. It was the fastest ballot I'd ever cast. I thought this combination of paper ...

Scientists say `nay' to computerized voting: Group assails machines as `inherently subject to programming error', (Published on: July 27, 2003), Page: 1A
Rebecca T. Mercuri is not exactly a techno-phobe. She has a doctorate in computer science. She's president of a New Jersey software company. "I've got an iMac and three laptops, and that's just at home," she says. But for two years she has been warning anyone who will listen that election officials rushing to spend big bucks on computerized voting machines are courting catastrophe."The electronic voting systems have been created to a very lax standard," ...

Defects reported in voting machines: Hopkins researchers say Md.'s electronic terminals are vulnerable to hackers, (Published on: July 25, 2003), Page: 1A
The electronic voting system selected by Maryland and several other states may harbor serious software flaws that could allow voters or poll workers to tinker with election results, a team of Johns Hopkins University computer security experts has reported. The touch-screen voting machines made by Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems are vulnerable to subversions ranging from multiple voting to vote switching, the Hopkins study concluded. It said some hacks could be accomplished with little ...

Solution sought in vote dispute: State weighs extending Balto. County's deadline, New machines a must by March, But acceptable alternative fails to emerge at talks, (Published on: July 22, 2003), Page: 1B
As Baltimore County fights a March deadline to set up new electronic voting machines, state officials said yesterday that they are willing to listen to proposals to grant it an extension. But at a negotiating session, no acceptable alternative emerged. The National Federation of the Blind, which is suing the county and state elections boards, said it would be content if each of the county's 200-plus polling stations had one electronic machine, or offered another way for blind people ...

Voting machine deadline opposed
Balto. County requests more time for transition
New devices required by March
Delay could cause the loss of $1.1 million in U.S. aid, (Published on: July 20, 2003), Page: 1B
Baltimore County is fighting a state requirement that it set up new electronic voting machines by the March presidential primary, despite a federal lawsuit charging that the county's current paper system discriminates against blind voters. None of the 18 other Maryland counties with the same March deadline has made a similar request. And no other system is the subject of a lawsuit. The county's request, which was discussed at a state Board of Public Works meeting Wednesday, ...

Elections officials sued over secret ballot for blind: Towson man seeks use of touch-screen machines, (Published on: March 28, 2003), Page: 3B
A Towson man who has raised concerns about voting procedures for the blind since 1996 sued Baltimore County and state election officials yesterday, alleging that blind voters in the county have been systematically denied the right to a secret ballot. The complaint, brought by William C. Poole Jr. and four other county residents with assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union, said election officials should implement immediately touch-screen voting machines that would allow visually ...