Honest Voting

The voting-technology lobbying group VerifiedVoting.org has voiced strong opposition to voting technology legislation, the bill S.3212 by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT). “The show-stoppers in this bill unfortunately overshadow its positive provisions,” says Verified Voting president Pamela Smith.

Verified Voting says S.3212 fails to require a physical, voter-verifiable record of votes cast — instead it calls for an “independent record” of votes that could be electronic, paper, audio, video, pictorial, or “other,” and exempts some systems altogether. The bill would not require states to use these independent records in a recount or a post-election audit of vote tallies.

To be meaningful for audits or recounts, a verification record must be presented to the voter for verification before the ballot is cast, and not be alterable by a failure or manipulation of computer software. A voter-verified paper ballot is the only system that today effectively serves that purpose.

Smith says the bill is likely to increase the cost of elections without solving the problem of voter confidence. Additionally, Smith said, it will allow unverifiable electronic voting systems to remain in use. Verified Voting says that the bill could remove the voter’s ability to verify a vote before it’s cast. Even more troubling is the bill’s provision for “independent” electronic records, which the group says “invites the development of paperless electronic voting systems, when there are no government certification processes to protect the voters from insecure voting systems.”

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