Commission wants paper record for every ballot
By David Pines, SOUTH MIAMI NEWS (Aug. 19, 2003) Read Original
South Miami Commissioner Dan McCrea introduced a resolution during the July 28 city commission meeting to “bring integrity to the election process” by requiring a paper record of every ballot cast no later than the 2004 presidential election.
McCrea’s interest stems from his belief in sound elections being fundamentally significant to good government.
“It starts with the importance of us of doing everything we can to ensure the integrity of our elections process,” he said.. “We have certainly seen in this county, this state and beyond, in the not too distant past, something less than a magnificent election process.”
The difficulties the nation had in the 2000 election led to Congress passing the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) that mandates the states to implement complementary legislation to ensure integrity of elections. As a result of the 2000 election, Miami-Dade County purchased $25 million worth of electronic equipment to modernize the voting system, yet it does not provide a paper record.
“We’ve all had documents vanish in our computer and various other digital demons show up,” McCrea said. “We must understand these things can happen, but must not let it happen in an election.”
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jimmy Morales has proposed a resolution making its way through the county that fortifies HAVA by requiring the county manager to comply to the federal doctrine and provide a paper record.
“This is somewhat in parallel with that — to support the resolution that’s going through the county that will be back up before the county commission Sept. 23,” McCrea said. “I take the language a little further by saying it’s part of minimum standards of integrity, and I introduced a time frame for the county to have for the 2004 election process.
“What we’re saying is, ‘let’s get it right in Dade County regardless.’ I think this commission has demonstrated in the past an interest in supporting good sound election process and resolutions that encourage the county. I hope this supports [Commissioner Morales’] resolution and once again we are able to send a message far and wide that South Miami is willing to take the lead in such things and show the way.”
Mayor Horace Feliu immediately offered his approval of the measure.
“I think more backup and, in light of what’s happened in the past — missing ballots and lack of accountability is the best way to say it — I whole-heartedly support you,” Feliu said.
Vice Mayor Mary Scott Russell praised McCrea’s recent work as chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Election Reform Coalition.
“Commissioner McCrea is really taking the lead and sticking his neck out on the frontline to ensure we all have fair representation and I thank you,” Russell said.
Commissioner Randy Wiscombe put everything in perspective given the state’s legendary performance in recent electoral history.
“In days of yore of hanging chads, and pregnant chads or any other kind of chads, you can find as many as you may like, it’s important to have a paper trail,” Wiscombe. said “Maybe you can also have or start a campaign, Help Florida Count. If computers can crash and things can happen electronically where you cannot recover items, I think there should be some form of hard copy backup."
The resolution passed with a unanimous vote.
“The system is set up to accommodate a worse-case scenario,” McCrea said. “With a broad margin of victory, there is no issue. Where elections are tight — and heaven knows in this country and in this state and in this county that it does happen often — there needs to be a method to recount or audit the election that we can all have faith in.”
Professor David Dill, from the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, maintains that direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines need to provide a “voter-verifiable audit trail.”
“DRE machines record votes in electronic memory,” Dill says on his Web site at <www.verifiedvoting.org>. “Any accidental or deliberate flaw in the recording mechanism can compromise the election undetectably. With secret hardware, software, inspection and testing procedures, we are required to have blind faith.”
Commissioner Morales’ Sept. 9 resolution not only calls for compliance with HAVA, but also instructs the county manager “to implement a voting mechanism that provides for a paper record of each individual vote cast, in a format visually verifiable by the voter as well as any external auditors, to be used for official certification of results, auditing and all recounts.”
Election officials have dubbed machines with this function as ballots under glass or BUG and have issues with additional costs and its uncertain technology.
“Prototypes are, in fact, being unveiled,” Morales said. “Election Systems and Software (ESS), the company that sold us our machines, is testing machines in San Jose, CA, that have this paper ballot simultaneously with a machine count. It’s possible over the next year or two we will be able to have a well-functioning system that we can have here.
“There is no way to escape the fact it will probably cost $400-$500 per machine so we’re talking $3-4 million. To me, $3-4 million is a small price to pay because all it takes is another bad election and we spend another $10 million. I think it is penny-wise and pound foolish to not go in that direction and make sure we have accurate elections and people know their votes are being counted. Technology is being developed. It may not happen overnight, but I think we need to start moving in that direction.”
