ISLAND VOICES
Paperless electronic voting is a threat

By Douglas P. Luna

Nothing is more critical to the viability of our democracy than the integrity of our election process and the confidence of voters in that process. But the fact is, the new electronic voting machines now in limited use in Hawai'i:

• Do not allow voters to verify that their votes are properly recorded by the machines.

• Do not allow auditing of vote tabulations, or recounting of votes, except from data generated electronically by the machines themselves.

Yet Hawai'i's Office of Elections is encouraging the use of these machines, not just by those for whom they primarily were intended this year — voters with certain disabilities — but all voters willing to use them. About a quarter of walk-in voters now are using them, and others will be on Nov. 2. And by the 2006 election cycle, the machines may well be the only means to vote at polling locations in Hawai'i.Ê That is, unless the public demands a safeguard the Office of Elections so far has been adamant is unnecessary, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is.

Equipment tests and field experience with electronic voting machines on the Mainland have proven again and again that they are susceptible to failures from simple malfunction to fraudulent manipulation. And serious allegations have been made against the machines' makers, including those who made Hawai'i's.Ê

For details, voters should visit verifiedvoting.org, blackboxvoting.com or safevotehawaii.com. There they will learn about the inherent vulnerabilities of these machines, the usual refusal of their makers to acknowledge the vulnerabilities and work with independent experts to address them, and the success of the makers in persuading many voting officials not to be concerned about them when, in fact, they should be.ÊÊ

Today's electronic voting systems are vulnerable at any point along the way from the machines themselves, through communications cables and tabulating computers, up to the final determination of an election's outcome. Without getting into all that, there is one — and only one — entirely practical and affordable means to allow voters to verify their votes and allow votes to be audited and recounted without reliance on the integrity of the machines themselves. That means is to equip each voting machine with a device that prints out on paper what votes will be recorded as the voter's ballot is cast, and then maintain proper custody of this paper record for vote tabulation auditing and vote recounting as election regulations may prescribe.Ê

This record commonly is referred to as a voter-verifiable paper audit trail. Without it, machine malfunction or outright manipulation well might not be detected. Most machines can be equipped to produce a paper audit trail. But so far, none are in Hawai'i, and there is no promise they ever will be. Ê

Only machines producing a paper audit trail — like those Nevada now is using and California will be — make a safe vote possible. ÊUntil 2006 or whenever machines in Hawai'i are so equipped, voters can assure that their votes are counted only by not using a machine and instead demanding and completing a paper ballot.

For safe future elections, voters should urge their senator and representative at the Legislature to support new legislation in the coming session requiring that a paper audit trail be produced by every electronic voting machine used in Hawai'i.

Few public policy issues have come into the public consciousness and risen faster than the threat to the integrity of elections that paperless electronic voting represents. Barely 18 months ago, there were warnings here and there on the Internet and in the occasional academic paper about the vulnerabilities of electronic voting machines.ÊBut that was about it.ÊNow these are the subject of newspaper editorials and featured articles, magazine cover stories and major news segments on TV.

This issue is not going to go away. Voters have become increasingly cynical about government and now are confronted with the real possibility that the candidate or ballot measure most voters think they are voting for on these machines in a given contest won't receive the most recorded votes and actually win. This is an issue and now is a time where independent, technically competent individuals, the Office of Elections and the Legislature must work together for Hawai'i's people to assure safety and confidence in the state's future elections.

Douglas P. Luna is a Honolulu architect and civic activist. He wrote this for The Advertiser.