Debate Over Electronic Voting

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm Gwen
Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Our subject this week is the debate about
electronic voting.

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VOICE ONE:

The presidential election of two-thousand was one of the closest
in American history. But, as closely divided as the nation was, the
experience united people in a common belief. The election system
needed reform.

Efforts to do so have centered on technology. By this November,
an estimated one in three voters will use an electronic voting
machine. But many people worry that the election could be a repeat
of two-thousand.

VOICE TWO:

Because of a dispute in Florida, the winner was not declared for
thirty-six days. Florida counted almost six-million votes on
Election Day. The Democratic Party candidate was Vice President Al
Gore. The Republican nominee was Texas Governor George W. Bush.

The difference was so narrow,
election officials had to count the ballots again. State law calls
for a recount when the difference is less than one-half of one
percent of the vote.

Some voters said their ballots were difficult to understand. Some
ballots were also difficult for older computer systems to read. As a
result, the Gore campaign requested that officials recount some
disputed ballots by hand.

The Bush campaign blocked the hand recount in federal court. In
time, the case made its way to the United States Supreme Court.

VOICE ONE:

On December fourth, the Supreme Court stopped the recount in
Florida. The court was divided five to four. The ruling, in effect,
declared Mister Bush the winner. He had five-hundred-thirty-seven
more votes in Florida. The court also declared any additional
recounts requested by Mister Gore unconstitutional.

Nationally, Al Gore narrowly won the popular vote. But the United
States uses the Electoral College system to elect presidents. The
win in Florida meant that Mister Bush had two-hundred-seventy-one
electoral votes. A candidate needs two-hundred-seventy to win the
presidency.

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VOICE TWO:

The election dispute in Florida led the federal government to
take action. In two-thousand-two, Congress passed the Help America
Vote Act. The main purpose of this law is to help states replace old
voting machines with modern systems. Yet there are strengths and
weaknesses to every voting system.

Most Americans marked their votes on paper ballots until a
machine called the Myers Automatic Booth appeared. That was in
eighteen-ninety-two, in Lockport, New York. Voters entered the booth
and pulled on mechanical devices to make their choices. Another
device attached to the machine counted the votes.

Mechanical voting machines spread to most big cities in the
United States by the nineteen-thirties. A lot of Americans still
vote on machines that are no longer made.

VOICE ONE:

Computers entered the American election process in the early
nineteen-sixties. These machines use a punch-card ballot that can be
read by a computer. Voters strike holes to mark their choices. The
ballots are then fed into a computer that uses light to count the
holes.

Many parts of the country, including areas in Florida, still used
this system during the two-thousand election.

But, when voters make their choice, a small piece of paper is
sometimes left over the hole. These pieces that do not fully
disconnect are called chads. Computers may not count ballots that
have what became widely known in the two-thousand election as
"hanging chads."

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VOICE TWO:

Under the Help America Vote Act,
millions of dollars are being spent to replace old punch card and
mechanical voting systems. State and local governments are buying
systems where the ballot appears on a computer screen. Voters touch
the screen to make their choices. These systems can provide results
quickly.

But technical problems have been reported. There are also
questions about computer security. The worst fear is that someone
dishonest might be able to steal an election.

Avi Rubin is a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins
University in Maryland. He and a team of researchers say electronic
voting systems are not acceptable for the presidential election this
November. They argue that there are still too many problems.

Professor Rubin says electronic voting machines should be
required to print out a copy of votes. These records would be saved
in case of the need for a recount, or to confirm that the system
worked correctly.

VOICE ONE:

Many organizations and political groups support this proposal.
The Verified Voting Foundation and People for the American Way are
urging their members to demand voter receipts in November.

And last month the League of Women Voters withdrew its support
for electronic voting without any paper records. Members had
criticized its position. A resolution passed by the group now calls
for "secure" and "recountable" voting systems.

Many states have proposed legislation to require a paper record
of every vote. Similar legislation has been proposed in Congress.

VOICE TWO:

One of the largest providers of
electronic voting systems is Diebold, based in Ohio. Its machines
are used in Ohio, Texas and Georgia and other states. Critics of
electronic voting note that the chief executive officer of Diebold
has raised a lot of money for President Bush. Walden O'Dell was
criticized last August after he promised to help make sure the
president received Ohio's electoral votes.

Mister O'Dell later expressed regret for his comments and
promised to limit his activities. And last month an Ohio newspaper
reported that he went further. The Cleveland Plain Dealer said he
got company directors to bar top Diebold officials from all
political activity except voting.

VOICE ONE:

DeForest Soaries heads the Election Assistance Commission in
Washington. Congress established this agency as a result of the
two-thousand election. Mister Soaries was elected chairman when the
commission held its first public meeting in March of this year. He
says states should increase the security of electronic voting in
November.

He also says makers of electronic voting machines should release
their computer software. That way security experts could examine the
programs for weaknesses. And Mister Soaries has called for
collecting information about problems with the machines. He says
steps like these would help increase public trust in electronic
voting.

VOICE TWO:

In California, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley says he wants to
do just that. Mister Shelley is the chief elections official in
America's most populated state.

He has ordered that all electronic voting systems in California
must provide paper records by two-thousand-six. Until then, he wants
people who do not trust electronic voting machines to have the right
to vote by a traditional paper ballot.

Mister Shelley has also barred the use of electronic voting
machines in some areas until they are more secure.

But some local officials are not happy. They have gone to court
to oppose his orders.

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VOICE ONE:

The push to modernize the electoral process is not just in the
United States. Earlier this year, parliamentary elections in India
used electronic voting machines. Voters in Italy used electronic
voting machines last month to choose representatives to the European
Union. And voters in Venezuela will use them in August, in a special
election to decide if Hugo Chavez will remain president.

This November, about three out of four Americans will vote on the
same equipment they used four years ago. But election officials say
it is simply a matter of time before electronic voting is much more
common in this country.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jill Moss and produced by Caty Weaver.
I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Gwen Outen. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA,
in VOA Special English.