Reply #6: MO: Study Prompts Concern Over Voting Machines

[Stevepol]

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From John Gideon

Study prompts concern over voting machines
By KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian

Problems with machines and software used to count votes in Missoula have prompted the League of Women Voters of Montana to ask the secretary of state to decertify the suspect election equipment.

“Trustworthy elections cannot be assured as long as the machines themselves are untrustworthy,” said the organization in a Jan. 6 letter to Secretary of State Brad Johnson.

The flaws came to light in a two-year, $1.9 million study released last month in Ohio. The matter arose Monday during a Missoula League of Women Voters meeting.

snip . . .

Montana uses ES&S products because the company makes machines that count paper ballots, which Montana uses, said Bowen Greenwood, a spokesman in the secretary of state's office.

Missoula County uses anywhere from 50 to 70 precinct counters, two central counters and some 39 AutoMARK machines, which people with disabilities can use to mark ballots. The system cost around $600,000.

Zeier said safeguards are in place to protect the integrity of elections and Missoula intends to add even more security checks this year. A poll book, a true record of how many people voted, is reconciled with the machine count when votes are canvassed.

And she said vigilant workers at polling places keep close tabs on a machine tally of ballots cast. That means any attempt to zero out a machine would not go unnoticed. She said the idea to update software raised a dilemma. She said she believes even new antivirus software must first be certified by the state before being loaded into a machine.

snip . . .

“We use paper ballots, which means that even in the worst-possible-case scenario - if every machine in Montana were hacked and taken over - we would still have an accurate count of the votes,” Greenwood said.

snip . . .

Link: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/01/15/news/mtregional/news10.txt