For first time, voting to go all-electronic in N.J.
While many see move as progress, others fear it risks election fraud
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

At the dawn of democracy, the first ballot was the arm. Ancient Athenians would vote on matters, yes or no, simply by raising them.

As time went on and populations increased, the needs of the electorate changed, as did the method by which they voted. The arm gave way to a yellow or black ball which, in turn, gave way to the paper ballot.

And now, another change in democracy is arriving: the electronic voting machine.

This month will mark the first general election where every county in New Jersey will be using electronic voting machines, a development considered risky by some. To proponents, it's merely one more step in the history of democracy. Critics may agree, but insist that that step is a backward one.

Skeptics charge that electronic voting machines, right now, are tools through which election fraud can be enacted upon a hapless populace. Proponents insist that the machines are safe from tampering, pointing to the many security measures that both the state and counties enforce.

According to Jeff Lamm, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Division of Elections, electronic voting is far from new, as it has been used in some form or another for the past 10 years in certain parts of the state. According to Lamm, any voting machine, as well as its software, is certified for use in New Jersey and needs to undergo a set of rigorous tests to ensure that it is operating properly and without outside tampering.

Middlesex County, in turn, has its own set of security protocols that are followed, which leads Middlesex County Board of Elections Administrator James Vokral to have confidence that electronic voting is safe and secure. According to Vokral, there are various checks and balances that are performed on each machine to make sure they're ready to go before each election. He also noted that the votes inside the machine have to be verified three times before their numbers are accepted.

Vokral said he is aware of the concerns that some people have about electronic voting, but said that the problems people tend to have with the devices are with different machines than the ones that Middlesex County uses.

"Most of [the concerns] are referencing the Diebold machines. They're referencing online machines; we don't have Diebold, we don't have online. We have processes and procedures that ensure, as best we can, the security of the vote and programming," said Vokral.

Monmouth County, which has only recently switched to an all-electronic format, also enthusiastically supports the switch to electronic voting. According to M. Claire French, the county clerk, voters previously used old lever-style machines, which were effective but difficult to repair and find replacement parts for. She said that the new machines are more accessible to handicapped people.

The visually impaired, who once had to vote using either an absentee ballot or with the assistance of a sighted person, are now able to cast their vote by themselves with the new machines. She also noted that people in wheelchairs had difficulty using the old machines.

French said that she is comfortable with the level of security in the current crop of voting machines, stating that the machines themselves are under lock and key to prevent tampering and that the results are stored on a cylinder that can only be read once. She further said that the machines are immediately impounded after an election in case there needs to be a recount.

"I have confidence that the equipment is what we need for the times," said French.

Current safety protocols and certification of products that follow them do not impress some critics of electronic voting. Recently, two Princeton computer scientists demonstrated the variety of ways that one can tamper with an electronic voting machine made by Diebold, and made note that the machine they used had been certified as secure according to federal and state standards.

Most voting machines in the state are made by Sequoia Voting Systems, an Oakland, Calif.-based company that is currently the second-largest voting systems supplier in the U.S. Nineteen out of the 21 counties in the state, including Monmouth and Middlesex, use Sequoia.

No paper trail

A large point of contention critics have regarding electronic voting is the lack of a verifiable paper record. If all the vote results are just information in a machine, the argument goes, how would anyone know whether or not the results were tampered with? A solution proposed by many critics is the introduction of a paper backup of the votes, which will become a requirement for all electronic voting machines by the 2008 elections. For now, however, neither Monmouth nor Middlesex counties' voting machines have a paper record, a troubling fact to some.

"Votes could be lost, results could be switched. Without a voter-verified paper trail, none of the electronic-based voting machines are auditable. And if they're not auditable, then they can't be fully reliable," said Congressman Rush Holt, who is running for re-election this year.

Holt said that while he is not concerned that he'll be the victim of voter fraud, without a paper trail, it could happen anywhere. He is not alone in the idea that a paper trail is needed.

"[Because] there is no voter-verified paper ballot in New Jersey, there is no way to verify whether or not the intention of the voters was executed and, technology aside, there are questions," said Irene Goldman, chair of the Coalition for Peace Action, a group that has been heavily critical of electronic voting.

"Pixels can't be read by a human being," said Goldman.

However, she did note that just because one may be concerned about the solvency of electronic voting machines, that should not dissuade one from voting. She said that if voters are concerned about whether or not their vote will be counted on an electronic device, they should vote using an absentee ballot so there is a verifiable paper trail.

"In general, electronic voting machines in the nation are under great suspicion. However, that said, that's what we have at the moment to vote on, and I believe that everyone should go and vote on whatever machine is available to them. It's most important that the people vote," said Goldman.