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Jennifer Brunner worries about security breaches in Ohio elections. Then, there is the real problem
Published on Friday, Jan 04, 2008
The machines let voters know automatically whether they have overvoted. They make overvoting impossible. The intended choice is made. In Summit and other counties, optical-scanning machines perform a similar function. Not surprisingly, the rate of overvoting has declined dramatically.
All of this is worth keeping in mind as Jennifer Brunner pursues yet another chapter of sweeping change in the way Ohio operates its elections. The secretary of state points to sleepless nights after receiving last month a comprehensive evaluation of the state's election system. The review detected ''critical security failures'' that could jeopardize the integrity of elections. The report offered a withering assessment of electronic voting machines, concluding, essentially, that the machines aren't up to task.
As a result, Brunner recommended the end of electronic voting machines in Ohio. She advised that all counties use optical-scanning machines, and have them in place for the November election. Except for trouble-prone Cuyahoga County, which now has set in motion the replacement of electronic voting machines with optical scanners — by the March 4 primary. Yes, in two months' time.
Put aside that many officials are pleased with their electronic voting machines, that local Democrats and Republicans watch every move made by the other side in elections, that the potential for security breaches must be weighed against the realities of election operations. Brunner believes the security risks trump all other factors. As part of her effort, votes would not be counted at the polling place. The ballots would be shipped to a central location.
The American Civil Liberties Union has its eye on the original, and still critical, priority set down in law. Carrie Davis, an attorney for the organization's Ohio chapter, has warned the effort to prevent overvoting could be lost in the shuffle, the touch-screens ditched, the optical scanning ballots counted elsewhere. Those now voting by optical scanner cast their ballots at the polling place and, before their votes are counted, they are alerted to overvotes.
Brunner seeks to be reassuring about developing a process that permits vigilance in preventing overvoting. Those steps must be convenient and effective. Lawmakers and others assessing her recommendations (and looking for the money to pay for them) should insist this priority is met. After all, overvoting has been a real problem, something that cannot be said of the security breaches noodled in the report that persuaded her to act.
Get the full article here.
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