Reply #12: UT: Voters will like touch screens, but it's a leap of faith

[Wilms]

Electronic Voting: Voters will like touch screens, but it's a leap of faith

Opinion

09/11/2005

Now that Utah voters have been placed in the tender care of Diebold Election Systems, they all should say a prayer.

Not because they should believe the theory floating around the Internet that the company is some sort of Christian fundamentalist conspiracy to throw elections to the Republicans. But there are some unresolved problems with the paper trail that the touch-screen voting machines are required by law to provide.

California has reported difficulties with paper jams and screen freezes, and veteran election officials say that if the paper trail had to serve as the basis for a recount, it would be hard to read and might not meet the legal definition of a ballot.
Diebold still does not have a machine available that could recount the votes from the paper trail, according to Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen.

That is why Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's decision to select Diebold as the provider of touch-screen voting machines statewide was a leap of faith. If that faith turns out to be misplaced, he can kiss his political career goodbye.

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http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3020972