Electronic Voting Raises New Issues
Security, Recount Questions Persist As States Adopt Paperless Balloting
By Dan Keating
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 25, 2004; Page A06
Electronic voting systems that were touted as the solution to the paper ballots and hanging chads of the 2000 presidential election have become a new source of controversy as experts debate the reliability of software that operates the new systems, whether local election officials have the technical competence to run them and how there can be a recount on machines that keep no paper record of votes cast on them.
In the days leading up to the Nov. 2 election, critics of the new systems are voicing their concerns about the integrity of the ATM-like machines that will be used by one-third of the nation's voters -- more than double the number that used them four years ago.
"There could be a subtle software error that resides in those machines for months and years, and no one would ever know. There could be an error only in a particular election, and no one would ever know. There would be a cloud hanging over any election that uses these unaudited, unverifiable electronic machines," said Rep. Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), who sponsored legislation calling for a separate paper trail for electronic voting.
Many local election administrators have sided with the machines' manufacturers to dismiss the complaints as paranoia. They said voters will benefit from the new machines because thousands of ballots will be saved from mistakes such as the hanging chad, which they said was a far greater problem than the possibility of a hidden error. They said receipts would lead to jammed printers, confused voters and the burden of handling tons of paper....
(Machines will be used in 28 states, and the District of Columbia.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59554-2004Oct24.html 
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