Clerk still wary of electronic voting

Paper jams are a minor frustration for office-cube dwellers around the world, but they can be a major annoyance for Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren when they occur in electronic voting machines.

The machines, which debuted in the August primary and will be available again at Boone County polling places on Tuesday, are designed to leave a paper trail that can be compared later to the official vote tally to ensure accuracy and transparency. But in August, paper jams caused 60 percent of the machines to leave no such trail.

With Noren predicting a record turnout of up to 60,000 voters this Tuesday and with more than 40 percent of county voters preferring the machines in August, there could be long lines when voters hit the polls. Noren, however, hopes there are no paper jams this time. In addition, she’s been training election volunteers to keep an eye out for jams and other problems.

“We’re certainly focusing on making sure poll workers recognize it immediately,” she said.

Despite the August glitches, there were no conspiracy theories about election fraud, and there should be none on Tuesday because the machines have built-in redundancy. An electronic record of all the votes cast on a machine can be printed later if the paper trail fails. In August, judges relied on the electronic record and found that it perfectly matched the vote tally.

Noren said paper-trail problems aren’t solely the fault of election judges, who sometimes load the paper improperly. Rather, she cited the fact that the machines sometimes malfunction because they were rushed into production to meet federal standards under the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

“The whole concept from idea to implementation was less than a year,” Noren said.

Noren doesn’t blame the secretary of state, however, saying the office was simply following federal guidelines. However, even given the machines’ popularity among voters, she said she won’t buy more machines until their design improves.

“I am not investing in a technology that will take four to five years of development before they’re at the level I’d invest in,” she said.

Once they reach that level, there’s also the question of how to pay for any new machines. Each one costs about $3,000, and buying enough so that everyone could vote electronically would cost between $5 million and $6 million, she said. Voters probably would have to approve a sales tax or property tax increase to raise that kind of money, Noren said.

The machines also allow voters with disabilities to vote unassisted, which can take up to 45 minutes in some instances. Because of this, Noren said she hopes all voters who want to use the machines are prepared to wait or will consider using the old-fashioned method of pen and paper, which is still available.

“Voters need to understand, this (electronic) equipment is primarily for voters with disabilities,” she said.