Millions of Florida voters will cast ballots this November on electronic voting machines that do not produce paper records. State election officials have insisted that the machines have safeguards to ensure that votes are accurately recorded and counted, including a computerized audit function. Recently, however, Miami-Dade County officials admitted that almost all of the audit records from a disputed 2002 primary had been accidentally destroyed. This is disturbing news and casts serious doubt on Florida's ability to run a fair election this fall.
Two years after Florida's notorious presidential vote in 2000, the state held a gubernatorial primary in which Janet Reno lost by 4,794 votes. There were widespread problems with electronic voting and suspicious delays for a final count. When the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition requested the audit data from that election, officials told it that almost all of the data had been lost in two computer crashes last year. This spring, the audit function malfunctioned in some electronic voting machines.
Voters cannot be expected to trust computerized voting machines with such serious flaws. Nor should they have to tolerate public officials who withhold critical information until they are asked the right question, or forced to tell the truth by a court. Voters are learning of the loss of audit data in Florida only now because a citizens' group fought to get the information. Similarly, Florida election officials fought the release of their list of felons to be purged from voting rolls this year. When a court made the list public, it was found to be so riddled with errors that the state was forced to scrap it.
Florida's secretary of state, Glenda Hood, has insisted that the voting technology is thoroughly reliable and that the critics are simply stirring up trouble. Ms. Hood should drop this head-in-the-sand approach and quickly provide the protections the voters need. The most urgent would be a review by a team that includes independent computer experts. Florida's election system was a national disgrace in 2000, and it is well on its way to becoming one again.
New York Times
Two years after Florida's notorious presidential vote in 2000, the state held a gubernatorial primary in which Janet Reno lost by 4,794 votes. There were widespread problems with electronic voting and suspicious delays for a final count. When the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition requested the audit data from that election, officials told it that almost all of the data had been lost in two computer crashes last year. This spring, the audit function malfunctioned in some electronic voting machines.
Voters cannot be expected to trust computerized voting machines with such serious flaws. Nor should they have to tolerate public officials who withhold critical information until they are asked the right question, or forced to tell the truth by a court. Voters are learning of the loss of audit data in Florida only now because a citizens' group fought to get the information. Similarly, Florida election officials fought the release of their list of felons to be purged from voting rolls this year. When a court made the list public, it was found to be so riddled with errors that the state was forced to scrap it.
Florida's secretary of state, Glenda Hood, has insisted that the voting technology is thoroughly reliable and that the critics are simply stirring up trouble. Ms. Hood should drop this head-in-the-sand approach and quickly provide the protections the voters need. The most urgent would be a review by a team that includes independent computer experts. Florida's election system was a national disgrace in 2000, and it is well on its way to becoming one again.
New York Times
