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Electronic voting still used in Colorado
LAMAR, COLO.
(hppr) -
LF: One ballot question for the November election has been on some Coloradans minds for the last two years; the question isn't for whom to vote, but how. Colorado state senate majority leader Ken Gordon sponsored senate bill 189 earlier this year. It called for the 2008 primary and general elections to be conducted primarily by paper ballot. The bill did not pass in the Senate Appropriations Committee, but the question of what type of ballot should be used did not die with the bill.
The accuracy of Colorado's electronic voting machines was questioned in 2006 when a lawsuit was brought against then Secretary of State Gigi Dennis Paul Hultin served as the lead counsel of the group suing the Secretary of State.
Paul Hultin: I think the voters of CO should be very concerned and be very vigilant about any electronic voting system that they use. The security and reliability and accuracy of these systems is well documented to be dubious at best.
LF: Hultin expresses doubt in the electronic voting machines all of which Secretary of State Mike Coffman recertified this year, after having decertified some in 2007. Hultin thinks even their recertification was dubious.
Senator Ken Gordon, who supported the senate bill asking for a paper ballot, says he wanted to change the ballot to raise voter confidence.
Sen. Ken Gordon: A paper ballot is something that the voter knows how to use and have confidence in that there's a record that can be recounted later or audited later. The electronic voting machines frequently don't have any records that can be audited later.
LF: All electronic voting machines will be required to have paper trails by 2010. Paper trails can be used to determine accuracy of the machine as well as for recounts. There is no statewide voting system, what type of ballot to use has been left up to the county clerks, in whom Senator Gordon has confidence.
Sen. Ken Gordon: I think that things will go alright in Colorado because people know the stakes are very high and they're confident and professional. But there could be a problem and there was a problem in Denver in 2006. And then we'll just have to deal with it. It's impossible to say until you know what the problem is how you're going to deal with it.
LF: Senator Gordon is the chairman of the newly formed Colorado Election Reform Commission, which legislature created in the last session. Attorney Paul Hultin is also a member of the commission, which will study the elections and make recommendations to the state legislature in March 2009. The commission will not affect the upcoming election. Decisions on how to handle the type of ballot will be in the hands of the county clerks. Senator Ken Gordon
Sen. Ken Gordon: I think more and more counties are moving toward paper or at least allowing a paper option and more and more voters are voting by mail, which is on paper. I encourage people to vote by mail b/c it's a long ballot and it takes pressure off Election Day and there could be lines on the general election day.
LF: On the High Plains, in Prowers County, voters will use an electronic ballot. County clerk Dottie McCaslin has full confidence in the county's electronic voting machines.
Dottie McCaslin: We test the machines; we test 'em, we test' em, we test 'em. We test 'em. So, yes, I'm very confident in the machines that I have and I'm very confident in the way they work. And you have an accurate, an accurate count.
LF: they are machines, and things can trigger machines to error, but McCaslin says that if the machines were to go crazy there are ways to take care of the problem. McCaslin is more confident in electronic voting machines because she thinks with paper ballots there are more likely to be over-votes which is when a scanner reads a stray mark on a paper ballot as a vote. There is one way in Prowers County to vote on paper.
Dottie McCaslin: The only paper we'll be using is for the mail-in ballots.
Mail-in ballots can be requested from county clerk's offices, which McCaslin recommends doing to give voters more time to look over the long ballot this year and to take some stress off of Election Day. Early voting is another way to avoid long lines at the polls. Voters can contact their county clerks for more information. For HPPR, I'm Lindsey Fields.
© Copyright 2009, hppr
(2008-08-28)
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The accuracy of Colorado's electronic voting machines was questioned in 2006 when a lawsuit was brought against then Secretary of State Gigi Dennis Paul Hultin served as the lead counsel of the group suing the Secretary of State.
Paul Hultin: I think the voters of CO should be very concerned and be very vigilant about any electronic voting system that they use. The security and reliability and accuracy of these systems is well documented to be dubious at best.
LF: Hultin expresses doubt in the electronic voting machines all of which Secretary of State Mike Coffman recertified this year, after having decertified some in 2007. Hultin thinks even their recertification was dubious.
Senator Ken Gordon, who supported the senate bill asking for a paper ballot, says he wanted to change the ballot to raise voter confidence.
Sen. Ken Gordon: A paper ballot is something that the voter knows how to use and have confidence in that there's a record that can be recounted later or audited later. The electronic voting machines frequently don't have any records that can be audited later.
LF: All electronic voting machines will be required to have paper trails by 2010. Paper trails can be used to determine accuracy of the machine as well as for recounts. There is no statewide voting system, what type of ballot to use has been left up to the county clerks, in whom Senator Gordon has confidence.
Sen. Ken Gordon: I think that things will go alright in Colorado because people know the stakes are very high and they're confident and professional. But there could be a problem and there was a problem in Denver in 2006. And then we'll just have to deal with it. It's impossible to say until you know what the problem is how you're going to deal with it.
LF: Senator Gordon is the chairman of the newly formed Colorado Election Reform Commission, which legislature created in the last session. Attorney Paul Hultin is also a member of the commission, which will study the elections and make recommendations to the state legislature in March 2009. The commission will not affect the upcoming election. Decisions on how to handle the type of ballot will be in the hands of the county clerks. Senator Ken Gordon
Sen. Ken Gordon: I think more and more counties are moving toward paper or at least allowing a paper option and more and more voters are voting by mail, which is on paper. I encourage people to vote by mail b/c it's a long ballot and it takes pressure off Election Day and there could be lines on the general election day.
LF: On the High Plains, in Prowers County, voters will use an electronic ballot. County clerk Dottie McCaslin has full confidence in the county's electronic voting machines.
Dottie McCaslin: We test the machines; we test 'em, we test' em, we test 'em. We test 'em. So, yes, I'm very confident in the machines that I have and I'm very confident in the way they work. And you have an accurate, an accurate count.
LF: they are machines, and things can trigger machines to error, but McCaslin says that if the machines were to go crazy there are ways to take care of the problem. McCaslin is more confident in electronic voting machines because she thinks with paper ballots there are more likely to be over-votes which is when a scanner reads a stray mark on a paper ballot as a vote. There is one way in Prowers County to vote on paper.
Dottie McCaslin: The only paper we'll be using is for the mail-in ballots.
Mail-in ballots can be requested from county clerk's offices, which McCaslin recommends doing to give voters more time to look over the long ballot this year and to take some stress off of Election Day. Early voting is another way to avoid long lines at the polls. Voters can contact their county clerks for more information. For HPPR, I'm Lindsey Fields.
© Copyright 2009, hppr
