Alicia Robinson
Voters who used Orange County's new electronic voting machines in the
March 2 primary might not see those same machines in November.
Secretary of State Kevin Shelley on Friday withdrew his
certification of four electronic voting systems, including the Hart
InterCivic "eSlate" machines used in Orange County, unless they meet
a list of 23 security conditions or offer a paper trail for voters to
check their ballot for accuracy.
State and county officials have been looking at the electronic
voting systems because of concerns about accuracy and security of
electronic machines. Poll worker mistakes resulted in 2,000 voters
getting the wrong ballots for the March 2 primary. Shelley banned a
touch-screen voting system made by Diebold, Inc., a different system
than the one used in Orange County.
County officials aren't yet sure what Shelley's announcement will
mean here, but several local voters said they think improvements
could be made to the eSlate system.
"I consider myself a somewhat intelligent person, and I didn't
think it was all that user-friendly," Newport Heights resident Todd
Cortell said. "I can imagine people getting frustrated if there's a
big line behind them or if they're in a hurry."
The County Registrar of Voters is looking into how best to
approach Shelley's directives, registrar spokesman Brett Rowley said.
To be approved for use in the November election, any decertified
voting systems must either have a paper record that voters can check
before they cast their ballots, or they must meet 23 security
criteria. One of those criteria is that each voter must be able to
opt out of using the electronic machine and have the option of using
a paper ballot.
Other security criteria include that the system must not have a
wireless Internet or telephone connection, all hardware and software
must be tested by state and federal officials, the registrar must
submit a plan for training poll workers on the system and registrars
of voters must create a security plan to protect voting systems from
fraud.
The Secretary of State has promised that counties will not bear
the costs of meeting the directives, spokesman Doug Stone said. Many
counties already had some of the security measures in place prior to
the March primary, he said.
"What we're doing this week is working on detailed information
that would include more of a timeline approach so that counties have
a clear understanding in terms of what is expected of them and when
