Lawmakers Warned About Voting Problems

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — If this fall's elections abound with voting problems, members of Congress cannot say they were not warned.

Experts told members of two House committees on Wednesday that security for electronic voting machines is inadequate, lab testing of this machinery is insufficient and a paper record of voting is essential to protect election integrity.

The lawmakers also heard reassurances that potential problems are being addressed.

"The federal standards are not sufficient to prove that election systems are able to guarantee federally approved voting systems can adequately protect the integrity of our elections against unintentional failures or against tampering,"said David Wagner, a specialist in computer science from the University of California-Berkeley.

An election official from Minnesota, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, said paper records are critical. At least half the states will keep a"paper trail"of voting this year.

An official with the federal agency created to ensure successful elections tried to assure lawmakers that all steps are being taken to train elections officials and workers and make certain equipment is up to standards.

"We're looking at every aspect of elections,"said Donetta Davidson, a member of the Election Assistance Commission."We haven't found any problems with equipment. The problems we find are human error. The more elections officials train their people, the fewer problems we will have."

The commission on Monday will begin testing updates and modifications of voting systems; it's the first phase of a certification program.

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On the Net:

Election Assistance Commission:http://www.eac.gov

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