Utah voters cling to punch cards

When it comes to the technology of voting, Utah is being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century — joining other states that are throwing their own tantrums.

At first glance, voting for your favorite candidate via computer might seem pretty neat — pull up a screen of candidates, touch the name of your favorite and you're done, with no tedious mucking about with styluses and cards and chads and such. But, looking at the experience of other states, Utah officials in charge of converting the state's punch card systems to electronic ATM-type machines see huge problems — and huge expenses.

"I think it's a tragic mistake," Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said of the timetable for switching over. "Why are we rushing into this?"

States that have conducted elections on the new machines have already experienced a variety of problems, and a growing number of federal and state legislators are expressing doubts about the integrity of the machines.

An estimated 55 million Americans will use the new machines to cast their ballots in November.

Congress mandated that states switch to electronic voting systems by the 2006 election in the wake of the Bush/Gore Florida election debacle. Voicing an opinion shared by several of his opponents, Utah gubernatorial candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. called it a "knee-jerk reaction," a partially unfunded mandate that may cause more problems than it solves.

On Thursday, a California panel unanimously recommended banning a popular Diebold Election Systems touchscreen voting machine. California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley said Diebold glitches "jeopardized the outcome" of the state's March 2 primary, and the head of a newly created federal agency charged with overseeing electronic voting called Diebold's problems "deeply troubling."

Dozens of protesters demonstrated Thursday at Diebold's annual shareholder meeting in North Canton, Ohio, many sporting T-shirts that read, "The Computer Ate My Vote."

Computer scientists say paperless systems made by Diebold's competitors also expose elections to malicious attack, software glitches and mechanical errors that could delete or alter millions of ballots.

Indiana discovered problems this week with equipment made by Election Systems & Software, which apparently installed uncertified software in five counties without notifying the state's election commission. In presidential primaries last month, modem problems delayed vote counts in Maryland, and a power surge made the wrong screens appear on at least half of San Diego County's touchscreens, preventing an unknown number of voters from casting ballots.