Voting machines raise worries

Doubts about the trustworthiness of electronic voting machines are growing among election officials and computer scientists, complicating efforts to safeguard elections after the presidential stalemate of 2000.

With just over a year to go before the next presidential race, touchscreen voting machines don't seem like the cure-all some thought they would be. Skeptics fear they'll only produce more problems, from making recounts less reliable to giving computer hackers a chance to sabotage results.

"I'm deeply concerned about this whole idea of election integrity," said Warren Slocum, chief election officer in California's San Mateo County. His doubts were so grave that he delayed purchasing new voting machines and is sticking with the old ones for now.

He's not alone. While the Florida recount created momentum for revamping the way Americans vote, slow progress on funding and federal oversight means few people will see changes when they cast ballots next week. And new doubts could further slow things.

In Florida's Broward County — scene of a Bush-Gore recount of punch-card ballots — officials spent $17.2 million on new touchscreen equipment. Lately, they've expressed doubts about the machines' accuracy and have discussed purchasing an older technology for 1,000 more machines they need.

The concerns focus on:

• Voter confidence: Since most touchscreen machines don't create a separate paper receipt, or ballot, voters can't be sure the machine accurately recorded their choice.

• Recounts: Without a separate receipt, election officials can't conduct a reliable recount but can only return to the computer's tally.

• Election fraud: Some worry the touchscreen machines aren't secure enough and allow hackers to potentially get in and manipulate results.

"The computer science community has pretty much rallied against electronic voting," said Stephen Ansolabahere, a voting expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "A disproportionate number of computer scientists who have weighed in on this issue are opposed to it."

Other doubters say the solution would be "voter verifiable paper trails" — a paper receipt that voters can see to be confident of their choice, that can then be securely stored, and that election officials can rely on for recounts.