Bill in Congress may not help Peoria’s voting machines
By Bill Knight | 2nd October 2007
Some Peoria County voters and election judges remain concerned with the Hart InterCivic eSlate voting machines, but the devices don’t have some of the problems targeted by a new bill in Congress and will only be helped by some of its provisions.
Despite reported and suspected problems here and nationwide, it’s unlikely that Peoria will change its use of eSlate, 440 of which were purchased for about $1 million. However, a 10-year pact between the county and Hart is just for maintenance.
In Congress, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007 (H.R. 811) would:
- ensure that paper ballots exist for verification and standardize the chain of custody
- improve access for disabled voters
- required certification for acceptable technology
- ban systems accessible to wireless or concealed communication devices, or to the Internet
- minimize conflicts of interest
- fund compliance by states at a cost of $10 million upon passage and $1.3 billion through 2012, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
“The Hart eSlate creates for inspection and verification a paper ballot before the voters vote is cast and counted,” says Peoria Election Commissioner Mary Harkrader. “It provides an opportunity to correct any system-made (or voter-made) error in the voter-verified paper ballot before it is permanently preserved. The paper ballot is the official ballot and is suitable for a manual audit and can be counted by hand in any recount or audit.
“The eSlate has the audio system to inform people with reading disability how they have voted, and gives them an opportunity to change that vote,” she continues. “When we were demonstrating the eSlate last year, we found several people who can’t read using the audio system. A woman asked if she could go get her husband, who hadn’t voted in years, and he was really pleased.”
Opposition to the federal measure is coming from a couple of unlikely sources: the National Association of Counties and the National Conference of State Legislatures (although the National Association of Secretaries of State has remained neutral). The groups object to difficult deadlines for implementation and the possibility that it could end up being an unfunded mandate, with new requirements and not enough money.
Also, the American Association of People with Disabilities says it doubts it could implemented in time for the 2008 election, but the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way has endorsed H.R. 811, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), who’s gathered 216 co-sponsors, including both area Congressmen, U.S. Reps. Ray LaHood (R-Peoria) and Phil Hare (D-Rock Island).
If the money’s there, the mandates wouldn’t be that complicated, Harkrader says.
“No jurisdiction should have a problem with the National Institute of Standards and Technology developing best practices to enhance accessibility to every aspect of the voting process,” she says. “I would be leery of anything similar to Internet activity involving voting. [Federal Election Assistance Commission] standards for security would help, not hinder the process.”
Former Peoria City Manager Tom Mikulecky has said he found problems with eSlate’s dial system during the last election, as well as the inability of voters to use the cumulative-voting option.
“Nearly everyone at my polling place required help to figure out the system,” he said after April’s elections. “I’m glad there was not a long line, or the entire process would have broken down.”
A Peoria County election judge voiced similar frustrations.
“I want these machines scrapped,” says the judge, who spoke on the condition no name be used. Machine “printers have a back-up battery and this battery screws up the voting machines, so [the county election administration had the solution of disconnecting the batteries. Disconnecting the printers from the back-up battery system should not be a solution to how you handle machine problems.”
The judge’s two biggest complaints were eSlate’s ineffectiveness for disabled voters and the new lack of privacy.
“The [machine’s] recorded voice cannot keep up and the voter will turn right past the recording and end up having no idea where they are on the ballot,” the judge continues. “My second big, big gripe is that no one has the privacy of ballot that they had when they were isolated in a booth. Voters standing next to each other just naturally start talking to each other. They ask each other how to use the machine, about the candidates …This is not even allowable. We used to follow procedure. Now we don’t even try. We actually appreciate a voter helping another. No time with long lines.
The administration “does not want to hear stories like this and tells us basically not to help – let them vote on their own,” the judge adds.”It’s not fair to the voters.
“Acting locally would be the only way to prevent a 2008 election that would surely be much more of an injustice than ’06.”
Harkrader is hopeful that more staff and training will help.
“It is difficult to get voters to watch a video of the process,” she says. “We do post several notices, and have no problem with more – I just wonder if anyone would read them. We do plan more training for election judges, more judges, and arranged for 52 trained Bradley University students to assist the process.”
Bill Knight is an award-winning journalist who teaches at Western Illinois University. Contact him at bill.knight@hotmail.com.