Bill would require paper receipts for electronic voting terminals

By RACHEL KONRAD, Associated Press Writer
December 12, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer said Thursday she would introduce a bill requiring electronic voting machines to produce paper receipts by November 2004.

The announcement was a major victory for voting rights advocates and computer scientists, who have been arguing for more than a year that paperless voting terminals exposed elections to hackers, software bugs and mechanical failures.

But voting equipment companies and county registrars sharply criticized the measure, saying printers would dramatically increase the cost and complexity of voting.

Boxer and New Jersey Democratic Rep. Rush Holt plan to introduce the bill early next year. The bill would require electronic voting companies to meet tougher security standards, including surprise audits and background checks for software engineers.

"I'm not a paranoid person by nature in any way, but we need to make sure there's confidence built into the system," Boxer said Thursday in a phone interview. "Verification of a voter system - I can think of nothing more important than that to be sure that every vote counts."

The bill would provide emergency funding for counties that must upgrade hardware and software to accommodate printers, which cost at least $500 per machine. The receipts would be stored in a county lock box for use in a recount.

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Senator Barbara Boxer ... you are the best! THANK YOU for taking up this MOST important cause. YOU TOO are a true PATRIOT! Congressman Rush Holt has been working on this for a long time, and without his efforts to give this issue visibility and credibility, it might have been swept aside as some loony, leftwing paranoia. This is, indeed, a major victory for voting rights advocates, and for ALL citizens who deserve to have their votes count.