Electronic voting no magic bullet

Specialists seek input of academia, technology, election officials

By Marsha Walton
CNN
Thursday, December 11, 2003

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland (CNN) -- After the debacle of the dimpled ballots and "hanging chads" of the 2000 presidential race, many election officials looked to technology to come to their rescue.

They rushed to buy new, high-tech electronic voting equipment, expecting features such as touch screens to prove more reliable than older systems' punch cards.

But at a sometimes boisterous meeting of election officials, computer scientists and voting machine vendors this week in the Washington suburb of Gaithersburg, it seems clear that technology will not solve all.

Several well-publicized flaws in "e-voting," or electronic voting, systems have not led to improvements, said Harvard University computer professor Rebecca Mercuri.

"When such problems are exposed, no one appears to be held accountable," Mercuri said.

"Officials are not removed from their posts, fired or sent to trial; vendors are not banned from participation; equipment is not recalled; standards are not rewritten; and elections are not re-held," she said.

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