Electronic votes could be hanging chads of 2004: experts

Feb 2, 2004

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Thousands of Americans who go to the polls on Tuesday will vote using computers instead of casting paper ballots, but experts warn the high-tech systems could cause more problems than they solve.

After the botched 2000 presidential election, when confusing ballots in Florida and legal wrangling left the nation in political limbo for 36 days, the federal government set aside billions of dollars to buy modern voting machines.

But experts say the computers -- which leave no paper record of ballots -- have gaping holes in their security that would allow hackers to tamper with or alter the vote count.

Forbes magazine called paperless voting a "worst technology" of 2003 and three bills are before Congress to stop it.

"The machines are in use with what I consider extremely serious security flaws," University of Iowa computer professor Douglas Jones said.

He said he told the machines' manufacturer, Diebold, about the security problems five years ago but nothing has been done to fix it.

"It's very clear that, despite a public scolding, the company had never repaired the security flaw and the company was continuing to sell the machine with that flaw and many other flaws," he said.

Read Article