By SHARI FRANK and LAURIE TEAL, guest columnists
Two members of the Brown County Election Board had a discussion recently. The question: What if all the certified voting machine vendors in the state gathered in one room for voters to test out their machines?
The result: Vote Night, which was held Wednesday evening, Oct. 9. Brown County Clerk Kathy L. Smith arranged for all the state-certified voting machine vendors to bring samples of their pollbooks, voting machines and ballot printers in one location for local voters to test and ask questions of vendor representatives. Nearly 70 people attended the event, held at the Brown County Library and co-hosted by the League of Women Voters of Brown County.
Smith decided to make the experience seem as though attendees were entering a polling place. She and her staff simulated the election day chute, placing a sign to indicate “no electioneering beyond this point” at the library’s entrance. Attendees signed a “pollbook,” received a “public opinion survey” to provide their input on each machine, placed their completed “ballots” (surveys) into a ballot box, and were given an “I Voted” sticker upon “voting.”
The survey measured three aspects of each voting system: voter’s ease of use; security (“How resistant to tampering and secure is your vote?” with the machine or process); and confidence (“How confident are you that this machine reflects how you voted?”).
These were the types of systems they tried.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Pen-on-paper ballot or computer/electronic ballot
Would you like to get a paper ballot to fill out with a pen? With a pen-on-paper ballot, the voter would check in at the poll, receive a paper ballot, fill it out, then take it to a scanning machine to get the vote recorded and counted.
Or, would you like to use a computer to mark your ballot? With computer voting, the voter would check in at the poll, get a bar code and ballot, scan or insert to get their computer ballot, make selections on the screen, print the completed ballot, then check the printed ballot to verify it matches your selections. When satisfied, you insert it in a scanner to cast your ballot or, in some systems, select “cast ballot.”
Participants in Vote Night tried the different systems. Feedback showed some computer screens were easier to read than others and some print-outs were easier to read than others.
Some participants expressed a desire to return to the pen-on-paper ballot, believing it is the most secure vote from tampering, and easy to audit or recount if there is a question. Some worried about individuals making unintended pen marks on paper ballots, resulting in an incorrect vote registered in the scanner that the voter wouldn’t know about.
Some felt using the computer to mark the ballot was easy and that the computer printout would be scanned accurately. Some worried about the security from tampering of computer systems.
Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) systems
Indiana law requires that there be a voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). This law doesn’t go into effect until 2030, but many counties are working to satisfy this requirement now, and many already have VVPAT, including pen on paper.
If a voter fills out a paper ballot by hand with pen, this is a VVPAT. If a voter casts a ballot electronically, and has a chance to review their ballot to make sure it’s right before they cast their vote, this is VVPAT.
In evaluating which type of VVPAT voting system to use, a few key questions come to mind: How many people will take the time to verify — make sure the printout of an electronic vote is accurate — before they cast their ballot? On the other hand, how many errors will occur on hand-filled-out paper ballots that the voter didn’t catch?
The federal Voter Rights Act requires every precinct to have handicap-accessible voting. This means having at least one electronic voting system in each precinct with numerous adaptations for a variety of disabilities. Some counties have pen-on-paper ballots as the primary voting system and have an electronic system available. Some have electronic systems for all voters, with a paper printout to be verified by the voter (VVPAT).
For the most part, electronic voting with no paper ballot printed for verification is disappearing in response to security concerns and the Indiana state mandate.
“Indiana voters filed a federal lawsuit Thursday (Oct. 17) seeking the decertification of voting machines they claim are vulnerable to hacking and do not leave a verifiable paper trail, in hopes of replacing the machines ahead of the 2020 election,” according to Courthouse News Service. The lawsuit seeks to require verifiable paper trails (VVPAT) in all Indiana counties prior to the 2020 election, stating cybersecurity experts advise the “most important steps that states can take are to adopt machines with paper trails and to conduct random, risk-limiting audits.”
Public comments
“Really nice to see exactly what is good and bad about each system. As an older community, most of us want paper ballots back in the county to be more secure.” — Sharlene Wall, 50-year Brown County resident
“I am very pleased with the number of people in our community who came out this evening and who value the election process. The vendors made it possible to provide a hands-on experience. We haven’t bid on this in many, many years. It’s good to know what technology and options are available out there. Voters need to be confident when they leave the voting booth, that their vote counted the way they intended.” — Amy Kelso, Brown County Election Board president
A few folks attended from other counties, welcoming the opportunity to see many voting systems in one place. One was Karen Wheeler, election supervisor for Monroe County. She said Bloomington/Monroe County has been using pen-on-paper ballots since 2012 for their primary voting system and plans to continue. They are evaluating pollbooks and other systems for handicap accessibility.
Vendors who participated in the event were:
ES&S: Pollbook and a paper-verified voting machine. ES&S is the vendor chosen for the upcoming Nashville town election
GBS: Pollbook and a paper-verified voting machine
Microvote: Voting machine
KnowInk: Pollbook
RBM/Unisyn: Paper ballot and a ballot scanner
Runbeck: On-demand ballot printer
VR Systems: Polling book
Next steps
Kathy L. Smith, Brown County clerk, said: “Overall, we had a pretty good night. We had all the certified vendors in the State of Indiana. One of the certified vendors came in from Phoenix, Arizona, for the evening. The election board plans to look over the ‘ballots’ cast this evening to see which machines people liked the best and why: easiest to use; most secure. We will gather the input, and then when we begin the bid process, we will be sure to include the vendors people liked, keeping in mind the financial considerations our budget requires.”
The election board will be evaluating public feedback, assessing cost and making recommendations on voting systems for Brown County.
We appreciate the Brown County clerk and election board for providing this opportunity to voters to become familiar with the choices of voting systems and to have input.
If you have an opinion or preference on voting systems, please write a note to the Brown County Democrat at [email protected].
Shari Frank is president and Laurie Teal is vice president of the League of Women Voters of Brown County.
