House Member Wants E-Voting Paper Trail
    By Donna De La Cruz
    The Associated Press

    Wednesday 15 November 2006

    Washington - Citing the disputed vote in a Florida congressional district, a Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday urged Congress to approve his measure requiring a paper trail for electronic voting.

    Rep. Rush Holt, sponsor of the bill, said the inaccuracy of electronic touch-screen voting machines "poses a direct threat to the integrity of our electoral system." The New Jersey congressman argued the Florida district, in which more than 18,000 votes have gone uncounted, has exposed the system's flaws.

    Florida law requires a recount in all five southwest Florida counties in the 13th Congressional District. But scrutiny is focused on Sarasota County, where touch-screen voting machines recorded that 18,382 people - 13 percent of voters in the Nov. 7 election - did not vote for either Republican Vern Buchanan or Democrat Christine Jennings, despite casting ballots in other races on the ballot. That rate was much higher than other counties in the district.

    The Florida Department of State reported Monday Buchanan had a 377-vote lead over Jennings in the race - less than 0.2 percent. The Associated Press' unofficial election night count had the total at 373. Buchanan has declared victory; Jennings has not conceded. The race is one of a handful of races across the nation that remained unresolved in the days after Election Day.

    Republican Rep. Katherine Harris, the woman at the center of the disputed 2000 presidential election, has represented the House district. She failed in her bid for the Senate seat.

    Holt contended that even after the votes are recounted and a winner declared the absence of a voter-verified paper trail will fuel doubts about the results.

    Holt also said at least one electronic voting machine in New Jersey's Ocean County counted votes twice, and some were also added to vote totals for the Senate, county freeholder and county sheriff races in Lakewood, according to a published report.

    Holt's "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act" had the support of 219 House members before last week's election and now has 221 bipartisan co-sponsors, his office said.

    The bill would require that all voting systems produce a voter-verified paper record for use in manual audits; ban the use of undisclosed software and all wireless and concealed communications devises in voting systems; and establish procedures to be followed if there is a discrepancy between reported results and audit results.