Voter Action Wisconson calls for e-voting machines to be replaced by November elections
This just came across AP the wire a few hours ago and landed on Business Week Online.
A watchdog group asked Wisconsin regulators Wednesday to revoke approval of four types of electronic voting machines before next month’s election.
Good.
Voter Action Wisconsin said in its complaint to the state Elections Board that the machines are inherently unreliable, open to tampering and susceptible to human error.
Yep.
The board didn’t act on the complaint Wednesday, and several members said it would be unrealistic to instruct elections officials to switch to paper ballots or optical scan machines just 33 days before the election.
Only 33 days to haul the faulty machines away and break the paper ballots out of the dusty closet? There’s no way we could manage all that in 33 days.
Maybe by the next election…
Board member Kerry Dwyer also said a switch would disenfranchise disabled voters who the machines were designed to help.
So the possibility that their vote might be lost or tampered with isn’t a form of disenfranchisement all its own? Then keep a few machines around for the disabled voters. It’s probably a lot harder to sway an election on electronic machines that only have a handful of votes on them.
Attorney Mike Wittenwyler, who represents Voter Action Wisconsin, acknowledged the board already requires safeguards, including a paper record of each vote made using the machines.
“But it still doesn’t solve the inherent flaws of the machines,” he said. “This is a system open to abuse, and it could be manipulated.”
He said the group’s complaint could turn into a lawsuit if the board refuses to act.
