Study Calls Kansas Electronic Voting "High Risk"

[Jon8503]

Steve Bell
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I was't going to post this over here as it may just prompt another attack on MO. Again as in previous post, this is not about KS or MO. Just ran across it and is for info only, thought the KS board might find it interesting.
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A touch-screen voting machine: high risk of election problems?
KANSAS CITY, MO (2006-06-23) A national voter advocacy organization yesterday ranked Kansas' electronic voting system as high risk for election errors. The same study gave Missouri a slightly better medium risk.

Barbara Burt, an author of the Common Cause study, says most Kansas electronic voting systems, including the one in use in Johnson County, don't have hard-copy paper backups of the computer ballots.

Burt:
"In case the machine just completely blows up If you've got that paper record, you can go back and count the paper ballots. Without that those votes are just lost."

Johnson County Election Commissioner Brian Newby says he is satisfied with the system that produces a backup to a second hard drive, and willing to add paper backup, but there is a cost issue.

Newby:
"To retrofit our machines would probably be about a million dollars. That would have to come out of some taxing authority."

The money would have to come from the state or county because there are no federal funds for paper backup systems. Missouri fared a little better, having a paper backup but, like Kansas, having no post-election automatic audits.

http://publicbroadcasting.net/kcur/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=932151§ionID=1

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. ADVANCE VOTE PEOPLE!!

You get a paper ballot and you can make a copy before you turn it in. This is the only smart way to vote in Kansas.

[Big Unit]

2. Recounts Easier

Paper ballots also make it a lot easier to do reliable recounts. As beset upon as we all feel by electoral technology glitches, and the potential for more stolen elections, why in the world would anyone want to wait in line - perhaps in bad weather - on Election Day to vote? Vote early in person, or vote early by mail.

[CadenBlaker]

3. I could use some help.

I signed up a bit ago on VotersUnite.org to hand deliver a copy of Myth Breakers to our local election official here in Sedgwick County but apparently I have to print it off. Well, I don't have the ink or paper for it, so, I was wondering if someone else would like to help me do that and you could even deliver it, we could change the listing to reflect it. Let me know by email if you can help by sending mail to [e-mail].

[Big Unit]

4. Not in Sedg. Cty.

While we have our share of other kinds of problems with the local Election Commissioner, I am happy that we do not have the same kind of electronic voting machine as Johnsn Cty. Our machine is manufactured by ES&S, and has a back-up paper record. ES&S may not have a perfect record, but at least this feature is one advantage over what you have in J.Cty.