Internet-fed rumors of conspiracy theories, widespread fraud, and rigged elections are unwarranted asserts new study on e-voting

SAN FRANCISCO – "E-voting" machines are a reliable voting method and represent one of the more promising solutions to Election Day voting errors, according to a new report released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a non-partisan think tank based in California. Upgrading America's Ballot Box: The Rise of E-voting, highlights current evidence that finds e-voting is more secure and effective than traditional ballots and offers recommendations to resolve concerns about hardware reliability, faulty software, and voter fraud.

Following the 2000 election debacle in Florida , Congress passed new legislation to overhaul America's electoral system. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was signed into law on October 2002 and allocated $3.75 billion in federal grants to be used to replace antiquated voting systems with high-tech solutions such as optical scanners and direct recording electronic devices or DREs. To date, nearly 700 counties have procured e-voting machines.

"Despite the advances made through e-voting machines such as DREs, prominent computer scientists and partisan advocates have expressed concerns about the reliability and security of electronic voting," said Sonia Arrison, director of technology studies at PRI. "But when you look at the evidence, all this fear and anxiety over e-voting is overblown."

DRE devices in particular, wrote Ms. Arrison, provide two new innovations to public elections: a visual verification of votes cast and remote vote storage. "The pre-DRE voting machines required a high level of trust and responsibility upon election officials. Officials, on occasion, due to innocent mistakes or malicious behavior, failed to completely secure paper ballot integrity. DRE devices have one of the lowest 'residual vote rates' of any voting system because they help to reduce voter error," observed Ms. Arrison.

Most states have used their HAVA funds to replace punch card ballots with DRE machines and optical scanning technology. According to Ms. Arrison and co-author and PRI technology fellow Vince Vasquez, e-voting glitches may be resolved by routine examinations of software codes, competitive bidding between vendors, improved community electorate councils, and properly trained poll workers.

Public Approval of E-voting is Strong

Yet, even without these external improvements, public approval of e-voting remains strong. A June 2005 opinion poll developed by PRI and conducted by Global Market Insite found that 51 percent of voting and non-voting Americans trust automated voting machines, 25 percent do not trust e-voting machines and 24 percent are unsure. In addition, more than six in 10 respondents believed that new technology will help improve the voting process and more than half said it would help reduce electoral fraud.

E-voting also has support among previously disenfranchised voters. Elderly voters have found e-voting machines easier to read, a majority of African Americans have expressed a high level of comfort with DREs, and thousands of disabled voters believe the devices are more accessible and user-friendly.

"The electorate likes the convenience and ease of e-voting machines and feels confident in the machines' ability to process and protect votes," said Ms. Arrison. "Americans should be wary of arguments against e-voting. The facts prove that with proper safeguards it is safe, reliable, and secure -- a tremendous innovation in our election process."

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