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election 2006

Voting machines may have glitch

In Cuyahoga County about 10 percent of the paper receipts were somehow compromised.

By Laura A. Bischoff

Staff Writer

COLUMBUS — The paper trail and computer records of votes cast on Diebold electronic voting machines in Cuyahoga County did not always agree with one another, according to a three-month study by the Election Science Institute.

"The election system, in its entirety, exhibits shortcomings with extremely serious consequences, especially in the event of a close election. These shortcomings merit urgent attention," the report said.

By law, the paper trail receipts, which are printed and stored in the voting machines, must be used as the official documents in the event of a recount. In Cuyahoga County, about 10 percent of the paper receipts were destroyed, blank, illegible, missing or otherwise compromised, the study said.

Secretary of State Democratic candidate Jennifer Brunner said, "These findings should give Ohio voters pause and grave concern. This is empirical evidence, conducted with scientific accuracy that the ... machines sold by Diebold to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, even with a paper trail, cannot be shown to be completely accurate."

But Canton-based Diebold Vice President and Counsel Mike Lindroos criticized the study as incomplete and said many of the problems experienced by Cuyahoga County during the May primary can be attributed to human errors.

"We are very confident that the ESI study is wrong," Lindroos said.

Diebold machines are used in 49 of Ohio's 88 counties, including Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties.

Secretary of State spokesman James Lee said, "The Diebold systems have been thoroughly tested on both the federal and state level. The problems that occurred in Cuyahoga County were procedural."

In April, Cuyahoga County hired California-based ESI to study the reliability and accuracy of the new voting systems. The study team was in place for the May 2 primary when problems arose, including polls not opening on time, workers not having adequate training and results being delayed by a week.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com.