Napa activists focus on e-voting, 'Hacking Democracy'

By CARLOS VILLATORO
Register Staff Writer

Electronic voting machines will be on the sidelines when Californians hit the polls Nov. 4.

Many advocates believe that’s a good thing as they work toward what they believe is a more fair and transparent voting system.

Over the weekend, a group of concerned citizens gathered at the Napa Boys and Girls Club to express concerns with the integrity of electronic voting machines and to call for reliance on a paper ballot system.

The group, comprised mostly of members of Unitarian Universalist church, explored the problems with electronic voting machines as documented in the 2006 film “Hacking Democracy.” The film focuses on the 2000 presidential election results in Volusia County, Fla.. An electronic voting machine there reported that Al Gore received negative 16,022 votes, according to the film.

Officials were unable to prove that election fraud had occurred, but the incident generated mistrust of the machines.

Joanne Gifford, facilitator at the event Sunday, said that the film proves that electronic voting machines can be tampered with and hacked. She said that switching to a paper ballot system would prevent would-be hackers from being able to change the outcome of an election.

“We got big problems and it has to be a top-down fix,” Gifford said. “We just don’t have an equitable (voting) system.”

“We should question the voting system,” Napa resident William Somerville said. “The last two presidents didn’t receive the majority of votes and the majority amount of electoral votes.”

Their message has a sympathetic ear in California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who earlier this year ordered counties that had used electronic voting machines — including Napa — to go back to paper systems.

Napa County Registrar of Voters John Tuteur was a critic of Bowen’s decision. Tuteur has pointed out that paper voting systems also have security flaws and states that claims regarding the unreliability of e-votes are overstated.

Gifford urged the four-person group to write letters to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, urging them to author legislation pushing for a paper ballot voting system.

Aside from electronic voting machines, the group discussed myriad problems at the polls.

“What clearly exists is something called voter suppression,” Gifford said, referring to tactics that discourage voters from going to the polls.

Gifford said voter suppression efforts can include reducing the number of voting machines in targeted districts, opting not to make voter information available in different languages and propagating misinformation about who’s allowed to vote.

The November election, in which a record number of voters are expected to participate, will certainly stir more debate on the best methods for casting ballots.

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