WASHINGTON — A study released Wednesday criticized Arkansas, saying voting machines in three of the state’s counties do not leave a sufficient paper trail to help officials in the event of a contested election or computer crash.
The study was released by Common Cause, a liberal citizens advocacy group; Verified Voting, a group that advocates for the accuracy and integrity of elections; and the Rutgers University Law School. The study gave three states - Delaware, Louisiana and Mississippi - “inadequate” grades.
Arkansas’ overall grade was “needs improvement.”
The state’s marks would have been higher, but the study cited “inadequate” voting machines in Columbia, Ouachita and Union counties, saying the machines do not produce paper receipts that correspond with each of the votes cast, making it harder to track votes and conduct post election audits if the machines break down.
“Arkansas is literally on the cusp of being fully papered up,” said Pam Smith, president of Verified Voting. “Once they get all papered up, they’ll be at the top of the class.”
Officials in two of the counties don’t have plans to get rid of the machines anytime soon.
“They’re great,” said Sherry Bell, Columbia County clerk.
Britt Williford, the Ouachita County clerk, added: “Our people love them. They’re really easy to use.”
To comply with the Help America Vote Act, which then-President George W. Bush signed in 2002, Arkansas in 2004 required each digital voting machine to have a “Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail.” That is a paper record that allows a voter to see that his vote was properly cast in case of a digital machine malfunction.
The three counties, each in the far south-central part of the state, were allowed a state exemption. Before the new federal law went into effect, they had each made large investments in new machines, called the Shouptronic 1242.
Ouachita County bought 38 of the machines for a total cost of about $140,000, and Columbia County bought 36 of them, for between $4,000 and $5,000 each. Under the Help America Vote Act, the counties were reimbursed for 95 percent of their expenses - even though the machines don’t generate printed paper ballots.
Williford said the machines used throughout the rest of the state are supplied by Election Systems & Software, an Omaha, Neb., equipment dealer, and are too difficult to program.
Craig Griffin, chairman of the Union County Election Commission, also prefers the Shouptronic machines. The county uses more than 50 of them. Griffin said he likes the fact that the machines show the en-tire ballot on one screen in extra-large type.
“Our machines are excellent for the voter,” he said.
The Shouptronic machines produce cash-registerlike paper tapes of the day’s total votes, which can be used as backups for a cartridge that is loaded into the counties’ computer systems to count votes.
But critics say a proper voting machine should generate a paper ballot for each digital ballot. That way, if there is a glitch, officials will still have a way to count the votes.
“We all know computers crash,” said Susannah Goodman, director of Common Cause’s Voting Integrity Project. “Voting machines are no different.”
Williford said that in this year’s primary elections, when about 18 percent of Ouachita County’s approximately 15,000 registered voters cast ballots, there were no problems.
To date, computer error has not been a factor.
“Luckily, we have not had to face that,” he said.
The Arkansas secretary of state’s office said it has held training seminars on voting equipment and procedures.
“We feel confident we are ready” for the coming election, said Alex Reed, a spokesman for the office.
During the 2012 legislative session, the Arkansas General Assembly created the County Voting System Grant Fund, and set aside $1.5 million to make grants to counties that want to upgrade their voting machines.
But officials in Columbia, Ouachita and Union counties hope they don’t have to tap into that fund anytime soon.
Williford said he believes that Harp Enterprises Inc., the Kentucky vendor that sells the machines, no longer makes the Shouptronic model. Harp Enterprises could not be reached Wednesday. But Williford said the company has a warehouse full of replacement parts.
“They’re solid pieces of equipment,” Griffin said. “They’re holding up very well.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/26/2012