{news} Electionline Weekly report on CT voting- jamming on 99??

[Green Party-CT]

  electionline Weekly - November 2, 2006 
electionline.org 

   
   
  CONNECTICUT
Dan Seligson
  
  As familiar a fixture at election time as a negative campaign ad, the clunky gray metal lever machine will have what is expected to be its final roll-out in a federal election on Tuesday. Gone forever will be the privacy curtain and the reassuring "ker-clunk" of finality as the voter pulls the red lever to cast a ballot. 
  
  Change is coming to Connecticut voting - but not before the majority of voters in the state use the machines to, at least potentially, determine the partisan control of Congress with three competitive and nationally significant House races. 
  
  While ubiquitous in East Coast elections for decades, lever machines are not without shortcomings, experts say. The Election Assistance Commission stated in a September 2005 advisory opinion that the system "[has] significant barriers which make compliance [with federal law] difficult and unlikely." Namely, lever machines have no paper component allowing an independent audit of vote totals, a requirement of section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act. Voting system expert Roy Saltman also noted that the number 99 seemed to come up in vote totals more than it should, statistically speaking, indicating "that it takes more force to turn the vote counting wheels in a lever machine from 99 to 100, and therefore, if the counter is going to jam, it is more likely to jam at 99." 
  
Without any means to verify independently a lever machine's vote totals, and with the possibility of close races, lever machine mechanics - as well as the EAC's opinion that they are no longer compliant with federal law during this election cycle - could weigh heavily in potential post-election challenges. 
  
  There will be some innovation, however, as 25 localities in the state take part in a pilot project to introduce paper-based optical-scan systems to the state. Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz said optical-scan systems would address "the concerns" of state voters, some of whom urged her to reject direct-recording electronic, or touch-screen, machines.
  
  A new report issued this week by the University of Connecticut found, however, that the optical-scan system could be vulnerable. 
  
  The study, commissioned by the state, found that the machines were vulnerable on Election Day to tampering or worse. "Even if the memory card is sealed and pre-election testing is performed, one can carry out a devastating array of attacks against an election using only off-the-shelf equipment and without having ever to access the card physically or opening the AV-OS system box," the report stated. Those attacks could include vote swapping, eliminating all votes for one candidate or the introduction of "conditionally-triggered biases," which could change totals based on a hacker's desired result. 
  
  Nonetheless, the university research team said they "strongly support the choice of optical-scan voting technology."
  
  Some voters with disabilities will have their first opportunity to cast independent and secret ballots in a general election as each polling place in the state will have a vote-by-phone system.
  
  Polls in Connecticut are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  
   
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