Problem with touchscreen voting is well-documented

To the Editor:

I commend Debra Amyot for her years of service as an election judge in Allegany County ("Election judge outlines electronic vote safeguards," April 27 Times-News). I agree with her that citizen election judges and county Board of Elections' professionals are working very hard in an effort to provide secure and accurate elections. This is, however, a difficult task.

The vulnerabilities of Maryland's voting system were well documented in the study done by Prof. Edward Felten and his colleagues at the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University. Prof. Felten testified before a committee of the Maryland House of Delegates in 2007 about the results of his study.

His report is one reason that the Maryland Legislature voted unanimously to abandon touchscreen voting in favor of an accessible paper ballot/optically scanned voting system for 2010. In a time of severe budget constraints, the funding for a new voting system has been provided, signifying the importance of this switch.

The complicated set up and breakdown procedures, which Ms. Amyot explained, are a response to the security vulnerabilities built into the current voting system. Accomplishing all the tasks necessary to secure the voting units adds to the long hours that election officials must devote to Election Day.

It does not, however, address the most basic security concern that results from the state's dependence on the manufacturer (Premier Election Solutions - formerly Diebold) for the programming and technical assistance to run the system and compute the results. It does not compensate for the fact that paperless computerized voting occurs within a "black box" where votes are recorded and counted in secret by a system for which the manufacturer claims proprietary rights.

Democracy requires citizen participation and oversight. It is important that citizens understand and participate in the many aspects of the voting process. One way to do this is by volunteering to serve as an election judge and by attending public board of elections meetings each month.

Mary Howe Kiraly
Bethesda/Cumberland