Questions linger on reliability of electronic voting in N.J.
Mar 25 2008 | By Angela Delli Santi, Associated Press WriterTRENTON, N.J.| A trial to decide whether touch-screen voting machines are reliable or should be scrapped has been set for May, but the outcome almost certainly will come too late to change how millions of New Jerseyans vote in the presidential election.
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg has been asked to decide if the state's 10,000 electronic voting machines should continue to be used in elections, as the state contends, or whether New Jerseyans deserve a better voting system, as voting rights advocates argue.
"As to whether or not DREs (Direct Electronic Recording system) are scientifically reliable, the court will conduct a full hearing," Feinberg said while ruling on pretrial motions Tuesday and setting a May 19 trial date.
However, since no decision on the lawsuit expected before September, New Jerseyans will vote electronically without a paper trail in November unless the governor or attorney general intervenes.
The Coalition for Peace Action and other plaintiffs have sued the state, trying to force a return to paper ballots that would be counted by optical scanners. They claim electronic voting machines can be hacked into and have other flaws that render vote tabulations unreliable.
"These machines are not safe to use and they shouldn't be used on Election Day," said Penny Venetis, a Rutgers Constitutional Litigation Clinic lawyer who represents the plaintiffs.
The state has been trying for at least three years to lessen their concerns by retrofitting the machines with printers that spit out paper receipts. Voters could see that the choices they made on the computer match what the machine recorded but could not take the receipt home.
The Attorney General's Office, which oversees elections in New Jersey, is about to miss the second deadline set by the Legislature to have the paper balloting safeguard in place.
The Assembly and Senate both have approved a measure extending the deadline, to January 2009.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine is expected to sign the bill, said his spokeswoman, Lilo Stainton.
Irene Goldman of the Coalition for Peach Action said voting rights advocates have flooded the governor's office with correspondence urging him to veto the bill. Stainton said the governor received 1,581 e-mails on the issue as of Tuesday.
Venetis said at least 20 states have banned touch-screen voting machines similar to those used throughout New Jersey.
She cited New Mexico as one example, saying Gov. Bill Richardson scrapped electronic voting after the machines proved unreliable. She said that state made the transition in seven months to optical scanners that count paper ballots.
