Florida Recount Controversy Opens Window of Opportunity for Election Systems Reform

Chads, butterfly ballots and uncounted votes sparked an uproar in 2000, leading to the creation of a high-profile, nationwide movement to reform election systems in 2001. As the public clamors for fair and accurate voting systems, now is the time to take action. Like so many issues, much of the focus is on legislation in Congress. But in this matter, meaningful change will come only from the states.

Repairing our nation’s democratic infrastructure will require a series of reforms, including making it easier for citizens to register and vote, stopping the wrongful purging of individuals from the voter rolls, changing the patronage system of election administration, and overhauling the campaign finance system.

The most pressing state initiative, however, is the replacement of unreliable and obsolete voting systems. During the Florida recount, voters across the country learned to their surprise that states often employ different ballot systems from county to county, and sometimes even within the same county. In the November 2000 election, five different voting systems were used in Florida alone.

More troubling, study after study found that some ballot systems are more reliable than others. And the worst systems are used in counties with a high percentage of minority voters.

Policymakers across the country have reacted with alarm. Just weeks after the November vote, Wisconsin election officials voted to ban punch card balloting, the system made infamous by Florida’s “hanging chads.” The Nebraska legislature created a commission to study their voting systems. Florida itself convened a task force that has recommended a statewide uniform ballot, using a system of precinct-based optical scan machines.

The Center for Policy Alternatives is working with the Voices of the Electorate Election Reform Task Force, a diverse, nonpartisan coalition of more than 75 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, League of Women Voters, NAACP, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, National Council of Churches, and Organization of Chinese Americans, Inc. With this Task Force, CPA is creating briefing papers and policy models to address a range of election reform issues.

Currently, counties and municipalities use a myriad of voting systems. Each is described in a Primer on Voting Systems below.

None of the current voting systems is perfect; each produce ballots that are invalidated because of overvotes (punched twice) or undervotes (no punch recorded). Problems with voting systems were recognized as early as the 1970s, and as a result, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) established voluntary “voting system standards.” But those standards, last revised in 1990, approved the use of “Votomatic”-style pre-scored punch cards. Only 31 states comply with FEC `s outdated voting stystem standards.

Florida complied with FEC standards, and yet its voting systems counted ballots very inconsistently. Florida counties which used “Votomatic”-style punch cards had an error rate of 3.92% compared to 0.83% in counties with precinct-based optical scan equipment.

Brevard County, Florida, provides a good example of the unequal quality of voting systems. When the county used punch cards in 1996, 2.6% of ballots for President were invalidated; after the county changed to optical-scan equipment in 2000, only 0.27% of Presidential ballots were invalidated.

Clearly, voting systems must be upgraded, but it is not so clear which technologies should be adopted. Each system has its problems:

– Electronic DRE systems are the most expensive. If all 191,000 precincts in America changed to touchscreen-style machines, it would cost about $4 billion.

– Nearly all current voting technologies pose problems for the disabled community.

– The private companies that make voting machines are so small that, by one estimate, it may take a decade for them to manufacture enough machines to replace existing systems across the country.

In the short term, punch-card ballot systems will likely be discarded. In the longer term, a new generation of high-tech alternatives, now being developed, will be needed to restore Americans’ faith in the integrity of the ballot box.

PRIMER ON VOTING SYSTEMS Paper Ballots—Pen and paper is still used by 1% of American voters. Advantages: Paper ballots are relatively easy to count accurately. Voters understand them easily. Disadvantages: For all except the smallest jurisdictions, hand counts are far too time-consuming. Mechanical Lever Machines —These traditional voting “booths” originated in 1892. By the 1960s, over half of the population voted with mechanical lever machines and they are still used by 18% of American voters. Advantages: The levers are easy for voters to understand and it is mechanically impossible to cast an “overvote.” Disadvantages: They are expensive, bulky, and the mechanical components wear out. For these reasons, mechanical voting machines have not been manufactured since 1982. “Votomatic”-style punch cards —Computer punch-card technology was invented for the 1890 census and first used to count votes in 1964. The largest number of Americans, 31%, use a voting system of pre-scored punch cards sold under several brand names, including “Votomatic.” Advantages: The system is inexpensive and a large number of races can be handled on a single punch card. Disadvantages: This is the least reliable voting system. In Miami-Dade County, where punch cards were used, 1 in 12 ballots had no vote for President counted. Similar or worse error rates for punch cards were recorded in cities throughout the country. “Datavote”-style punch cards —This system, used by 4% of Americans, employs a stapler-like machine to cut holes in the card, eliminating “hanging chads.” Advantages: This system is fairly inexpensive. Disadvantages: As the stapler-like machines wear out, it becomes hard to ensure that the device is lined up accurately. Also, candidate names have to be printed in fairly small type. Optical Scan —27% of Americans use optical scan ballots, where voters make their selections by filling in a rectangle, circle, oval, or completing an arrow. There are two basic types of optical scan systems, one counts the ballots at a central countywide location; the other scans the ballots at each precinct as voters are about to leave. The precinct-level equipment allows voters a chance to fix their ballots if the machine indicates a mistake. Advantages: Optical scan systems are among the most reliable. Disadvantages: The scanning machines cost about $6,000 per precinct and can miss ballots marked with the wrong color ink. Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Systems—These electronic systems, using a touch-screen monitor, push buttons, or a telephone-style touch pad, were first used for election ballots in the mid-1970s. Only about 11% of Americans vote on these systems today. Advantages: The video screens can be configured to enable voting in different languages, or even show photos of the candidates. Disadvantages: It is the most expensive option and, more importantly, a February 2001 Caltech/MIT study found that “electronic machines performed as badly as the punch cards.” DRE systems, while troublesome at present, are likely the wave of the future.

Click here for a CPA briefing on public financing of elections.