Report says there’s still time to make needed changes before Nov. 6

WASHINGTON – In what could be the most fiercely-contested election in U.S. history, Missouri is generally well-prepared to deal with voting machine malfunctions and breakdowns, but risks having the state’s vote tallies made vulnerable by accepting votes cast in some instances over the internet, a new, national voting study suggests.

The report, “Counting Votes 2012: A State by State Look at Voting Technology Preparedness,” says the state should require that election officials reconcile precinct results with county results, and should update and expand previous requirements that election results be posted at the polls. It also suggests that Missouri stop accepting online ballots, citing concerns that existing internet security is insufficient and leaves votes cast online vulnerable to hackers.

In “swing” states like Missouri, where neither presidential candidate is expected to roll up a substantial majority, even a small error in vote counting could be decisive.

“High-profile elections in the past decade have been decided by razor thin margins,” the report notes. “The 2000 presidential race was decided by 537 votes in Florida; the Washington State gubernatorial race in 2004 by 129 votes, and a Minnesota Senate race in 2008 by just 312. Every national election since 2000 has seen voting system failures stem from machines that won’t start, memory cards that can’t be read, mis-tallied votes, lost votes and more. Under the U.S. Constitution and every state constitution, as well as by statute throughout the country, every vote must be counted as cast.”

The report emphasizes that state election officials still have time before the election to make changes that would protect the integrity of the vote. The study was released Wednesday by three non-partisan organizations focused on voting – the Verified Voting Foundation, the Rutgers Law School Constitutional Litigation Clinic, and Common Cause.

“Missouri gets credit for limiting the online return of voted ballots, but since that practice was enabled, other safer options are improving voting for military and overseas voters, like sending blank ballots to voters electronically, and providing free expedited return of the voted ballot,” said Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting. “No election system is perfect, and ensuring fair, accurate elections is a national effort. Our elections are complex – we have so many jurisdictions and varying technologies. Everyone from election officials to citizens should be involved to make sure this process at the very heart of our democracy is healthy.”

The report noted that voting systems routinely fail. In 2008 – the last presidential election year – more than 1,800 problems were reported nationally.

“If history is any indication, machines in November will fail, and votes will be lost,” said Susannah Goodman of Common Cause. “Backup systems like paper ballots need to be put in place in every state to help to verify results.”

The report places rates Missouri as “generally good” in examining its performance in each of five areas:

هل تشترط الدولة بطاقات اقتراع ورقية أو سجلات لكل صوت مُدلى به؟ (في حال تسبب أعطال الكمبيوتر أو الأخطاء البشرية في أخطاء في فرز الأصوات، يمكن لمسؤولي الانتخابات استخدام بطاقات الاقتراع الأصلية لتحديد الإجماليات الصحيحة. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، يمكن استخدام بطاقات الاقتراع الورقية لتدقيق فرز الأصوات الآلي).

- هل لدى الدولة خطط طوارئ كافية في كل مركز اقتراع في حالة تعطل الأجهزة؟

- هل تحمي الدولة الناخبين العسكريين والأجانب وبطاقات الاقتراع الخاصة بهم من التغيير والتلاعب وانتهاكات الخصوصية من خلال ضمان عدم الإدلاء ببطاقات الاقتراع المميزة عبر الإنترنت؟

- هل قامت الدولة بإجراء تدقيق ما بعد الانتخابات لتحديد ما إذا كانت النتائج المبلغ عنها إلكترونيًا صحيحة؟

- هل تستخدم الدولة ممارسات قوية لمطابقة الأصوات وتصنيفها للمساعدة في ضمان عدم فقدان أي بطاقات اقتراع أو إضافتها أثناء فرز الأصوات وتجميعها من المستوى المحلي إلى مستوى الولاية؟

The highest rated states overall were Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin, while South Carolina, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana and Mississippi — were ranked near the bottom.

قالت بيني فينيتيس، المديرة المشاركة لعيادة التقاضي الدستوري في كلية الحقوق بجامعة روتجرز: "لا ينبغي أن يضيع أي صوت في عام 2012. هناك تكنولوجيا موجودة للتحقق من الأصوات، ومن الممكن وضع إجراءات في جميع أنحاء البلاد للتأكد من احتساب كل صوت، تمامًا كما ينص الدستور".