Fairfax County GOP vote machine report

[Paul Walmsley <paul@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This past November, Fairfax County (Virginia) conducted its local 
elections using computerized voting terminals from Advanced Voting 
Solutions (AVS).  According to the Fairfax County Republican Committee:

    Technical failures of the machines ranged from machines, which were 
    never available, to machines that failed during the day (causing further 
    complications and delays in the polling places), to at least one 
    machine that subtracted one vote for every 100 cast in favor of a
    candidate for the Fairfax School Board.

The Fairfax County Republican Committee has published a detailed report in 
PDF format at 

    http://www.fairfaxco-gop.org/download/ballot_integrity.pdf

Among other conclusions, the report recommends the passage of state 
legislation to require a voter-verified paper trail, and also 
a "surprise/random re-count of some portion of all voting machines".

The report's one-page executive summary is attached below.


- Paul

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

On November 3, 2003, Fairfax County used, for the first 
time in a full Election, Direct Recording Equipment (DRE). The DRE - lap 
top computer voting devices - were purchased by the County in anticipation 
of the federal Helping Americans Vote Act, a law to enhance voting 
opportunities for the disabled, and upgrade voting equipment nationally. 
The Fairfax experience was a bitter disappointment - at best. 

On Election Day, the Electoral Board and Fairfax County Republican
Committee (FCRC), among others, received many complaints and criticisms of
the new system.  When several failed machines were removed from their
polling places by the Electoral Board - and then returned - FCRC filed and
was granted a court injunction to prevent irreparable harm should the
failed machines contain compromised votes. The Court Ordered a public
investigation of the machines data and the procedures used to address the
problems. The good news: the number of votes cast prior to the machines
failing was the same number of votes that appeared in the memory of the
machines at the public meeting. The bad news: the failure of these
machines and the questionable decision to remove the machines was the
proverbial tip of a very troubling iceberg. 

FCRC, while litigating the Ten Voting Machines matter, initiated an
investigation into the processes, procedures employed on Election Day and
voter complaints about the machine hardware and software and prepared
Operating Ballot Integrity and FCRC Report. In the Report FCRC has
compiled a list of conclusions and Recommendations, proposed questions
that must be answered before the voters of Fairfax County should ever feel
confident in the vote, and 12 proposed solutions. FCRC s main conclusion:
neither the Fairfax County Electoral Board, nor the new voting machines,
was ready for Election Day. Technical failures of the machines ranged from
machines, which were never available, to machines that failed during the
day (causing further complications and delays in the polling places), to
at least one machine that subtracted one vote for every 100 cast in favor
of a candidate for the Fairfax School Board. These problems were
compounded when it was learned that the voting machines do not have a
voter verified paper ballot backup, among other technical failings.  
Procedural problems included the removal of voting machines to inadequate
training of Election Officers. In the category of unintended consequences
voters complained that the machines failed to offer privacy in casting
their vote and were not user friendly. 

Based on its investigation, FCRC is offering recommendations and solutions
to restore confidence in the vote.  The primary recommendation: establish
a local or state independent study open to the public - to review
software, hardware and failings associated with Fairfax County voting
machines. Further, FCRC recommends that the Virginia General Assembly
enact statutes that require: (1) a voter verified paper audit trail
incorporated into all state-certified voting systems; (2) that the voter
verified paper ballots be compared in a select number of polling places to
the vote totals recorded on the DRE;  and (3) that the law be amended to
prevent the removal of voting machines from polling places on Election
Day. Essentially, FCRC is challenging our elected and appointed officials
to pro-actively return confidence in the vote.