Maryland county struggles with e-voting 'fiasco'

Computerworld - Elections workers in what is one of Maryland's largest and most prosperous counties this week gave opponents of touch-screen voting systems more ammunition when an e-voting "fiasco" prevented an unknown number of voters from casting ballots. The problem, however, wasn't so much with the machines themselves; it was caused by a human error.

On Tuesday, a procedural error temporarily left would-be primary voters in 238 precincts in Montgomery County without the ballot cards required to operate the e-voting hardware, according to elections officials. The machines used by the state are from Diebold Elections Systems Inc.

As a result of the snafu, poll workers were left scrambling to provide enough paper-based provisional ballots to voters. And in some cases, even those ran out.

With the nation headed toward what is expected to be a hotly contested congressional election involving seats in a number of states where e-voting systems will be used, any potential for technical or procedural breakdowns gives e-voting critics cause for concern.

The error was as simple as it was disruptive. The voter access cards, which are about the size of a credit card, are given to voters, who insert them into a Diebold AccuVote TSx touch-screen system. The ballot then appears on screen, allowing votes to be cast. However, the access cards needed for Tuesday's primary weren't in the sealed election-supply bags provided to the precinct election judges who oversee voting.

Without the cards, voters had to use provisional paper ballots, although not every polling place provided them. Although every precinct in the county was affected, a few located near the state's election headquarters got cards by 7 a.m., when voting was supposed to start. Other precincts didn't receive them for up to three and a half hours, forcing some voters to be turned away from the polls. Others simply gave up waiting. To compensate for the delayed voting, a judge ordered the polls to stay open an extra hour Tuesday night.

The exact cause of the missing cards, which were prepared by the county elections staff, is being looked into, said Marjorie Roher, administrative specialist at the Montgomery County Board of Elections. It was a "regrettable omission," she said, noting that she could not comment further until the investigation was complete.

Candidates weren't happy about the glitch. Mike Morrill, spokesman for Douglas Gansler -- the Democratic candidate for Maryland attorney general -- said that the elections board oversight was incredible. "We had 23 counties who had no problem remembering the cards belonged there," said Morrill. "How do you overlook a fundamental component of an e-voting system? In effect, what they did was like building a car without a steering wheel."