MARYLAND
Registered voters
Approx. 2,676,000
Voting equipment vendor
Diebold
Technologies
DRE
Legal requirements
State legislation mandating voter-verifiable paper trails and manual audits of randomly selected precincts has been proposed but not enacted. After what Electionline characterizes as a "dismal primary which included human and machine failures galore" in September, the state's governor has suggested that voters should consider using absentee ballots to ensure their votes are counted. (However, there's now a reported shortage of absentee ballots.) Problems reported include machines out of commission when poll workers didn't receive voter access cards necessary for operation, machines stored in nonsecure locations or with officials representing only one political party, and the revelation late in October that Diebold officials made a heretofore unacknowledged hardware swap on thousands of state machines in 2005 -- for a problem the company had diagnosed in 2004.
Voter registration database
Statewide database in use; contract signed with Saber Corp. in 2005. Records previously kept at local level. The Department of Legislative Services filed a report in October 2006 stating that the state's Board of Elections did not adequately supervise or audit the database. In addition, poll workers earlier this year reported significant problems with Diebold-supplied electronic poll books.
Government links
- State Board of Elections
- MDvotes.com
- HAVA plan and history
Watchdog sites
- TrueVoteMD: Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland
- My Day At The Polls: September Primary '06, Avi Rubin's blog, Sept. 12, 2006
Computerworld coverage
- E-voting Critic Recounts Maryland Primary Woes, Oct. 2, 2006
- Card Snafu Disrupts E-voting in Maryland, Sept. 18, 2006
- Maryland county struggles with e-voting 'fiasco', Sept. 14, 2006
- Maryland House votes to oust Diebold machines, March 10, 2006
- Maryland court rejects paper requirement for e-voting, Sept. 3, 2004
- Maryland voters file petition against e-voting system, Aug. 10, 2004
Elsewhere in the news
- Maryland Votes 2006 (continuing coverage), Baltimore Sun
- Lawyers rev up for post-election court battles, Baltimore Sun, Oct. 31, 2006
- Erlich: Absentee ballot shortage nearing crisis level, WBOC-TV, Oct. 27, 2006
- State elections board cited for nine shortcomings, Gazette.net, Oct. 26, 2006
- Tech Firm Shows Off Glitch-Free Software, Washington Post, Sept. 26, 2006
- Ehrlich Wants Paper Ballots for Nov. Vote, Washington Post, Sept. 21, 2006
Return to the main map for Election 2006: Can we count on e-voting?
MASSACHUSETTS
Registered voters
Approx. 3,483,000
Voting equipment vendors
Diebold, ES&S, Hart InterCivic
Technologies
Optical scan, hand count. The Secretary of State's office announced on Oct. 27 that 28 communities will test three DRE models during the November elections, all of which (the Diebold AccuVote TSx, the Hart InterCivic eSlate [implicated in name-truncation problems in Texas and Virginia] and the ES&S AutoMark voter-assist terminal) produce a verifiable paper trail. A voter-verified paper trail is not required by law, but machines with that capability are in use statewide. State legislation requiring voter-verifiable paper trails and manual audits of randomly selected precincts has been proposed but not enacted.
Voter registration database
Statewide Voter Registration Information System (VRIS) launched in 1990s.
Government links
- Elections Division
- Voting Systems By Town (Mass. League of Women Voters' site)
- HAVA final plan (PDF format )
In the news
- New voting machines could cause some confusion come election day, WHDH-TV, Oct. 25, 2006
- Machines save time, but software could save more, North Andover Eagle-Tribune, Sept. 14, 2006
- Voting tool for disabled delayed for primaries, Aug. 14, 2006
- A political machine's last hurrah: Mechanical ballots set for one last pull, Boston Globe, April 15, 2004
- Understanding Boston: Voting in Massachusetts (PDF format ), Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, 2003
Return to the main map for Election 2006: Can we count on e-voting?
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Registered voters
Approx. 716,000
Voting equipment vendors
Diebold, ES&S, IVS
Technologies
Handcount, optical scan, vote by phone
Legal requirements
State legislation requires a voter-verifiable paper record, but there is no requirement that precincts be randomly selected for manual auditing. New Hampshire is one of six states using new vote-by-phone technology this year.
Voter registration database
Statewide database; contracted with Covansys (later Saber Corp.) and PCC Technology Group, 2005. Records previously maintained at local level.
Government links
- Elections Division
- Voting Machines
- HAVA plan draft (PDF format )
Watchdog sites
- Democracy for New Hampshire
In the news
- Turnout light, some problems with new system for disabled, WCAX-TV, 2006
Return to the main map for Election 2006: Can we count on e-voting?