Reply #17: RI: Paper vs. scanner: Ensuring the vote’s integrity [View All]

Paper vs. scanner: Ensuring the vote’s integrity

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, December 3, 2006
By Benjamin N. Gedan
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Almost a decade ago, Rhode Island retired its mechanical voting machines, peddling the 1,000-pound, 6-foot-tall behemoths for scrap.

The five-decade-old lever machines were replaced by a compact optical scanner called the Optech Eagle in a decision heralded as a leap forward for accurately tallying votes. For years, Rhode Island considered itself in the vanguard of electoral reform, and many states did not integrate similar electronic systems until after witnessing the 2000 presidential-election controversies.

For five election cycles, the new system went largely unchallenged. But last month, candidates in several unusually tight races questioned whether the state went too far in its rush to modernize elections.

On Wednesday, a Superior Court judge agreed, ruling that the state Board of Elections had ceded too much authority to the Optech scanners and mandating that candidates be permitted to view ballots rejected during recounts to determine whether the voter’s intent could be discerned.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/VOTING3_12-03-06_QR35BEC.2ce2d90.html