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Security tightened for voting machines

Secretary of state issues procedures but draws criticism

Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 28, 2006 at midnight

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Secretary of State Gigi Dennis on Wednesday issued new security rules for computerized voting in the November election, under orders from a judge concerned about possible tampering.

The new rules include a tight chain of custody for the machines. Multiple numbered security seals will be used, and if the seals are broken, election officials must double- check that the machines are reliable, or pull them from use.

Paul Hultin, attorney for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that tried to have the machines banned from the upcoming vote in Colorado, was not impressed.

"What we've done is put a lot of duct tape on the Titanic," he said.

Responded Dennis: "These security plans will be the strongest in the nation. Ninety percent of the recommendations came from the suggested documents that Mr. Hultin provided. If he's not happy with it, shame on him."

The equipment has been questioned because voters cast ballots on a computer touch-screen, and totals are kept electronically. However, most machines in Colorado keep a printout of ballots as a backup.

Testimony in the trial showed experts had been able to reprogram one type of machine to distort the totals in just one minute of access.

Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares ruled last week that Dennis' office had failed to sufficiently test the machines, but he said it was too late to ban them. He ordered the state and the plaintiffs to jointly write tighter security rules.

The new rules also call for full audits if security seals are disrupted. Officials must check printouts, if available, or check electronic records in machines without printers. Two election judges must check to make sure the seals are intact at every stage of transport, voting and counting.

Background checks will be required for key election personnel and for vendors' repair staff who work at the county level.

Counties will be barred from connecting the machines to the Internet, which plaintiffs' experts said was too vulnerable to hacking.

Dennis said that El Paso County, which allows election judges to take voting machines home the night before an election, may continue to do so. El Paso meets the new rules because the equipment is kept in heavy canvas bags with seals, which are checked by other election judges when they leave headquarters and arrive at the polling place.

Election judges are to be given training in detecting tampering and suspicious behavior.

One rule addressed the judge's concern that the ballot printouts, which are on thermal paper like gas- pump receipts, could be damaged by exposure to heat, light and moisture during the 25 months they must be kept after the election. The rule says the printouts must be stored at 50 to 80 degrees and less than 80 percent humidity.

But some manufacturers call for more rigorous conditions. Arapahoe County, for example, uses paper that the manufacturer recommends be kept at a humidity between 45 and 65 percent to keep it in good condition for seven years after printing.

Meanwhile, a bill was introduced Wednesday in Congress to require paper ballots at every polling place.

Dennis called that move "purely political" and predicted nothing would pass Congress before the election.

Voting by mail

Who: Any registered voter can request a mail, or absentee, ballot.

When: The deadline for registering to vote is Oct. 10. The deadline for requesting an absentee or mail ballot is Oct. 31 if receiving by mail or Nov. 3 if picking up in person from the county elections department. Ballots must be returned by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7.

Where: You can return the ballot by mail, but you must leave time for the post office to deliver it by Election Day.

More details: Call your county clerk. Or for basic questions on when, where and how to vote, consult a nonpartisan group called FairVoteColorado at or 1-888-839-4301.Source: State Rules, As Explained By The Jefferson County Elections Department, And Fairvotecolorado.

or 303-954-5438