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Vote scanning devices OK'd

All-paper election likely if new bill is signed into law

Mung Oak Kim

Published February 28, 2008 at 8:55 p.m.
Updated February 29, 2008 at 1:43 a.m.

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Nearly all the electronic voting and tallying machines deemed unfit for use two months ago have now been OK'd for the August primary and November general elections.

But that doesn't mean voters will use most of them.

A bill calling for all-paper-ballot elections - an effort by lawmakers to restore voter confidence in the election process - is expected to soon become law.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Coffman recertified scanning equipment and software used to count paper ballots in 47 counties. The announcement came three days after he recertified electronic voting machines used in six counties.

These are the same machines that Coffman on Dec. 17 declared insufficiently secure or insufficiently accurate.

Activists who don't trust e-voting machines complained that the machines haven't been improved. They say Coffman is violating law by reapproving them.

Coffman defends decision

Coffman disputes that, saying he recertified machines based on new information from manufacturers, a new law that gave him more flexibility and dozens of conditions he imposed to prevent problems on Election Day.

Coffman stipulated that ballots be printed with instructions for voters to check for improper marks and that all ballots in close races be manually reviewed.

"It's important for voters to know that the certified equipment is secure and can accurately count every vote," he said.

The only other machines not currently approved for use could be given the green light by Coffman in the next week.

With those moves, Colorado has now come almost full circle in its saga over the reliability of electronic voting and tallying machines used statewide.

Coffman's reversals are the result of a measure signed into law two weeks ago, HB 1155, that gives him more leeway to reapprove voting equipment.

The recertifications were welcomed by county clerks who vouch for the machines and want to use them in elections that are expected to draw the largest turnout in recent decades.

But activists accused Coffman of bowing to political pressure and skirting the law.

Lawyer blasts secretary

"Secretary Coffman's latest flip-flop is arbitrary, capricious and contrary to the explicit requirements of House Bill 1155," said lawyer Paul Hultin, who sued former Secretary of State Gigi Dennis in 2006 to block e-voting.

Hultin argues that the new law does not allow Coffman to relax standards in current law and does not allow him to approve machines that have not been modified. Coffman disagrees.

Coffman said public pressure has never been a factor in his decisions. He said he's more concerned about future lawsuits.

The lead sponsor of the paper-ballot bill, Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, said he's not concerned by Coffman's recertifications.

Gordon, who also sponsored HB 1155, said the paper-voting proposal calls for more stringent audits of machines used in elections and will limit the use of e-voting terminals.

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361