Officials Say Flaws at Polls Will Remain in November

ACM TechNews relays information in an article in the New York Times regarding the apparent failure of a federal agency to fix the flaws in voting machines used by millions of people in time for the presidential election.

The Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency that oversees voting, says they will not be able to certify that flawed machines are repaired by November nor provide software fixes or upgrades given the backlog at the laboratories the commission uses.

“We simply are not going to sacrifice the integrity of the certification process for expediency,” said Rosemary E. Rodriguez, the chairwoman of the commission.

The certification process was previously performed by a volunteer program managed by the National Association of State Election Directors. The slowdown began in February 2007 when the federal commission took over.

“The problem is that the pace of innovation is outstripping the pace of regulation,” said Doug Chapin, director of the Web site set up by Pew Center on the States, electionline.org. “Federal certification is intended to help election officials manage voting technology, but right now it’s getting in the way instead.”

Advocates for better election systems say one reason for the slowdown is that the machines are fraught with problems that should have been detected earlier and, had those problems been addressed the current level of scrutiny would not be necessary.

“The E.A.C., to its credit, has decided to dig their collective heels in and insist that the software and hardware be rigorously tested by professional testing labs,” said Warren Stewart, a technology expert with Vote Trust USA, a voting rights watchdog group.

See full article in The New York Times