India: New voting machine with paper trail tested | News One

Braving the rain, people Tuesday participated in a mock poll in Cherrapunjee, one of the wettest places on earth, using a new electronic voting machine that gives out a paper trail as proof of the voting. The simulated polling was held on the Voter Verifiable Paper Trial (VVPT) system. It was conducted by the Election Commission in 36 polling stations under Sohra assembly constituency.

‘I found the new voting machine much more transparent compared to the electronic voting machines,’ said Mary Queen Nongbri after exercising her vote in a VVPT system, developed by the Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL).

Similarly, Wanropbor Umdor, who also tested the new VVPT system, said, ‘The new voting machine should replace the electronic voting machines to ensure free and fair voting.’

India: Electronic Voting Machines – Field trial of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system in five locations in India | All Voices

The Commission vide its Press Note dated 14th June, 2011, announced the details of the conduct of field trial of the VVPAT system in simulated election in the districts of Leh (Jammu & Kashmir), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala),Cherrapunjee i.e. East Khasi Hills (Meghalaya), East Delhi District (NCT of Delhi) and Jaisalmer ( Rajasthan).

In wider fulfillment of the objectives of the field trial, the Commission has requested the National and State Parties to extend necessary cooperation by getting involved in the trial process actively and also witness the trial in order to have a first hand experience of the system.

India: Shillong to host first test for advanced Electronic Voting Machines | DNA

None of the existing MLAs will feel the threat of losing their seats even as candidates from all parties will be out on the electoral battlefield to woo voters as ballots will be cast in Cherrapunjee on July 26.

Confused? This will just be a mock polling exercise to be conducted in Sohra and Shella constituencies of Cherrapunjee just to test the efficacy of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system, a new technology which verifies the recording of votes in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

India: Election Commission of India Invites Media to Witness Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail | ABC Live

The Election Commission of India on Tuesday has invited Indian Media to witness the purview of the Electronic Voting Machine & Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) ay its office in New Delhi.

As per the ECI, After General Elections to Lok Sabha 2009 doubts about the tamperability of EVMs have raised in Media. In order to discuss EVMs & other Election issues, the ECI had a meeting of all political parties on 4th October,2010

The parties expressed satisfaction on the EVM but several parties recommended that the Commission might consider of introducing VVPAT for further transparency in the system.

India: Electronic Voting Machine scan to clear doubts | The Telegraph

With several political parties voicing doubts on the functioning of electronic voting machines, the Election Commission has decided to conduct a field trial of the Vote Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system in five locations in the country, including Cherrapunjee, by the end of July.

The VVPAT will ensure that the voting machine prints a paper ballot or facsimile, which can be verified by the voter. This audit trail will help the electorate examine how their votes were cast and tabulated.

Brazil: Indian Voting Machines With Paper Trails to Be Field-tested | PCWorld

India's Election Commission plans to test in July new electronic voting machines (EVMs) that will offer a voter a verifiable paper trail, following criticism from political parties and activists that the machines could be tampered with. But it is unclear whether the paper records of the vote will be discarded or saved after the voter has checked if his vote has been properly recorded. Some local newspaper reports in April said that the paper records would be destroyed after the voter had checked his vote.

The paper records should be saved and used in a recount or if any other dispute arises, said Hari Prasad, the security researcher who along with other researchers released a video last year that they said demonstrated vulnerabilities in the EVMs.

Brazil: India will try out the Brazilian model of voting in future | DNA

The technology called Voter Verifiable Paper Trail (VVPT), a supplement to the existing EVM system, will be piloted in some polling stations in near future.

"We’ll experiment VVPT in 200 polling stations in places with extreme weather conditions like Ladakh in the presence of all political parties. If they approve, this can be a reality in future,” chief election commissioner SY Quraishi told journalists at a press conference after emerging from the 7th Regional Consultation for Electoral Reforms held in Guwahati on Sunday.

Brazil: Brazil makeover for Indian polls | Hindustan Times

The Election Commission is set to add a bit of Samba to Indian elections. The seventh and final regional consultation for electoral reforms ended in Guwahati on Sunday with the EC voting for the Brazilian model of conducting elections. The technology –Voter Verifiable Paper Trail (VVPT) – used by the South American country will be tried out in 200 polling stations across India soon.

VVPT, chief election commissioner SY Quraishi said, will supplement the existing electronic voting machine or EVM. “We have decided to try out the VVPT in polling stations experiencing extreme weather conditions such as Ladakh. The experiment will be done in presence of representatives of all political parties. If they approve, the system can be a reality,” he said.

Puerto Rico: Governor signs Puerto Rico electoral code changes | caribbeanbusiness.pr

Gov. Luis Fortuño on Wednesday signed a new electoral code legislation that will shorten political campaign periods and implement an electronic voting and ballot verification system.

The governor’s signature on the new electoral law came after the House of Representatives, in a divided vote on Wednesday evening, concurred with Senate amendments to House Bill 1863. The legislation “adjusts the electoral law to reflect past experiences and avoid wrong interpretations.”

India: Electronic Voting Machine with paper trail to be tested in 200 places in India | The Times of India

A prototype of an Electronic Voting Machine with a verifiable paper trail has been developed and will be tested in 200 places across the country by the middle of July.

Election Commission sources say the new EVM will be tested in extreme conditions -- from the freezing climate of Ladakh to the high temperature of Jaisalmer and the humid sea coast. The testing process will get over by the end of August. The sources said the EC is likely to approach political parties to witness the testing process across the country. "Once we get the results, the Commission would decide if such EVMs can be used in elections," a source said.

Tennessee: Bill wipes out voter safeguards in Tennessee | The Tennessean

In 2008, the Tennessee General Assembly voted almost unanimously to make elections more secure, dependable and trustworthy by requiring a verifiable paper trail for each vote. The step was long overdue — more than 30 states already have such security measures.

But three years later, secure elections in Tennessee remain at risk, and voters may never know if their votes are counted.

Tennessee: Tennessee Senate Votes To Undo Voter Confidence Act Requirements | Chattanoogan.com

The state Senate voted on Thursday to undo requirements of the Voter Confidence Act passed three years ago. Supporters said the action will ensure that more accurate voting machines would be implemented across the state as the legislature reversed requirements approved three years ago.

House Bill 386 as approved by the Senate would delete the requirement for more secure voting machines with a verifiable paper trail. The touch-screen voting machine system used in many Tennessee counties has been called by experts as “the least secure voting system” in the country.

Ireland: Confining e-voting in Ireland to the scrap heap | Connaugh Telegraph

The ill-conceived electronic voting system imposed on us by the former Government has cost us, the taxpayers, €58 million, a loss a bankrupt country can do without. Environment Minister Phil Hogan has decided to pull the plug on e-voting and have a fire sale of the 7,504 machines held in storage at warehouses all over the country.

A tender process is being prepared for international publication, which will detail the amount of memory and the software specifications in the machines in the hope some technology firm may be able to harvest some value from them before they are finally scrapped. The e-voting saga has proved an expensive lesson for this country. The concept was not sought nor wanted by the electorate.

Editorials: Chris Telesca: Budget puts N.C.’s elections at risk | NewsObserver.com

North Carolina currently ranks high in election integrity, but it wasn’t always so. Prior to 2000, we had no uniform standards for voting systems and election administration. Our 100 counties used 18 different types of voting machines, some nearly 40 years old. Four suppliers of the machines were no longer in business, maintenance was limited, vendor support was sparse and security was a joke.

Training for poll workers and election staff was disjointed and incomplete. All counties did their own thing with ballot printing, and few complied with federal laws and standards. So, in 2004, we had a Florida-style meltdown, with the loss of nearly 5,000 votes in Carteret County, machines crashing, votes missing or counted twice by accident, etc. These were largely systemic problems that came from not having or complying with standards for election integrity.

Editorials: Senator Roy Harron: Tennessee needs paper trail for every vote | The Commercial Appeal

In 2008 the Tennessee legislature voted almost unanimously to make elections more secure, dependable and trustworthy by requiring a verifiable paper trail for each vote. The step was long overdue — more than 30 states already have such security measures.

But three years later, secure elections in Tennessee remain at risk and voters may never know if their votes are counted.

If legislative Republicans’ march toward passing a bill that would effectively repeal the Voter Confidence Act succeeds, it would be a devastating blow to democracy in Tennessee. The electronic voting machines used in 93 of our 95 counties are so vulnerable to fraud and thievery that they can steal your vote even before you cast your ballot.

The Voting News Daily: Kloppenburg campaign raises ballot bag security concern in Waukesha County recount, Omaha World-Herald Sells interest in ES&S

WI: Kloppenburg campaign raises ballot bag security concern in Waukesha County recount – JSOnline

An observer for Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg objected Thursday to the security of bags holding Supreme Court ballots from the City of Brookfield because of a gap opening on the ballot bags. They’ve raised similar objections four or five times in Waukesha County since the start of the recount, said retired Circuit Court Judge Robert Mawdsley, who’s overseeing the county recount. In an interview, he agreed with objector Bill Hotz’s observation that the bag opening from Brookfield was the largest seen so far. Hotz said poorly sealed bags or torn bags appear to be a common problem, but they were evident on five of six Brookfield bags that were counted first thing Thursday. He objected to the counting of those ballots where bags appeared to be open. Brandon O’Bryon, representing Justice David Prosser, objected to the objection, saying Brookfield voters would be disenfranchised if their votes weren’t counted. As has been the practice from the start, Mawdsley makes a record of the concerns and each objection should a challenge end up in court. “There are several bags that appear to be improperly sealed,” Mawdsley said for the record. Kloppenburg’s campaign representatives took pictures of the bags in question. The Board of Canvassers agreed to count the votes, which can be identified separately if necessary. Brookfield City Clerk Kristine Schmidt said that bags filled with too many ballots tend to tear when they’re picked up. She also said that on bags that she personally seals, she threads the seal through additional holes she makes in the bags so they can be pulled tightly shut and stay that way. Not every poll worker does that, and when the bags are lifted, a gap can open up. She also testified, “I guarantee you these ballots were put in (a vault in her office) and not tampered with until they left city hall.” She said a highway worker took the ballots to the courthouse the day after the election. Full Article

Omaha World-Herald sells interest in Election Systems and Software (ES&S) – Omaha.com

The Omaha World-Herald Co. has sold its minority interest in Election Systems & Software Inc., an Omaha company that is the world’s largest election technology company, to McCarthy Group of Omaha and the election company’s management. Terms of the private sale were not disclosed. McCarthy Capital, a private equity investment company, already was a minority stockholder of Election Systems’ stock and is now the majority stockholder, said Michael McCarthy, chairman of McCarthy Group. Election Systems’ management and another independent investor are minority stockholders. World-Herald President and CEO Terry Kroeger said The World-Herald, an investor in Election Systems for nearly 25 years, is proud of what Election Systems accomplished for its shareholders and of its “contributions to our country’s ability to conduct free and fair elections.” Kroeger said the sale strengthens The World-Herald’s balance sheet, providing greater liquidity to the company and its shareholders. Full Article

Guam: Early in-office voting, machines debated in Guam | Pacific Daily News

Lawmakers yesterday debated two bills that could affect future island elections — ending the recently approved process for early in-office voting and paving the way for the return of controversial electronic voting machines. Lawmakers debated another election bill by Respicio, which would allow for the use of electronic voting machines, provided the machines print a “voter-verified paper ballot” which the voter can double-check before placing into a ballot box.

Respicio in 2006 wrote a law banning the use of electronic voting machines until several conditions are met, including training and safeguards for accuracy. The Election Commission spent nearly half a million dollars in federal election assistance funding to buy 116 Ivotronic electronic voting machines, according to Pacific Daily News files.

Editorials: Tennessee needs reliable paper ballots | The Tennessean

Now The Tennessean reports that this session of the state legislature may repeal the never-implemented Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (April 25). It was the fine work of an earlier session to give us this law. It is a reliable system of voting that requires the use of paper ballots for a possible real check on the accuracy of the electronic vote if and when it becomes necessary.

This is quite impossible with the system that Tennessee has been using, which relies totally on electronic voting machines without paper ballots. These machines have been shown in many different places to be subject to large errors or even deliberate manipulation. There is no way to verify an election with these delicate machines.

Georgia: Georgia election changes suggested | The Augusta Chronicle

Georgia’s election law should be changed to allow more third-party candidates, voting machines with paper records and vetting of presidential hopefuls, according to 19 witnesses at Wednesday’s initial meeting of the Georgia Election Advisory Council.

Secretary of State Brian Kemp, whose office oversees elections, conceived the council and appointed it 15 members of legislators, academics and elections officials. When he first announced it, he said its goal would be to find ideas to save money and improve efficiency. The witnesses said they were looking for more substantive changes. “A lot of these things are going to depend on the will of the legislature,” Kemp said.

Tennessee: GOP moves to repeal Tennessee paper ballot law | The Tennessean

A plan to require paper ballots in next year’s elections is on the verge of being repealed, the latest in a series of actions taken by Republicans in the state legislature to rewrite Tennessee election laws.

State representatives are trying to reverse most of a 2008 law that called for the replacement of electronic voting machines across the state with paper ballots read by computerized scanners. The move would kill off a plan that supporters say would create a verifiable record of votes but opponents say will be costly and open to tampering.

Tennessee: Sumner County leaders oppose possible paper ballot mandate in Tennessee | The Tennessean | tennessean.com

Members of the Sumner County Commission recently voted to send a proposal to state legislators to either repeal or fund a bill currently being considered that mandates the use of paper ballots in local elections.

“We just purchased new machines that are electronic, and if they mandate paper ballots we’ll have to go to a new system,” County Executive Anthony Holt said. “It could be in the range of $300,000 to buy the new required scanning machines and have them stored. That’s going to be a huge fiscal impact.”

South Carolina: Voting Machine Critics Get Their Day in the South Carolina Senate | Free Times

After a Senate panel heard testimony on April 14 from a handful of election watchdogs critical of the state’s system of electronic voting machines, a rather testy exchange took place in the hallway. “You guys have a tough job,” said USC computer scientist Duncan Buell to Chris Whitmire, the spokesman for the South Carolina State Election Commission. “You have a really tough job, but you’re in deep denial about reality.”

Buell has blasted the state agency in charge of South Carolina’s voting machines for some time. In February, after an independent audit he conducted with another computer expert, the two compiled a report that illustrated how the agency failed to count more than 1,000 votes in the November elections in Richland County alone.

India: India Election Commission gives in on paper-trails in Electronic Voting Machines? | Real Time News India

After coming under fire from transparency activists, including Anna Hazare, the Election Commission of India seems to have given in to the demand for paper-backed election instead of purely electronic recording of votes.

The Election Commission had come under fire after Hari Prasad, an activist was arrested for securing an EVM from Mumbai in his efforts to prove that the machines can be compromised.

Tennessee: GOP majority revising state election laws – Voter ID bills among proposals to amend process | Knoxville News Sentinel

Mandating photo identification for voting is just one part of a reshaping of Tennessee election laws by the Legislature’s Republican majority that also includes resolution of a three-year dispute over installing new voting machines statewide.

In a compromise last week, Republicans backed off of bills to repeal outright the Voter Confidence Act of 2008, which mandated use of $37 million in federal funds to place machines providing a paper trail for ballots in all 95 Tennessee counties.

South Carolina: Bipartisan support for paper trail voting in South Carolina | Examiner.com

It’s no secret that opposing political parties frequently disagree. But when it comes to voting machines currently used in their state, South Carolina Democrats and Republicans unite in demand for improvement.

Distrust in the use of electronic voting machines is noted in the 2011 resolutions of both state parties.  Both call for changes to include verification, if not complete replacement, by paper records.

India: India Election Commission seeks roadmap for Electronic Voting Machines with printers | Hindustan Times

An Election Commission committee on Friday asked Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) manufacturers the time-frame within which the machines can be upgraded as per its suggestions. The high level technical committee has suggested some up-gradations including installing a small printer in EVMs as reported by HT on Friday, to give out receipts for every vote cast.

The idea is to have a record of all the votes that can be verified. The voter, however, will not get the receipt as the commission believes it could be traded. The concept is called paper trail of votes cast.

Mississippi: Mississippi Counties removing voting printers | Clarion Ledger

A growing number of counties are removing the outside printers from touch screen voting machines because of problems that delay voting.

Madison County is now seeking to join 15 other counties that have received permission from the U.S. Department of Justice to detach the plastic modules. The printers are not used by election officials when counting votes but are included as a back-up record of votes cast.

Guam: Respicio Bill Would Permit VVPB Electronic Voting in Guam | Pacific News Center

Senator Rory Respicio has introduced an election reform bill that would permit electronic voting using machine that are capable of producing “voter verified paper ballots” [VVPB]. Following the 2006 election Senator Respicio was the sponsor of a Bill banned electronic voting which eventually became Public Law 128-31.

In a release, Respicio explained he drafted that Bill because of the many problems with electronic voting during the 2006 election. “Those Ivotronic machines,” says Respicio, “stored votes electronically, so they could easily be hacked or lose their data.” The old machines did not provide paper receipts that could be hand counted or audited.