State's E-Vote Trust Builds Slowly
After March problems, fewer voters will see electronic machines this fall. But counties are as resolute as ever to switch from paper ballots.
By Stuart Pfeifer, Times Staff Writer
Counties across California are preparing for another election day, as determined as ever to convert from paper to electronic voting. But because of a series of blunders in the March primary, fewer Californians will cast their ballots on touch-screen voting machines in November.
About 30% of the state's voters — 4.5 million people in 10 counties, including Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino — are expected to use electronic voting machines in November, down from about 40% in the spring.
County election officials say the high-tech machines allow them to collect and count votes more quickly and accurately than older methods by avoiding the shortcomings of paper ballots. But the transition has been rough: In March, the first election in which electronic voting systems were widely used in the state, some voters found touch screens displaying the wrong ballots; others were confronted with malfunctioning machines.
As a result, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley banned the type of machine purchased by four counties, including San Diego — forcing them to return to paper ballots.
Still, California — one of 29 states and the District of Columbia to embrace touch-screen voting for November — is expected to account for about 10% of all voters nationwide who cast paperless ballots. For that reason, election officials around the country are watching California's move toward electronic voting....
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-evoting27sep27,1,56412.story?coll=la-home-local
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