del.icio.us"The more they tell us not to worry, the more we should worry."
So begins a recent editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune. Utah's primary election is today, and Utah has spent $27 million to bring Diebold touchscreen voting to the state. Emery County Clerk Bruce Funk resigned in protest, after learning of serious security flaws in these voting machines, and finding that other officials were not taking the matter seriously.
Those still running our elections, all the way up to Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, insist that none of us need worry our pretty little heads about it and the June 27 primaries should go off without a hitch. Frankly, it would be a lot more comforting if our officials were eager to be seen as solving the problem instead of denying that there is one. Because, according to some very heavily credentialed experts, there is one.
The federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires states to make voting at polling places more accessible to disabled voters. Although it is not necessary to use touchscreen voting machines to meet this worthy goal, many states, including Massachusetts, are considering using these machines to comply with HAVA's requirements - or, like Utah, have already decided to do so.
