Hightower Lowdown

Since the last two elections had voting problems ranging from malfunctions to malfeasance, how do we know that, this election year, our votes will be fairly and accurately counted? Especially untrustworthy are the paperless, touchscreen electronic voting machines sold by such infamous outfits as Diebold, Inc.

I call these systems "faith-based voting," for you make your choices on the computer screen but get no verifiable evidence that your vote is registered as you meant it to be. The electronic machines are vulnerable to hackers, prone to hardware and software crackups, and have been known to "flip" votes mysteriously from the candidates you chose to their opponents. Yet, about 40% of American voters presently cast ballots on touchscreen machines, which means the votes of millions of citizens might be lost or altered, once again bringing the integrity of a presidential vote count into question.

Rep. Rush Holt has proposed the "Confidence in Voting Act" to provide $500 million so counties can replace disreputable electronic machines before November's national election. It calls for the use of ballots that voters mark by hand, and it provides another $100 million to set up independent audit committees in each county to conduct public hand counts of three percent of all ballots that are cast.

Rush Holt's reform is not perfect, but it's a huge advance over the "trust me" machines now in use. You have some ideas on voting integrity? Call Holt's office at 202-225-5801.