In the Nov. 8 election, about 75 percent of people who early voted opted to use paper ballots. On Election Day, voters had no choice except to use electronic ballots, and in future Carroll County elections there may be no choice but electronic voting despite concerns that electronic voting machines can be tampered with.
Carroll County Election Commission Chairman David L. Hoover said there will not be paper ballots in future elections in the county if money is available to purchase the new electronic voting machines that have been selected by the Arkansas Secretary of State’s (SOS) office.
“We’re still waiting to see if we have the money to buy those things,” Hoover said. “Some counties have them and the majority don’t. We are hoping we get the new machines because it will be such a great benefit.”
At 9 a.m. on Election Day, Hoover was aware of only one person who complained about not being able to use a paper ballot, that in the Green Forest precinct. Hoover said all-electronic voting was slowing things down at the polls.
“It is a little slower because people walk up to the machine, they have to make a selection, and they haven’t studied all the issues,” Hoover said. “There are spending a little more time on the machine.”
New electronic voting machines recommended by the SOS work a bit differently than those the county currently uses. Hoover said with new machines, people make their selection, then print votes out on a card about 3×7 inches. Voters can check to make sure their votes are correctly recorded. If a voter did not vote that way, notify an election worker, and when the vote is correct, put the card into a tabulating machine for counting.
“It is a lot more expeditious,” Hoover said. “At night, all we have to do is go into the six precincts that are set up, pull out the counters, add up the results and we’re done.”
Hoover said if there is a problem suspected with a ballot box, the cards could be recounted.
ES&S (Elections Systems & Software), the company that manufacturers the voting machines approved by the SOS, advertises itself as the world’s largest elections-only company. ES&S says it has provided election equipment, software and services used by U.S. municipalities and counties to help run fair and accurate elections for more than 30 years.
Chris Powell, spokesman for the Arkansas Secretary of State, said electronic machines are secure and not manipulated.
“They are not hooked up to the Internet,” Powell said. “There are a lot of rumors about security. Electronic machines are more secure than paper ballots. As far as voting on paper or machines, that’s up to the county. There has not been any sort of ruling from the state as far as using paper in the future.”
However, some local residents are concerned about what is known as “black box” on machines with closed source or proprietary operations. Local attorney Forrest Jacobi said there is clear evidence that some electronic voting machines can and have been manipulated with outcomes of elections changed as a result.
“I prefer a paper trail because it is auditable,” Jacobi said. “There have been issues with this in the past. Black box voting is just not a democratic way to count your votes. In Australia, open source software is used so there is no question about the vote. In this country, voting machines use private proprietary software. Wichita State University math professor Beth Clarkson’s analysis has shown a consistent pattern of manipulation of votes with electronic voting machines. This is a proven fact.”
Clarkson found statistical anomalies favoring Republicans in counts coming from large precincts in Kansas.
Jacobi said electronic voting machines potentially take away the basic right of Americans to have a vote and have it counted.
“When people from a private company count the votes and give you the answer, you don’t have a transparent system,” Jacobi said. “We need a transparent system. Any lack of transparency brings your vote into question. If it is private, proprietary software, there is no audit. You don’t know if the number was derived fairly. There is a history of election fraud in this country. There is no question election fraud has gone on. That is how Kerry lost in 2004 because votes were flipped in Cleveland, Ohio, to give votes to Bush. This year the Democrats did it with Hillary against Bernie.”
Jacobi said countries like Canada take exit polls, which are extremely accurate. If it is outside of the margin of error, something is wrong. Exit polls showed Hillary would beat Bernie by 52 to 48 in New York.
“She won by 16,” Jacobi said. “That is way past the margin of error, which simply means something strange is going on. It is called election fraud. Two years ago in Kentucky, all Democrats running for statewide offices won, but a Republican governor got in. People who vote straight tickets do not usually vote for a different party candidate for governor. That screams election fraud. I don’t know how we can call ourselves the greatest democracy on Earth when we are last in Western democracies in voting integrity.”
Jacobi said there have been local cases of voter fraud as the case where a candidate voted for himself only to see the results tabulated to give the vote to his opponent.
Jacobi recommended the website www.blackboxvoting.org for more information.