Democrats air concern on vote fraud

By Anthony Man
Staff writer
Posted December 30 2003

Boca raton · Critics warned Monday that computer error or outright fraud easily could alter the outcome of
elections conducted on Palm Beach County's electronic voting machines.

Vincent J. Lipsio, a software design engineer from Gainesville, said he was not a "conspiracy theorist," but expressed concern about the voting equipment put in use in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election.

For example, he said, it would be easy for a beginning computer science student to rig the devices so that 57 percent of all votes next fall go to President Bush regardless of who the voters actually .

"There's a lot of history in American politics of ballot box stuffing," he said. "A few deft keystrokes and all the ballot boxes in a county get stuffed at once."

Lipsio, who volunteers to work on voting issues for the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers, said there are so many potential problems with the computer voting equipment "we will have no way of knowing how the election really went."

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, appeared with Lipsio before 200 people at a Democratic event, the Committee to Defeat Bush gathering at Florida Atlantic University.

"I'm not a paranoid person," Wexler said. "I don't operate from a paranoid point of view." But, he said, the potential for problems is great. "Both a purposeful attack on the computer system or just a computer malfunction will put our whole democratic process in chaos," he said.

County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore said their analysis was deeply flawed. "It's just a bunch of lies," she said. LePore said it would be impossible to rig the machines.

Someone would have to break into a secure warehouse and tamper individually with 5,000 machines because they aren't connected. They have no modems, so a hacker could not meddle with them remotely.

LePore said there are extensive safeguards to ensure the accuracy of votes cast on the electronic machines. They are recorded in three places, and a diagnostic test is performed after each voter uses the machine.

What's more, she added, there is so much testing of the machines and software, starting before the state certifies them through public tests before each election, that any problems would be detected.

Wexler said a simple solution would eliminate doubt.

He wants all voting machines retrofitted so that a paper printout spits out each time an electronic vote is cast. That would allow voters to check the accuracy of the machines and provide a backup that could be used if a recount is necessary.

LePore said that's not a simple fix. "It's not as easy as they think where you go to Office Depot and buy a printer off the shelf."

Equipment and software compatible with the voting machines has to be developed, go through testing and get state certification.

If that ultimately happens, she said, it might cost $600 to $1,000 for each of Palm Beach County's 5,000 voting machines. That's $3 million to $5 million.

And, she said, paper printouts would create all sorts of problems. If they had to be counted, it would be a
messy process with 500,000 pieces of paper.

"You're injecting humans in the process again, just like they did with the punch cards," she said.

The decision is up to the state. No one from the Secretary of State's Office, which oversees elections, could be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Ruth Pleva, chairwoman of The Committee to Defeat Bush, is among the Democrats who think Bush and the Republicans stole the 2000 election.

"They would like to steal it once more using the corruptible electronic voting machines," said Pleva, who lives west of Delray Beach.

LePore has become a lightning rod for Democrats since the recount that followed the 2000 presidential elections. Some party members think her strict interpretation of election law helped Bush over Democrat Al Gore in the recount process.

Pleva didn't invite LePore. "I don't have enemies at my parties," she said.

Lipsio, a Democratic activist in his home community, and Wexler, a sharp critic of President Bush, clearly
have partisan interests.

And the crowd was primed to hear about potential problems with the 2004 voting. When a brief videotape was shown early in the meeting, former Secretary of State Katherine Harris instrumental in the pro-Bush resolution of the 2000 election appeared on the screen twice.

Both times her image was greeted with a chorus of boos.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-832-2905.

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