DENVER Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler wants to make it easier for counties to secure their electronic voting machines, but watchdogs say the changes increase the risk of hackers stealing an election.
Gessler is holding a meeting today to discuss the changes, but plaintiffs in a 2006 lawsuit that led to the decertification of several voting machines did not wait to let loose with criticism.
Jeff Sherman, an Iraq veteran who worked on democracy-building in that country, said he is dismayed that U.S. elections are vulnerable to fraud through voting machines.
We have a system that is a light to the world. I think it does all of us a disservice when there are questions about elections, Sherman said.
Shermans lawyer, Paul Hultin, thinks Gesslers proposed changes would run afoul of the court order in the lawsuit Hultin won in 2006 against then-Secretary of State Gigi Dennis.
Colorado has not had any known instance of election-hacking, but Hultin cited an exercise by Argonne National Laboratory in which scientists hacked into a voting machine from half a mile away using cheap, off-the-shelf equipment.
Montezuma County keeps one machine from Premier Election Solutions at each polling place for use by disabled voters. But the machines are seldom used, if at all, said County Clerk Carol Tullis.
The machines take a long time to set up, and current security rules make extra work for the clerks, Tullis said.
I would like them to be lightened, yes, Tullis said. Its just a lot of extra expense and a lot of work for something thats not being used.
Gessler wants to simplify security procedures for counties that use the machines. Proposed changes include looser requirements for tamper-proof seals on the machines and optional inspections by the secretary of state of county maintenance logs, instead of mandatory inspections. Currently, election judges who notice a broken seal on a machine must report it to the secretary of state. Gessler would make that reporting optional.
And the 10-page instruction manual the county clerks must follow to use the machines would be condensed to three to five pages.
Gesslers office said the new rules would make life easier for county clerks without jeopardizing security.
We are committed to maintaining the same level of security as currently exists, and believe the proposed changes will do so while making it easier for all counties to understand and follow the procedures, according to an email sent by a Gessler deputy to Hultin.
Reach Joe Hanel at joeh@cortezjournal.com.