Voting machines questioned

Democracy is at risk in the state of Indiana, according to Verify the Vote Indiana. The newly formed group cited inaccuracies in the electronic voting system currently being used in Monroe County at a public meeting Wednesday night at the Monroe County Public Library.\nVerify the Vote Indiana is investigating the accuracy of voting machines that have been used by Monroe County and the State of Indiana for about four years. Cynthia Hoffman, a member of the group, said the election results are inaccurate, compromising the democratic process. The group is pushing for a way to verify electronic voting systems on paper.\nJames Allison and other members of the group said a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law has found the electronic voting system currently being used is not reliable and is able to be hacked.\n"These things can make mistakes," Allison said at the meeting. \n"Someone who wants to tilt the election one way of the other -- it's not too hard for them to get in and hack a machine," he said in a phone interview. \nHoffman told a crowd of about 25 people that the county should return to paper ballots.\n"We need to do something before the November election, and then we need to think long-term," she said.\nThe group's plan of action before November includes getting approval from the Monroe County Election Board for parallel testing in the county. Parallel testing includes randomly testing machines on Election Day to determine whether they work properly, Allison said.\nThe group is hoping to see a decision in favor of the testing at the board's next meeting Sept. 20.\nHowever, even if the parallel testing found errors, it would be too late to change anything, he said. The tests would only prove that problems existed with those very machines on Election Day.\nBecause it's too late to change the November election system from electronic to paper, the group is pushing for voter-verified paper ballots, which would ensure votes are recorded not only electronically but on paper as well, Allison said. Voter-verified paper ballots are currently being used in 27 states but not in Indiana, he said. \nAfter the November election, Verify the Vote will be working with legislators to develop legislation regarding changes in the voting system, Hoffman said.\n"We really are having a crisis of democracy," Hoffman said. "I know that laws are being broken. If it's a democracy, then every individual matters."\nA test of the machines prior to Election Day will take place at 10 a.m. Oct. 4 at the Monroe County Justice Building. The only problem, Hoffman said, is that the company that made the machines will be doing the testing.\nWith each machine costing about $5,000 and with 180 to 200 machines just in Monroe County alone, Hoffman said it would actually be cheaper to go to a different system. \nIU freshman Peter Lemperis, who attended the meeting Wednesday, said a new voting system might not necessarily solve the problem.\n"I think there are flaws within any system," he said. "The new system can open itself up to additional loopholes."\nAllison said public officials might be wary to test the system because of the possible problems they might find.\n"If you have a public official who is reluctant to audit his machines in any way, you have to ask why," Allison said. "I would have to conclude it's because he's afraid of what he's going to find out about them. You cannot depend on them"