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American Morning

America Votes 2002: Look at New Voting Machines

Aired November 04, 2002 - 09:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The presidential election two years ago proved to be a rude awakening about outmoded voting machines and confusing battle. Several states have new machines in place after Congress enacted legislation that provided close to $4 billion in funding to put these machines in place, and joining me right now is CNN technology technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg.
Good morning.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Why don't you show us the toys? I should be more serious than that, because the process is being watched with a great deal of scrutiny.

SIEBERG: Absolutely. And perhaps the most apparent reminder of all the trouble we had two years ago is the fact that an increasing number of polling stations and counties are going to be using these high-tech voting machines.

So let's get started with the first one here. This is called the I-Votetronic. It's made by Election Systems and Software. People might remember Miami-Dade and Broward Counties as part of the Florida recount. This machine is going to be used there, and you're already a pro at this machine. It actually comes with different languages you can use. The first one there was the choice of languages. Once you do that, it pulls in the ballot. You can make your choices by touching the screen. You'll see one thing it tries to compensate for is not allowing you to overvote. So if you choose one of those....

ZAHN: I don't want anybody to read anything into my voting here. So should we go with someone we haven't heard with? Let's go with David Copeland.

SIEBERG: Right, if you choose David Copeland, and then you if you try and choose the next one, it will remove the last choice that you made, so you can't overvote, and then if you want a write-in, you can also do that as well, and again, it's this touch-screen technology that allows you to use the screen and the sensors on the screen itself to type in your vote.

ZAHN: I'm electing you.

SIEBERG: OK.

ZAHN: There we go. So let's go on to the next one. That is pretty easy to use.

SIEBERG: They're hoping to use -- the one thing about this machine, is the polling worker actually has to go in an activate it with this cartridge. It's not just activated when you go into the polling station yourself. They use the cartridge to start machine. This one is a little bit different, another type of activation. This one is actually a code. And this is not a touch-screen machine. This you actually use this dia-wheel here to input this code, this four- digit code. Once you come into the polling station, you have to type in this code to start the machine. This is being used in Houston and Charlottesville, Virginia.

ZAHN: This is a code you're assigned?

SIEBERG: This is a code that you're assigned. Everybody gets a different code. This is from a company called Hart Intercivic, and it's different than this because it's not a touch screen, but once you use the enter key and finish typing in your code, then your ballot will come up on the screen and use this wheel to make your choices like so. So it's a little bit different than the last one. People might find this a little bit trickier, but the company says, it's because they want to avoid calibration issues, where you're touching the screen and ensuring that you're actually the exact part of the screen that you want.

ZAHN: I'm voting for Susan B. Anthony for governor. I don't know what state she's running it.

SIEBERG: From there, we'll move to Diebold machine. Diebold is one of the largest makers of ATM banking machines. In effect, it's set up in much the same way. Instead of using a code or having the cartridge put into the machine, you actually use a smart card, and you would insert it much like you would with an ATM machine, and sliding it in until it clicks. It actually loads the ballot in again, and then you would use it in a touch-screen manner, much the same way. Now this machine is being used all over the state of Georgia. Georgia is the first and only state to have this uniform touch-screen technology. There are 22,000 of these machines all across the state of Georgia.

ZAHN: Where would you go next?

SIEBERG: Next, once you read the instructions, then you would hit the start button, and the choices would come out, and you can touch the screen if you want and make some choices. We've got some fictional choices, some fun ones here instead.

ZAHN: George Washington, Gladys Knight.

SIEBERG: We've got a baseball team on the right.

ZAHN: Let's go with Ty Cobb.

SIEBERG: All right, Ty Cobb. And then once you've done that, you would go through at the very end. There are issues, of course, and then finally, at very end, it allows you to actually review your ballot, and you can see all of the choices you made and go back and change anything you want, and then finally, you would finish up by actually casting your ballot.

ZAHN: This is a lot simpler than the old ones we use in New York, where you can't go back and retract something if you've made a mistake.

SIEBERG: You can actually go back. Once you've dropped it into the box or cast it, you can't go back. This is from a company called Sequoia. This is going to be used in a number counties in Florida, Palm Beach, Indian River, Peneles (ph), and Hillsborough (py) County behind this is similar, you get a voter card once you come in; it's activated, and then you move over to the machine when you come in and just slide it in, much like an ATM machine. They try to make it as easy for people as they can, and then it pulls up the ballot onto the screen. You get your choice of languages and then you can go through and make all your selections.

We actually reported on this machine back in 2000. They had it in Riverside County, California. So this one has been tested in a sense previously in elections. You can also review and make all your choices.

ZAHN: Look at all of the female candidates today. Susan B. Anthony has got a lot of my votes today.

SIEBERG: You can review your ballot if you choose to. You can see your choices, and you can go back in and make changes once you've done all that.

Finally, we've got a machine that's going to look really out of place next to all of the other ones. It almost looks like a conventional voting booth.

ZAHN: It does.

SIEBERG: You think, why is it so big? Well, it uses a different type of technology. Instead of using touch screen, it's actually got sensors on the back here that feel what you're pushing on the screen, and it records it that way. It's a little bit different, also made by Sequoia. The reason why, in places like New York, you actually have to see the entire ballot, rather than page by page or screen by screen, which some of the other ones can do. There you actually have to see all of the candidates, all of the issues, and then when you're done, you would just cast your ballot like that and leave the voting booth. So a little bit different technology for that one.

ZAHN: Boy, it helps you to begin to understand what an enormous commitment of expense this is, that Congress mandated we needed to fix all of this, almost $4 billion in technology in place in poll stations.

SIEBERG: That's right, in fact. with Georgia one, the Georgia contract apparently worth about $54 million for those 22,000 machines. So it's a drawback for people who are counties, who want to get into the high-tech voting, the costs is an issue, and of course, there's also a human element. Even with these machines being automated in some ways, with the technology behind them, humans have to train people how to use them. You still have to have people who are taking data once it's done and taking that to the courthouse, or wherever it's going to be tabulated. There is always a human interaction with the machines, even if it's automated. High tech doesn't mean problem free.

ZAHN: We know that. Daniel Sieberg, our technology correspondent, thanks for your time this morning?

SIEBERG: Did you vote?

ZAHN: The irony is, I'm a Canadian citizen, so this is as close as I'll get to the voting.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 4, 2002 - 09:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The presidential election two years ago proved to be a rude awakening about outmoded voting machines and confusing battle. Several states have new machines in place after Congress enacted legislation that provided close to $4 billion in funding to put these machines in place, and joining me right now is CNN technology technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg.
Good morning.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Why don't you show us the toys? I should be more serious than that, because the process is being watched with a great deal of scrutiny.

SIEBERG: Absolutely. And perhaps the most apparent reminder of all the trouble we had two years ago is the fact that an increasing number of polling stations and counties are going to be using these high-tech voting machines.

So let's get started with the first one here. This is called the I-Votetronic. It's made by Election Systems and Software. People might remember Miami-Dade and Broward Counties as part of the Florida recount. This machine is going to be used there, and you're already a pro at this machine. It actually comes with different languages you can use. The first one there was the choice of languages. Once you do that, it pulls in the ballot. You can make your choices by touching the screen. You'll see one thing it tries to compensate for is not allowing you to overvote. So if you choose one of those....

ZAHN: I don't want anybody to read anything into my voting here. So should we go with someone we haven't heard with? Let's go with David Copeland.

SIEBERG: Right, if you choose David Copeland, and then you if you try and choose the next one, it will remove the last choice that you made, so you can't overvote, and then if you want a write-in, you can also do that as well, and again, it's this touch-screen technology that allows you to use the screen and the sensors on the screen itself to type in your vote.

ZAHN: I'm electing you.

SIEBERG: OK.

ZAHN: There we go. So let's go on to the next one. That is pretty easy to use.

SIEBERG: They're hoping to use -- the one thing about this machine, is the polling worker actually has to go in an activate it with this cartridge. It's not just activated when you go into the polling station yourself. They use the cartridge to start machine. This one is a little bit different, another type of activation. This one is actually a code. And this is not a touch-screen machine. This you actually use this dia-wheel here to input this code, this four- digit code. Once you come into the polling station, you have to type in this code to start the machine. This is being used in Houston and Charlottesville, Virginia.

ZAHN: This is a code you're assigned?

SIEBERG: This is a code that you're assigned. Everybody gets a different code. This is from a company called Hart Intercivic, and it's different than this because it's not a touch screen, but once you use the enter key and finish typing in your code, then your ballot will come up on the screen and use this wheel to make your choices like so. So it's a little bit different than the last one. People might find this a little bit trickier, but the company says, it's because they want to avoid calibration issues, where you're touching the screen and ensuring that you're actually the exact part of the screen that you want.

ZAHN: I'm voting for Susan B. Anthony for governor. I don't know what state she's running it.

SIEBERG: From there, we'll move to Diebold machine. Diebold is one of the largest makers of ATM banking machines. In effect, it's set up in much the same way. Instead of using a code or having the cartridge put into the machine, you actually use a smart card, and you would insert it much like you would with an ATM machine, and sliding it in until it clicks. It actually loads the ballot in again, and then you would use it in a touch-screen manner, much the same way. Now this machine is being used all over the state of Georgia. Georgia is the first and only state to have this uniform touch-screen technology. There are 22,000 of these machines all across the state of Georgia.

ZAHN: Where would you go next?

SIEBERG: Next, once you read the instructions, then you would hit the start button, and the choices would come out, and you can touch the screen if you want and make some choices. We've got some fictional choices, some fun ones here instead.

ZAHN: George Washington, Gladys Knight.

SIEBERG: We've got a baseball team on the right.

ZAHN: Let's go with Ty Cobb.

SIEBERG: All right, Ty Cobb. And then once you've done that, you would go through at the very end. There are issues, of course, and then finally, at very end, it allows you to actually review your ballot, and you can see all of the choices you made and go back and change anything you want, and then finally, you would finish up by actually casting your ballot.

ZAHN: This is a lot simpler than the old ones we use in New York, where you can't go back and retract something if you've made a mistake.

SIEBERG: You can actually go back. Once you've dropped it into the box or cast it, you can't go back. This is from a company called Sequoia. This is going to be used in a number counties in Florida, Palm Beach, Indian River, Peneles (ph), and Hillsborough (py) County behind this is similar, you get a voter card once you come in; it's activated, and then you move over to the machine when you come in and just slide it in, much like an ATM machine. They try to make it as easy for people as they can, and then it pulls up the ballot onto the screen. You get your choice of languages and then you can go through and make all your selections.

We actually reported on this machine back in 2000. They had it in Riverside County, California. So this one has been tested in a sense previously in elections. You can also review and make all your choices.

ZAHN: Look at all of the female candidates today. Susan B. Anthony has got a lot of my votes today.

SIEBERG: You can review your ballot if you choose to. You can see your choices, and you can go back in and make changes once you've done all that.

Finally, we've got a machine that's going to look really out of place next to all of the other ones. It almost looks like a conventional voting booth.

ZAHN: It does.

SIEBERG: You think, why is it so big? Well, it uses a different type of technology. Instead of using touch screen, it's actually got sensors on the back here that feel what you're pushing on the screen, and it records it that way. It's a little bit different, also made by Sequoia. The reason why, in places like New York, you actually have to see the entire ballot, rather than page by page or screen by screen, which some of the other ones can do. There you actually have to see all of the candidates, all of the issues, and then when you're done, you would just cast your ballot like that and leave the voting booth. So a little bit different technology for that one.

ZAHN: Boy, it helps you to begin to understand what an enormous commitment of expense this is, that Congress mandated we needed to fix all of this, almost $4 billion in technology in place in poll stations.

SIEBERG: That's right, in fact. with Georgia one, the Georgia contract apparently worth about $54 million for those 22,000 machines. So it's a drawback for people who are counties, who want to get into the high-tech voting, the costs is an issue, and of course, there's also a human element. Even with these machines being automated in some ways, with the technology behind them, humans have to train people how to use them. You still have to have people who are taking data once it's done and taking that to the courthouse, or wherever it's going to be tabulated. There is always a human interaction with the machines, even if it's automated. High tech doesn't mean problem free.

ZAHN: We know that. Daniel Sieberg, our technology correspondent, thanks for your time this morning?

SIEBERG: Did you vote?

ZAHN: The irony is, I'm a Canadian citizen, so this is as close as I'll get to the voting.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com