By George Bennett, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 21, 2002

With the correct finger-spacing and timing, it's possible for a person using Palm Beach County's new electronic voting machines to touch two candidate's names at once and register a vote for a third.

The feat was performed Tuesday at the county elections office by touch-screen voting critic Rebecca Mercuri, who is advising former Boca Raton Mayor Emil Danciu in a lawsuit claiming the city's March 12 election was marred by computer problems.

The Danciu team hailed Mercuri's demonstration as proof the $14.4 million system is flawed.

But Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore and a Sequoia Voting Systems representative said a voter who managed to duplicate Mercuri's example would still have ample opportunity to recognize and correct any mistakes.

The touch screens debuted in several municipal elections earlier this year. They get their first countywide test in the Sept. 10 primaries.

Mercuri, a Bryn Mawr computer science professor and prominent foe of electronic voting, carefully used her thumb and index finger Tuesday to touch the first and third candidates on a sample ballot at exactly the same time. A green check mark appeared next to the candidate whose name appeared between the two names Mercuri touched.

"You're trying to trick the system. A normal person wouldn't do that," LePore said as Mercuri double-touched the screen in front of several witnesses in the lobby of the elections office.

Mercuri said the touch screen appeared to be "averaging," or finding the middle ground between the two spots she touched.

"From a voter usability standpoint, that's not acceptable," Mercuri said. "It should prevent the voter from doing things that are not valid."

Demonstration called 'silly' LePore and Sequoia Voting Systems Vice President Kathryn Ferguson said Mercuri's demonstration doesn't expose a problem. A voter who inadvertently chooses the wrong candidate would see the check mark next to that candidate's name and have the opportunity to change it, they said. And, before casting the ballot, the voter would automatically see a review screen listing the candidates he or she selected.

"It's the voter's responsibility to look at their ballot as they're voting it and confirm that their check mark is by the candidate of their choice," Ferguson said.

"If you're trying to mess with the machine, it's still going to come up and show you who got your vote. If that's not how you intended to vote, you simply de-select the vote," Ferguson said. She called Mercuri's demonstration "silly" and "ridiculous."

Mercuri and Danciu visited the elections office for about 90 minutes Tuesday. Accompanying them was Boca Raton attorney Charlotte Danciu, who is representing her father in a lawsuit that seeks a new city election.

Emil Danciu finished a distant third in a four-candidate race for two city council seats. His suit claims some voters tried to vote for him, but couldn't make check marks appear next to his name on the touch screen.

Circuit Judge John Wessel last month denied Danciu's request to physically examine the county's voting machines. But Wessel ruled that Danciu was entitled to a "walk-through inspection" of voting equipment. Wessel ruled that Danciu could not conduct any testing of the machines without an additional court order.

Danciu plans to seek such an order, his daughter said. In the meantime, LePore agreed Tuesday to keep one of the machines used in the Boca Raton election sealed in case there is a court-ordered inspection. LePore had planned to reprogram all of the county's machines for the Sept. 10 primary elections.

Mercuri said the county's machines should be tested by having people cast 300 to 1,000 votes on them. The people casting the test votes would follow predetermined instructions, and the machine results would be compared to the written instructions to see if there was any difference. Video cameras could be used to make sure people voted according to the instructions, Mercuri said.

"It's our obligation to pursue this," Charlotte Danciu said. "We hope to restore the voters' faith in the system."

Martin County also has new touch screens, but Deputy Elections Supervisor Emma Smith said the phenomenon demonstrated by Mercuri "just can't happen."

Martin County bought its machines from a different manufacturer, Elections Systems and Software, than Palm Beach County did.

"If you press two votes at the same time, nothing happens until you exert more pressure on one than the other," Smith said. "Then if you change your mind, you can exert more pressure on the other and the vote will change."

As long as the pressure is equal, neither registers, she said.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2002