The League of Women Voters supports only voting systems that are secure, accurate, re-countable, accessible and transparent.  We support replacing our current voting computers with a new technology of hand-marked paper ballots, which will be:
    * The ballot is marked by the voter (may be assisted by a marking device).
    * The voter casts the ballot by feeding the ballot into an optical scanner at the precinct.
    * The scanner counts the vote and drops the ballots into a box, where they are retained for a recount or audit.
    * The paper ballots are the official record of the election.

The new-generation paper ballots have the following advantages:

    * Correction by the voter if the scanner rejects for bad marking. This is a precinct count fail-safe       mechanism that does not exist with a central count.
    * Long lines and broken machines should not be a problem with paper ballots.  Additional           voting stations can be added using additional tables and inexpensive cardboard privacy

      screens.
    * Ranked Voting and Instant Runoff Voting become possible with paper ballots.  
    * Paper ballots can be recounted and/or audited.
    * Vote reporting will be simpler and faster because the paper ballots are not complicated.  By        contrast, reporting the statewide vote for the iVotronic requires processing of approximately

       12,500 memory chips and 2,200 PEBs. 
    * The best election is one that the people trust.  The new generation of paper ballots inspires            trust because people can verify and hold their ballots, deposit them in the ballot box

       (scanner) themselves, and know that the actual ballots can be recounted if necessary.

    *  In 2007, an examination of the iVotronic computers by three security groups

       recommended against using them.  Problems existed with both the design and coding.
    *  When we first looked at computer records of the vote in several SC counties, we found                     thousands of missing/miscounted/uncounted votes.
    *  The State Elections Commission adopted new procedures and wrote computer code (similar         to our code) in order to improve the accuracy of the certified totals.
    *  Errors are still occurring in reporting the vote totals.  Although the manufacturer has                     provided updates to the software, incorrect totals and anomalies are still occurring.

        Paper ballots and tabulating computers are the only obvious choices to replace the               iVotronic computers.

 Tabulating computers pose a number of problems:

    *  Tabulating computers, such as the ES&S ExpressVote, may be understood as an iVotronic           computer with an attached printer.  The iVotronic computers accumulate the total

        vote in electronic data files in their memories.  Tabulating computers also accumulate

        the total vote in electronic data files in their memories.
    *  When using tabulating computers, the vote can be counted from the paper ballots or from the           electronic data files.  Since these two methods can result in different totals, the

        South Carolina Code of Laws must specify which method produces the

        official totals. 
    *  Currently, the electronic data in the memories of the iVotronic computers are used to count             and recount the vote, setting a precedent that will allow the tabulating computers to

        count and recount  the vote.  If so, the paper ballots will never be used for anything

        except taking up storage space.
    *  These electronic data are vulnerable to undetected coding errors, machine failure, and             other types of computer problems.
    *  The electronic data is vulnerable to fraud, hacking and cyber-attack.  The danger from               cyber-attack, not the larger cost of the tabulating computers, may be the most important               factor favoring the adoption of paper ballots.

    *  The ES&S ExpressVote tabulating computer uses barcodes on  its ballots to count the vote.            The text that the voter verifies, is not used to count the vote. Because the voter cannot

       verify his ballot, the ES&S ExpressVote is unacceptable. 
    *  Tabulating computers are unacceptable if they can alter the ballot after the voter has

        verified it.
    *  The use of wireless communication, mobile telephone connection, optical scanners or the               internet to transmit vote totals is unacceptable because they open  pathways for cyber

        criminals to modify the vote totals.

    *  Tabulators/Computers: Estimated $62.5+ million (12,500 tabulators x $5,000 each).  In               addition, expect at least $1 million annual fee, as in now paid by the counties.
    *   Paper ballots and one  tabulating computer per precinct: 

        Estimated $22 million. ($5,000/tabulator X 2,200 precincts plus $5,000/scanner x 2,200                 precincts) 

        In addition, expect an annual fee of $100 per tabulating computer.

    *  The requirement of one tabulator computer per precinct is to accommodate visually                         challenged voters.
    *   Expected lifetime of the new equipment must be considered.

 

        Tabulators/computers are undesirable because they are expensive, not transparent,                have been shown to result in incorrect counts, and constantly raise serious

 

         Paper ballots, on the other hand, produce a permanent official record that is                            inexpensive, easily understood by the voter, re-countable, difficult to hack,  and

         trusted by voters.