Committee advises against using new vote equipment

King County should not conduct its first countywide vote-by-mail election using new equipment, a citizens' advisory committee has told the Metropolitan King County Council.

A report from the Citizens' Elections Oversight Committee, delivered to the council late Friday, raises questions about County Executive Ron Sims' proposal to buy yet-uncertified tabulators and tallying software from Diebold Election Systems before the 2008 presidential election.

Two council members, Seattle Democrats Dow Constantine and Bob Ferguson, introduced a motion Friday that would ask Sims to develop a plan to conduct all-mail balloting next year with existing equipment.

Sims and Elections Director Sherril Huff say the county's existing 10-year-old mail-ballot equipment needs to be replaced even if the county doesn't go to all-mail voting next year, as directed by the County Council.

The 13-member oversight committee agreed that new equipment is needed but said this isn't the time for a total overhaul. The committee said it "believes that the purchase, staff training, and implementation of new hardware and software just after a move to new facilities and just before a presidential election is the highest risk option."

The committee report also recommended against buying automated signature-verification equipment because its members have "concerns about the potential for voter fraud and the possibility of disenfranchising some voters." The county also should put off buying new ballot-tracking equipment before the switch to all-mail voting, the committee said.

Committee Chair Ellen Hansen, a former King County elections manager, said Friday the elections office has made "really remarkable strides" under Huff. But, Hansen said, "We think they've got a lot on their plate in the next year. It was our feeling that it might be a wiser course to wait."

Hansen will brief the County Council this morning.

Elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said it may not be possible, as Hansen's committee suggests, to handle a far larger number of mail ballots next year using the existing tabulators and software. In all, nearly 1 million mail ballots are expected.

"We know that using our old equipment that isn't made any more, and for which some parts aren't even available, and jury-rigging software as a first choice ... is an uncomfortable approach for us," Egan said.

Constantine said he is still open to buying new Diebold tabulators if they are first certified by the federal and state governments and if the manufacturer "is able to prove to us that their system is bulletproof and that it functions in our real-world environment."

Ferguson said he wasn't satisfied with a Diebold representative's answers to questions from council members recently, and said he was concerned about former Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell's 2004 fundraising for President Bush's re-election campaign and his comment that he would help "deliver" the state's electoral votes to the president.

"I'm sorry," Ferguson said, "but if you're in the business of having elections equipment, those kinds of comments are going to cast doubt on the fairness of your operation."

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com