News

Could Calif. be in need of voting kiosks?

September 15, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court postponed California's Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election because of the limitations of outdated punch-card ballot machines.

According to an ABCNews report, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday it is unacceptable that six counties would be using punch-card ballots, the type that sparked the "hanging chads" litigation in Florida during the 2000 presidential election.

The report did not mention alternative technologies. The largest vendor of electronic voting units, Diebold Election Systems, did not return KIOSKmarketplace calls for comment on the potential of e-voting machines in the election. See related stories, "Diebold to extend e-voting in Maryland; delay in contract affects Q2 earnings," "Diebold fires back at 'bias' of e-voting critic."

The appellate panel agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union that the old voting machines are prone to error and that current Gov. Gray Davis' fate could be decided later. By that time, the counties have promised to replace their punch-card machines under a court order in separate litigation, according to the report.

State officials, who conceded in court documents that the punch-card voting mechanisms are "more prone to voter error than are newer voting systems," were likely to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"In sum, in assessing the public interest, the balance falls heavily in favor of postponing the election for a few months," the court said.

The federal appeals court might move the election to the next regularly scheduled primary on March 2, the report said.