Residents debate county electronic voting system

EVERETT – Residents and lawmakers on Monday debated the security of electronic voting systems, including touch screens in Snohomish County, and discussed possible solutions to problems cited by experts.

Organizer Martin Daniels said that he, county Auditor Bob Terwilliger and officials from Washington’s Secretary of State’s Office focused on the workings of the touch-screen machines, the value of printed paper receipts for each ballot cast, and the need for public control of the source code of the software that powers the devices.

Daniels said Tuesday that he hopes source code control can be included in rules for electronic voting machines that Secretary of State Sam Reed is drawing up. Such a change could be in place by the fall elections. Requiring paper receipts, however, would be costly and probably wouldn’t be completed by fall, he said.

An estimated 70 people attended the meeting in the Snohomish County PUD auditorium. For more information, go to www.openthecode.com, a Web site run by Daniels.

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