Improving the Count; Prof. David Wagner, others pose solutions for better election system

The Boulder Daily Camera ran an article Sunday regarding problems with voting systems in general and in Boulder County specifically. Although Boulder County Commissioners agreed to spend $1.4 million on optical scanning equipment in 2004, in didn't take long for problems that still follow the county's election process showed up. In August 2004, Boulder County lagged hours behind other Colorado counties. Worse, poorly printed ballots delayed election results for 72 hours in November, 2004.

“If the proper maintenance and everything else is being done to (the scanners), this is the voting system we should be using,” said John Gideon, co-director of VotersUnite!, a non-partisan group that has been logging errors on all kinds of voting machines.

Computer scientist David Wagner of the University of California at Berkeley who studies electronic voting machines, agrees.

“Right now, I think optical scan systems are probably the most mature, reliable technology on the market,” he said. “Boulder got the best technology on the market. ... None of the voting systems are perfect, and they all have their limitations.”

See full story in The Boulder Daily Camera.