Grand Jury Casts Vote of Confidence in Orange County Elections
published 01/24/2008
When Orange County voters go to the polls in February, can they trust their electronic voting machines?
The 2007-2008 Orange County Grand Jury studied the issue of voter trust after reading reports of documented problems of voting machine errors or failures, lost votes, mechanical errors, incomplete ballots and the installation of uncertified software into voting systems across the country in recent elections.
The California Secretary of State ordered a top-to-bottom review to test the security of the state’s various electronic voting systems. As a result, all the electronic voting systems, including Orange County’s Hart InterCivic System were decertified on August 3, 2007, and then some of the systems were conditionally recertified, including Hart InterCivic.
"Democracy by definition is about free and fair elections," said Secretary of State Debra Bowen. The core of the Grand Jury’s concern is the privacy, the security and the accuracy of the vote. The 2007-2008 Orange County Grand Jury investigated the County’s Registrar of Voters office to determine if the deficiencies found in its Hart InterCivic voting process were corrected and if these corrections had removed the concerns of the Secretary of State.
The Grand Jury learned that the Hart InterCivic manufacturer and the Orange County Registrar of Voters made the improvements required by the Secretary of State and then submitted the system to a new round of certification tests. The Orange County electronic voting machines have been given a conditional recertification.
Following its investigation, the Grand Jury has confidence in the integrity of the County’s voting system and procedures. The Registrar of Voters, Neal Kelley, is to be commended for implementing the changes mandated by the California Secretary of State and for instituting many other proactive measures. The Grand Jury is confident that the February 2008 votes will be private, secure and accurate.
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