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Touchscreen Voting is Hit in Alameda County

By Elizabeth Pollock

Photo by Alex Leviton

An Alameda County voter tries out the new touchscreen ballot.

Although she's been voting for decades, this time Judith Beckman was nervous.

"I'm a computer idiot. I don't know if I can do this," she said to the volunteer at the Alameda County Superior Courthouse polling place in Oakland.

Beckman, 73, a retired social worker, was about to try out one of the county's new touchscreen voting machines, five days before the Nov. 7 election rush.

A clerk had given her an ATM-like card coded with her personalized information. She inserted the card into a slot in a touchscreen machine--also quite reminiscent of an ATM--and selected the English rather than Spanish or Chinese version. The screen glowed with the first page of a ballot customized for her precinct.

She navigated from screen to screen, scanning the large, legible text describing each race and ballot measure. When she touched the boxes on the screen next to her choice, a red X appeared.

Minutes later, she touched a final button to submit her results. The card, now coded with her votes, popped back out of the machine, and she handed it in to the volunteer.

"That was fine! It was really easy," Beckman said.

"It was also easy to see, which is good since we're getting old," she said.

Beckman was one of thousands of Alameda County voters who turned out early to vote by touchscreen.

Touchscreen voting was available Oct. 10 to Nov. 3 at city clerk offices in the cities of Alameda, Berkeley, Fremont and Livermore. In the voter registrar's office in Oakland, it's offered right up until 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.

Registered voters could use any of the early-voting sites regardless of where they live, since the county's 134 different ballot variations are programmed into each machine.

On the touchscreen machines, people can vote in different languages, correct their mistakes, and go back and review their choices. The machines also avoid the problem of misplaced or torn ballots and make it impossible to accidentally vote for both sides of an issue or race, thus nullifying the vote.

"The multiple language capability is fabulous," said Alameda County Registrar of Voters Bradley Clark. "Environmentally it's much more sound-we use literally tons of paper in an election. … Also I think it will help turnout by spreading out the voting time."

One machine is designed for blind voters, with a headset and raised numeric keypad, so they can listen to recordings of the contests and measures and vote without assistance.

"We had one blind voter, and he was so excited. He said, 'This is the first time I've ever voted where I knew for sure that I voted the way I wanted,'" said Clark.

Clark was a driving force in researching and instituting touchscreen machines and bringing them to the attention of Secretary of State Bill Jones, who certified the machines for use in California last year.

Jones said he believes the machines will help achieve his goal of 100 percent voter participation and 0 percent fraud.

"We're always looking for ways to make voting more accessible," he said. "The main issue is, are they voter-friendly?"

Jones came to Oakland Nov. 2 to see for himself how the machines were being received. Clark demonstrated the procedure for him on a test machine, as local TV station cameramen crowded near.

"Ten years ago this wouldn't have worked, but voters have become pretty accustomed to ATM machines," Jones said, as he surveyed the bustling polling place with voters at all six machines.

Touchscreen machines were introduced on a limited test basis in some counties last year during local elections. This year, machines were in place in Alameda, Riverside, Monterey, San Mateo, Los Angeles, and Marin counties. Los Angeles offered voting in seven languages. Riverside went completely electronic, replacing traditional paper ballots with 4,000 new touchscreen machines.

In Alameda County, Clark also hopes to do away with paper ballots and institute countywide touchscreen voting within the next two years, placing machines in shopping malls, libraries and senior centers.

"We've never been able to offer voting before outside the main voting offices," he said. "If we used this at all the polling places, we'd have [final] returns in time for the 10 o'clock news."

Most resistance has come from seniors, said Elections Clerk Lachelle Moore.

"A handful of them are skeptical," she said. "They don't really trust computers and they want to make sure their vote won't be lost in cyberspace."

Skeptics also worry about electrical failure and security. But Clark said reserve batteries will kick in if the power goes out, and, unlike Internet voting, the touchscreen machines provide a "closed system" that is safe from viruses and impossible to hack into.

The main drawback is the cost, he said. The machines, made by Global Elections Systems, Inc., cost $3,300 each. Introducing them countywide would cost about $13 million, he estimated.

"It's a long-term investment, though," he said. "There's always a big capital outlay of funds to change a voting system, and ours has been in place since the 1960s."

Voters so far seem enthusiastic.

"I loved it," said Yvonne Walker, 36, an account manager from Oakland. "It beats getting off work and having to run to the polls at 5 p.m.

"And it's way better than the punching. You don't have to worry about missing a punch. It's just too bad it's only at the polling places," Walker said.

Said Jones, "Probably at some point the young people will see an opportunity to sit at home and vote. I think touchscreens or the Internet will probably be the future."