The Integrity of the Ballot Box

After Florida’s contested presidential election in 2000, Congress mandated a transition to electronic voting.  In 2004, new technology caused confusion and controversy, as hundreds of different counties struggled with new machines and programs. Next month, some experts are saying, the electoral process will be more chaotic than ever. New technology means new opportunities for rigging the outcome, a tradition as old as democracy in America.  Both Democrats and Republicans are braced for battle.  But is partisanship as great a risk to an accurate vote count as incompetence and mismanagement?  (An expanded version of this discussion was originally broadcast earlier today on To the Point.)

Guests:

• Andrew Gumbel: US Correspondent for the Independent of London
• Tom Wilkey: Executive Director of the US Election Assistance Commission
• Tova Wang: Fellow at the Century Foundation
• John Fund: Columnist for the Wall Street Journal

Links:

• ElectionLine on potential for trouble at polls
• Diebold Election Systems
• Mark Crispin Miller's "Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election and Why They'll Steal the Next One Too"
• Purcell and Arizona v Gonzalez, US Supreme Court on
• Wang's report, "Voting in 2006: Have We Solved the Problems of 2004?"