SAN DIEGO -- California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson held a news conference Tuesday in San Diego to say that he had complete confidence in electronic voting machines - but added that he was ordering random checks of machines and dispatching extra observers around the state on Election Day to guarantee the machines perform accurately.
"I'm here in San Diego to assure the voters of this county and the entire state that the voting machines of California are secure and reliable," McPherson told a gathering of reporters and TV cameras.
McPherson, who is running for a second term as secretary of state, held news conferences in San Diego with county Registrar Mikel Haas and in Los Angeles on Tuesday. McPherson, a Republican from Santa Cruz is running against a field of five other candidates, including state Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach.
Voters in San Diego County are preparing to use electronic "touch screen" voting machines en masse on Nov. 7 for the first time since March 2004. The 2004 debut, before McPherson was appointed, was marred by electronic "glitches" that caused 36 percent of the county's polling places to open late and prevented an unknown number of voters from casting ballots.
McPherson and Haas said that electronic voting machines used since 2004 include a big improvement: a locked, secure, cash register-type paper tape that tangibly, rather than just electronically, records votes.
However, the issue of electronic voting continues to be a lightning rod in San Diego County and across the country for critics. They argue that computerized voting machines can be rigged or otherwise tampered with and are a threat to democracy.
Electronic voting events that have made the news recently include:
Haas and McPherson did not address the lawsuit Tuesday, other than to continue to say the county would place "adequate" amounts of paper ballots at the polls as backup.
Meanwhile, Haas and McPherson said the electronic voting machines were accurate and safe "if they're used in a proper way."
McPherson said he has worked to ensure that they are used properly by instituting strict rules about how the machines are stored, used, and secured - including internal safeguards such as encryption codes and pass codes; and external measures such as tamper-proof seals that tell poll workers if the seals have been broken.
"I understand people's concerns," McPherson said. "That's why I established the strictest standards in the nation."
However, McPherson said that he had decided to put two new security measures into effect on Election Day: random machine checks and increased numbers of observers at polling places around the state.
McPherson said that under the random check program, electronic machines would be pulled from service on Election Day in eight randomly selected counties, fed premarked ballots, and checked to make sure that the machines were accurately registering the votes.
Critics have charged that malfunctioning voting machines have "flipped" votes.
McPherson also said that he would dispatch 33 observers to polling places in 31 counties - including San Diego County - be sure that all required voting procedures are properly carried out on Nov. 7.
Haas, meanwhile, said critics were making too much out of the long-standing tradition of sending voting machines home with precinct captains before the election, to make sure they arrive at polling places on time.
Haas said that if machines are tampered with, other polling officers would report it.
"We know who we gave those devices to," Haas said. "We know who they are. We know who they live. I don't think our poll workers are out to sabotage an election. ... They're out there trying to make this stuff work.
"It is a federal crime to tamper with election equipment, or to try to interfere in any way with the conduct of an election," he said. "This is serious business. This isn't some game that someone may say, 'Wow, let's try this because we'll be able to hack it.' "
McPherson said he believed Tuesday's election would be successful, fair and accurate, saying the state's electronic machines had been rigorously tested, approved, and because election officials were watching.
"I can tell you that we have had two elections in California (with the machines)," McPherson said. "And we have not had one voter disenfranchised, or one machine manipulated. So, I think the votes have been counted accurately. We're going to keep our eye on the ball."
-- Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.