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Election officials in Utah are taking a cautious approach to implementing electronic voting throughout the state, and KSL thinks that’s wise. Far too many questions persist about reliability and security for Utah to jump prematurely on the e-voting bandwagon.
Across the nation some 21 percent of voters are expected to cast ballots electronically in November. Many states have already spent millions of dollars to acquire the needed equipment. Uncle Sam, after all, in the wake of Florida’s debacle during the 2000 election is helping fund the transition from punch card voting. Utah, in fact, is eligible for more than $20 million under the Help America Vote Act of 2002. According to the legislation, states have until 2006 to implement the change.
In KSL’s view, it makes sense to wait until after this year’s election to see what problems might arise in areas already committed to using electronic voting. Let others test the systems and work out the kinks.
At the same time, Utah shouldn’t wait too long beyond November to decide what system to use. Indeed, caution should not turn into careless procrastination. Local election officials are going to need plenty of time to become properly and thoroughly trained on the new equipment in order to avoid potential glitches.
