Talking Points / Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Virginia law prohibit buying new paperless electronic voting machines (DREs)?

Voters cannot verify that their vote is correctly and permanently recorded as it was cast when using a DRE. Because there is no paper trail, it is impossible to have recounts or audits to verify the accuracy of the election. Thus, there is absolutely no way to detect programming errors or tampering.
DREs are computers. Just like any computer, they are subject to programming errors and attacks. The vast majority of computer scientists and engineers strongly believe that a voter-verified paper trail is necessary.

Have electronic voting machines failed in Virginia?

Yes.
As recently as March 2009, an AVS WinVote DRE in Fairview Precinct, Fairfax County, reported 724 total votes on election night even though only 359 people voted on the machine. Since the error was so large as to be obvious from the voter counts, election officials examined the machine during the canvass and recovered a second count that appeared reasonable. If the discrepancy had been less obvious, the election night results would have been certified without question. That error remains unexplained to this day, yet much of Virginia continues to vote using that same model of DRE. In 2003, the Fairfax County Republican Committee alleged that some of these same machines failed to count votes for one of their candidates in a School Board election.
Any machine created and administered by humans can have errors. The strength of optical scan tabulators is that it is possible to check the paper ballots that were filled out and verified by the voter as a protection against errors or tampering.

How did the DRE ban come into law?

For several years, citizens from all over Virginia petitioned the General Assembly to ban DREs and require verifiable voting machines in Virginia. The ban on new DRE purchases was enacted in 2007 after many hearings and a two year bipartisan study commission chaired by Del. Tim Hugo. The DRE ban had bipartisan support, and in 2008 and 2009 the Senate and the House P&E committees both voted yet again to continue state policy banning new DRE purchases.

What legislation is before the General Assembly in 2010 related to the DRE ban?

SB 593 would allow localities to acquire DREs from other Virginia localities for the expressed purposes of meeting accessible voting requirements. It would not allow any new DREs to enter operations in Virginia, but existing DREs could be transferred between localities for that purpose. Because it does not increase the number of DREs in use in Virginia, VVCVA does not oppose SB 593.
HB 1225 is similar to SB 593, but it would allow localities to purchase new DREs. VVCVA opposes HB 1225 as introduced because purchasing new DREs will postpone the transition to verifiable voting technology. We recommend conforming HB 1225 to SB 593.
SB 732 would repeal the DRE ban completely. VVCVA strongly opposes SB 732.
In addition, budget amendments propose to suspend the DRE ban. VVCVA strongly opposes those amendments. VVCVA urges the General Assembly to consider changes to the DRE ban only in open hearings before the Privileges and Elections Committees with public testimony.

How have localities responded to the DRE ban?

Some localities, including Fairfax County and Williamsburg, purchased optical scan tabulators for their entire jurisdictions. Other localities like Charlottesville and Suffolk phased in optical scan tabulators gradually. Several localities already use optical scan voting including Loudoun, Hanover, Chesterfield and Rockingham Counties. Other localities continue to use DREs purchased before 2007.

What have other states done?

31 states have moved to eliminate DREs by law or policy. The voting machine has followed this trend by focusing resources on optical scan voting systems. If Virginia drops the DRE ban, it will be the first and only state in the nation to reverse course and move backwards to unverifiable voting.

Don’t we need DREs to assist blind and disabled voters?

State and federal law requires each polling location to provide a machine for disabled voters to vote privately. In Virginia, localities currently meet this requirement in two ways. Some localities use a ballot marking device (trade named AutoMark) which helps a voter in mark and verify a paper ballot that can be counted by an optical scan tabulator. Other localities use DREs from among their extensive existing inventory. VVCVA strongly supports the current laws that provide private and independent voting for disabled voters. Machines like the AutoMark are the best way to meet these requirements.

We process financial transactions by computer. Why shouldn’t we vote by computer?

Because of the secrecy of the ballot. The security safeguards that are used in most electronic system cannot be used in an election without sacrificing the secrecy of the ballot. Financial systems have receipts, account statements, reconciliations, and privileged users who can see your transactions and make corrections to them. None of these protections are possible with electronic voting.

Does the DRE ban increase costs for localities?

The ban does not require localities to spend money on new voting machines. It only requires that, when they do need new machines, they purchase optical scan tabulators instead of DREs. Thus localities can choose to phase in new technology incrementally as needed.
Phasing in optical scan voting is less expensive than purchasing new DREs. As an example, Suffolk purchased a single optical scan tabulator in 2008 for one large precinct, and redirected its existing DREs to other precincts. That cost was much less than the other choice of buying multiple DREs. Most studies have found that optical scan voting is less expensive than DREs because localities need fewer machines.

Are DREs still available?

The majority of DREs in Virginia were produced by Advanced Voting Systems (AVS). AVS is no longer in business. The remaining three major vendors in Virginia make both DREs and optical scan tabulators.

Why are optical scan tabulators (such as used in SAT tests) the best voting method?

Optical scan voting is simple, reliable and cost-effective. Sometimes referred to as a "Scantron" type ballot, the voter fills in an oval with a pen to select candidates. Most importantly, the paper ballots can be recounted and audited to check the reliability of the electronic machines. Optical scan voting can reduce lines by allowing many voters to mark ballots simultaneously. Unlike DREs, if the scanner or power fails during an election, voters can continue to mark ballots that can be counted later. In the vast majority of cases, optical scan voting saves money. A single tabulator can serve even a very large precinct replacing many similarly priced DREs. Almost every Virginia locality already uses optical scan tabulators for absentee voting.