[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           INTRODUCING THE KNOW YOUR VOTE COUNTS ACT OF 2004

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                            HON. STEVE KING

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 21, 2004

  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the Know Your Vote 
Counts Act of 2004, legislation which will amend the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002 to require voting systems to print a paper record for each 
ballot that the voter can verify for accuracy before the ballot is 
cast. This makes a recount possible in the event that a state 
determines one is needed. Without a paper trail, a recount is 
impossible.
  Current law permits precincts to print ballots for the first time 
after the polls have closed. Therefore, voters might never get to see 
their ballots. This creates a risk that the computer record may differ 
from the voter's true intentions, without the voter ever knowing. 
Moreover, computer malfunctions or insider hacking might occur between 
the time of voting and printout, defeating the goal of the paper record 
requirement. The Know Your Vote Counts Act eliminates these 
possibilities by clarifying to states that a ballot must be printed at 
the time of each vote, thus ensuring the achievement of HAVA's goal of 
electoral integrity.
  Electronic voting systems are supposed to increase voter confidence 
in election results. Without this safeguard, they seem to do anything 
but. A prominent fear has developed that these machines will facilitate 
a cyber version of dumping ballot boxes in the river. Software could be 
set to record votes with no regard to how the votes were actually cast. 
It is instructive that the Pentagon scrapped an Internet voting project 
because officials there determined there was no way they could 
guarantee that voting records could be kept secure. This issue should 
be a major concern for all of us.
  The new Election Assistance Commission has plans to disburse $2.3 
billion as early as next month to states for technology upgrades in 
voting equipment. Complying only with the upgrades required under 
current law, however, poses future problems for states. Presently, 
states could purchase machines without the capability of printing 
ballots for the voter to verify for accuracy.
  States have already experienced problems that illustrate the problems 
created by voting machines without an auditable paper record. In 
Indiana, a glitch resulted in 5,352 voters casting 144,000 votes. 
Virginia machines subtracted votes rather than adding them to a 
candidate's total in some cases. In Florida, 10,844 votes were cast; 
candidate won by 12 votes, but there were 137 under-votes. Florida 
state law requires a manual recount of all under-votes in a race with 
this tight a margin, but no paper trail was available and the recount 
was impossible. A recent study of Maryland electronic voting machines 
found that they were all equipped with one of two locks, which keys to 
the other machines could open. Finally, in Georgia, on Super Tuesday, 
ten voting terminals were found sitting in the lobby of a Georgia Tech 
building unattended, in unlocked cases. These machines easily could 
have been altered during this time.
  This legislation protects the integrity of electronic voting systems 
by requiring a voter-verified paper audit record for each ballot. The 
voter can verify the ballot at that time, and the paper record created 
can be used if state determines that recount is needed. To preserve 
ballot secrecy and prevent voter intimidation, this bill prohibits 
voters from copying or removing the record from a polling place. The 
Know Your Vote Counts Act respects principles of federalism and defers 
to state law, allowing states to make their own decisions about when to 
require recounts while preventing computer error or deliberate fraud 
from altering election outcomes.
  This is not a partisan issue. It is an American issue. All Americans 
must know that their votes count. I urge my colleagues to co-sponsor 
the Know Your Vote Counts Act of 2004 in the 108th Congress so that we 
can ensure that the votes cast are the votes counted.

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