"E-voting paranoia, or the right course?"

The LA Times has published my oped, which begins:

Is California Secretary of State Debra Bowen an out-of-control state official whose unwarranted fear about the security of electronic voting machines caused her to make a rash decision Friday to decertify voting systems in 39 counties and send California's presidential primary into turmoil? Or is she a heroine who has saved California from the specter of "hacked" elections and whose only fault is not going far enough in barring all electronic voting machines?

In truth, Bowen is neither the overzealous bureaucrat that county election officials have painted her as, nor is she the savior of American democracy, as some voting reform advocates have claimed. Instead, she has made a reasonable decision about how to reform the state's system for conducting elections, in light of voters' concerns about the security of electronic voting equipment and given the system of overlapping federal, state and local control of federal elections.

In today's Sacramento Bee, Dan Walters disagrees, believing Bowen's decision is "irrational." See also more news stories here, here, and here.

Posted by Rick Hasen at August 7, 2007 09:26 AM