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DREs: Get the Facts - Problems Get the Facts on Electronic Voting Machines Update 07/16 PROBLEMS WITH DIRECT ELECTRONIC RECORDING DEVICES (DREs) COSTS  The most expensive way to vote More Equipment Per Precinct There needs to be a minimum of five DRE's at each precinct at a cost of at least $2,700 per machine or a minimum of $13,500 per precinct. One machine is not even used for voting since it is used to program the voting cards inserted into the other machines. Few Votes Per Voting Computer Secure Accurate Elections examined the individual DRE printouts from 40 San Diego County precincts in the November 2006 election. It was discovered that each DRE had an average of 50 to 60 votes per machine and some machines had less than 10 votes. If the DRE cost $2,700 with 50 votes recorded, than the cost per vote is $54. Massive Replacement Costs There are massive costs for replacing DREs when they are no longer functional, age, and the technology they employ is no longer maintainable or supported by the vender. Labor costs More highly paid technical support is necessary to trouble shoot and maintain equipment. More support staff is needed to train and manage poll workers who need more technical training than in past years. Additional poll workers are needed to manage voting computers on election day. According to Voters Unite, San Diego County doubled the number of poll workers when it switched to DREs. Support Equipment Batteries in DREs need constant recharging and replacement. Logic and Accuracy Testing The cost of the time for trained staff to do the required Logic and Accuracy testing is prohibitive. San Diego County currently has over 10,200 DREs to test prior to each election. Evidence indicates that only 6 of the 10,200 machines were properly tested before the November 2006 election. Proprietary Software Currently San Diego County taxpayers pays hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to Diebold for software that belongs to Diebold and is not available for inspection by professional computer experts.   SECURITY PROBLEMS Forever caught between the lock maker and the lock picker. For whenever more secure locks are developed, the lock picker will find a way around the lock's improved security.   Too many DREs to properly test for Logic and Accuracy. One memory card to rule them all. There are over 10,000 DREs in operation on election day. One memory card in one machine can be programmed so that when it is fed into the Central Tabulator votes can be shaved one way or another without any trace of a problem. Poor machine design With the window used for voters to check the accuracy of their votes placed at the bottom of the machine, it is more difficult for voters to check the accuracy of their vote. Many studies have shown vulnerability of DREs.   OBSERVED PROBLEMS NOVEMBER 2006   Tape Problems Tapes jammed causing tapes to be unreadable to the voter and when printed out. Machines ran out of tape and had to be taken out of operation. Slow way to vote 1. Machines were taken out of operation causing voting to slow down. 2. Some people had difficulty figuring out how to vote or getting from one screen to another or entered a vote incorrectly and needed assistance. 3. Persons voting on paper were observed to complete marking their ballots much faster than those voting on D