Protect election integrity

Given that millions of Americans continue to distrust the 2020 presidential election results, thanks to the false claims made by a certain former president, this would be an especially apt time to reassure the public that our elections will remain secure and trustworthy.

So as New York mulls whether to allow a substantial change in its voting machines, it really has two tasks: Making sure they are accurate and secure, and if so, ensuring that the public trusts them.

The state Board of Elections is about to be put to both those tests soon. As reported by Sam Mellins of New York Focus for an article published in the Times Union, the board may soon approve voting machines that some experts fear are vulnerable to tampering.

Well, you say, surely the Legislature would step in to prevent such a thing. Right? Not so.

A bill with bipartisan support seeking to ban those machines passed in the state Senate last month, but the legislation died in the Assembly after lobbyists got involved and the electouchscreens tions committee chair, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, D -Brooklyn, refused to let it come to a vote.

The machines in question, including the Expressvote XL, use a different process than the one most voters know. Rather than selecting candidates with a pen on paper before submitting the ballot to counting machines, voters make selections on a touchscreen. The machine then prints ballots pre-filled with the voter’s choices.

Among the concerns is that the printed ballot encodes voters’ choices in barcodes. Although the chosen candidates are also listed, critics note that the voter can’t be sure that the barcode correctly reflects those choices.

Worse, election security experts say the machines are easier to hack, though Expressvote XL’S vendor, Election Systems & Software, says that they are not connected to the internet or Wi-fi, that the USB sticks used in them are well-encrypted, and that the machines are subjected to rigorous security testing. They’re also said to be more expensive per voter and take longer to use, potentially exacerbating lines at polling places.

So what’s the advantage? Well, the do offer ballots in a multitude of languages, but that benefit shouldn’t override security concerns.

The state Board of Elections has indicated it may soon approve the machines, which would allow local elections boards to use them. New York City has already expressed an interest.

This would be controversial at any time, but it’s particularly so when trust in the integrity of elections is dangerously diminished. Perhaps that’s why 41 out of 63 state senators voted for the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D -Brooklyn, and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D -Westchester, that would ban the machines. The Democratic co-chair of the state Elections Board also supports the ban.

With all that concern, it’s vital that the board subject these machines to thorough, independent testing for reliability, integrity, and security. And then to be as transparent with the public as possible about the results of that review. If the Legislature still isn’t satisfied, it should get the Myrie-paulin bill to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk with all due speed.

Election security is vitally important to a functioning democracy. So is voter trust. Neither should be put in jeopardy by machines that could break a system that doesn’t need fixing.