To solve the problem in future elections, Congress in 2002 passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). HAVA provided approximately $3.9 billion in Federal funding to accomplish two main objectives:

• Replace punch-card voting systems.
• Provide greater accessibility for disabled voters
  and allow them to vote privately and independently.

But is the cure worse than the disease? Despite fifteen years of equipment refinement, reports of malfunctions and spurious vote counts involving computerized voting systems continue to surface. Electronic voting machines have proven to be insecure, unreliable and inaccurate.

Disturbing revelations have been published by computer experts who have inspected the software used in two top-selling electronic voting systems. Similar concerns have been raised about other brands. Elsewhere on this site we'll explore problems with electronic voting systems in greater detail.

In October 2005, the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report that was highly critical of electronic voting machines. This report received widespread bipartisan support among members of Congress, but very little mention in the mainstream press. Here's what Congressman Henry A.Waxman said:

The GAO report indicates that we need to get serious and act quickly to improve the security of electronic voting machines.
The report makes clear that there is a lack of transparency and accountability in electronic voting systems—from the day that contracts are signed with manufacturers to the counting of electronic votes on Election Day. State and local officials are spending a great deal of money on machines without concrete proof that they are secure and reliable. American voters deserve better.

The Illinois Ballot Integrity Project strongly supports Congressman Waxman's comments. Fair, honest and transparent elections are fundamental to our democracy.

We now face some critical questions:

• What problems plague computerized voting systems?
• How pervasive are these problems?
• What's the potential for solving these problems?

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