S.B. County to Defy Vote System Ban

San Bernardino County officials on Tuesday announced they would defy the state election chief’s order decertifying electronic voting machines and would use their system as planned in the November election.

The move comes as other counties joined a lawsuit Riverside County filed against Secretary of State Kevin Shelley that challenges the ban on touch-screen voting machines, arguing that the decision adversely affects disabled voters.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger said Shelley’s earlier policies encouraged the county to buy electronic voting machines, and he saw no reason not to use them in the presidential election.

“If you really disagree with us, you tell us to stop,” he said, challenging Shelley. “But have the court tell us that, because we were acting on your prior authorization.”

Last month, Shelley decertified all electronic voting machines in the state.

Doug Stone, a spokesman for Shelley, said the secretary of state intended to work with San Bernardino County officials to help them meet his directives.

Under state law, all election equipment must be approved by the secretary of state, he said.

“The California Elections Code clearly states that the secretary is authorized to ensure that the machines operate reliably, accurately and securely. When they don’t, he has the authority to withdraw their certification,” Stone said. “The secretary is doing what he believes is best for all of the voters in California.”

Shelley’s order came after several problems arose at polling stations in the March 2 election. In Orange County, about 2,000 voters were given the wrong computer access codes to enter into machines, causing them to vote in races they shouldn’t have, and preventing them from voting in ones they should have.

In San Diego County, an equipment malfunction prevented more than half the polling places from opening on time.

And in San Bernardino County, there was a three-hour delay in tallying votes because county officials improperly entered voting data into their main computer.

Ten of the 14 California counties that use electronic voting, including Riverside and San Bernardino counties, could reapply for certification if they meet 23 security conditions, which county officials have said would be costly and time-consuming.

The remaining four counties -- San Diego, San Joaquin, Solano and Kern -- are banned from using their Diebold touch-screen systems in November.

Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, a nonpartisan election systems oversight group, said she was disappointed by the resistance to Shelley’s orders.

“If [the counties] use systems that are not certified, then they run the risk of their results not being certified,” Alexander said.

“The secretary of state is the elected, statewide chief elections officer for the voters of California. He has the authority to certify and decertify systems as he sees fit. To challenge that authority is to undermine people’s confidence in the voting process.”

But San Bernardino County officials said Shelley’s order undermines public trust in the machines.

“The voters of San Bernardino County have expressed an overwhelmingly high degree of confidence in the County’s electronic voting system,” the Board of Supervisors said in written statement.

“Discontinuing or limiting the use of this system, or imposing unnecessary constraints on the system, will accomplish nothing other than needlessly shaking the public’s confidence.”

Hansberger said the county was willing to work with Shelley, but said he didn’t believe there was anything to fix.

“We’re all a little puzzled by the secretary of state’s actions, because they seem to be precipitous and inconsistent,” he said.

“There isn’t clarity about the deficiency he’s trying to resolve.”

Also on Tuesday, supervisors in Kern and Plumas counties voted to join Riverside County’s lawsuit against Shelley.

The suit, filed in federal court last week, argues that Shelley’s order violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, state election codes and other laws.

The ban on electronic voting strips disabled people of their ability to vote independently, the lawsuit alleges.

“It’s the right thing to do. Our system was used very effectively in the March election,” said Ann K. Barnett, Kern County’s auditor, controller and county clerk.

“By decertifying the system, we are disenfranchising those who we just brought on board to be able to vote independently.”

Kathy Williams, registrar in Plumas County, said her county took action in part because it would be hard-pressed to meet Shelley’s directive.

Williams also said she had confidence in the Diebold electronic voting machines the county has been using since 2002.

“We can’t be put in a position where we have to buy a new voting system. We don’t have funds to come up with a whole new system,” she said.

Shasta and Napa counties are still considering whether to join the lawsuit, and San Bernardino County officials reserved their right to join later. A federal judge in Los Angeles will decide June 3 whether to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Shelley.