Calif. Official Seeks Upgrade of Voting Systems

Disturbed by the electoral crisis in Florida, state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg wants to make California a chad-free state.

Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) wrote to Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday asking him to include $300 million in his next state budget to dramatically upgrade California’s voting systems.

More than 70% of California voters use what Hertzberg considers “antiquated” and nearly “obsolete” punch card systems. Hertzberg would like to see them replaced with newer methods, such as touch-screen voting terminals and optical scanning equipment.

The newer equipment, already in experimental use in California, would improve accuracy and reliability and eliminate the “chad problems that have become all too familiar,” Hertzberg said. Chads are the little scraps of paper that are supposed to fall out of punch card ballots but sometimes do not.

“The situation in Florida that has transfixed the nation provides stark and dramatic evidence of the need to invest in the technology of democracy if we are to ensure the accuracy and fairness of our elections,” Hertzberg wrote.

How the governor will receive Hertzberg’s proposal is unclear. Davis spokesman Roger Salazar said Tuesday that Davis had not had time to review it.

Hertzberg believes the coming state budget process provides the best opportunity in years to address a long-running problem.