No Vote of Confidence in Election Computers

Re “San Bernardino County Computers Scramble Elections,” Nov. 10: Once again, a computerized voting system has failed to deliver its promised advantages. Especially telling is the fact that the paper record is the only thing standing between us and complete disaster. It is also notable that the error might well have gone unnoticed in slightly different circumstances. Knowledgeable computer scientists have been saying for decades that the headlong rush toward all-electronic voting is foolish in the absence of nonelectronic backup verification methods. We can only be glad that San Bernardino County officials have not yet leaped onto this bandwagon.

How many of us have experienced the unreliability of home computers? Given such failures, how can any sensible person trust an unchecked and unverifiable computer system to resolve George W. Bush versus Al Gore?

Geoffrey H. Kuenning PhD

Asst. Prof., Computer Science

Harvey Mudd College, Claremont

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I hope everyone who believed that computer-controlled voting machines were the solution to the problems of the last election has been following the situation in San Bernardino (“Election Foul-Up Leads to New Slate of Winners,” Nov. 14). In particular, our legislators who are besieged by lobbyists for voting-machine firms should investigate this closely. Just because a computer is involved does not make the process foolproof and does not remove the need for safeguards and auditing checks.

Lee Aydelotte

Huntington Beach