80th Legislature: Paper Trail Legislation & An Interview With HB 123’s Author Rep. Aaron Pena

As of today, there are two bills pre-filed in the Texas Legislature relating to paper trails for electronic voting machines. There is the one we mentioned the other day, HB 123 by State Rep. Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg) and another by State Rep. David Leibowitz (D-San Antonio), which is HB 65.

The two bills differ somewhat. Pena’s bill, which is similar to one he filed last session, mandates the existance of the paper trail. Leibowitz’s bill goes into more detail.

HB 65, for example, mandates that the electronic vote is the official election record except in cases of a recount, mandates what happens if the voter realizes they have voted incorrectly (invalidation of an incorrect paper copy and review of the electronic ballot), and that the paper trail be able to be read electronically.

HB 65 also mandates that Direct Recording Electronic Voting Machines currently in use may continue to be used without a paper tail so long as voters are given the option of being able to cast a paper ballot. The bill also mandates that, upon request of the secretary of state, the companies that must provide the state with the sourcecode used to operate the machines.

It also includes some “anti-hacking” measures that require that no DRE components may connect to the internet, permit the use of wireless communication transmissions, or be allowed to transmit election results through an exterior communication network.

Today, CapitolAnnex spoke with State Rep. Aaron Pena, who has filed HB 123.

Rep. Pena notes that 28 states already have similar laws concerning electronic voting and paper trails, and that his legislation would require paper trails which are seen by the voter under plexiglass and maintained by the county after voting.

“I filed this bill last session [link], Representative Lois Kolkhorst [link] filed one, and another conservative Republican filed one as well as another Democrat,” Pena said.
Pena also talked a little aout the process supporters of the legislation went through last session.

“We had a working group of elections clerks from around the state, activists who were both Republican and Democratic, and we got together and said ‘let’s hammer this out, it’s a non partisan issue.’ And we did. After it was in Committee, Republicans and Democrats agreed to support the. It made it out of Committee, and I thought it was going to do fine because we worked out the differences between the partisans and the election officers and some vendors. But, it died in Calendars [Committee],” Pena said.
Pena says there is “broad support” for the bill “because Republicans and Democrats were involved in negotiations and discussions last time and we even had Republican [County] Chairs come forward, like the one from my county. It is not a partisan issue. The conflict comes from other areas,” Pena said.

The sad thing, Pena says, is that because the bill died in Calenders last session, a lot of funding that would have helped put it in place has since been used up.
“IT’s sad, because we had $3.9 billion dollars that was sent to the states for the upgrading of the old punch ballot system. That money has been allocated to the counties–for example, my county got $2.6 million,” Pena said.

“But, we presented the bill before the money was allocated and said, ‘if we don’t pass this, the money will be spent and no one has the money to retrofit.’ The money has, for the most part, been spent. Not in every case, though. I told people this was going to happen,” Pena said.

Still, though, Pena says this is an important issue that needs to pass and he’s confident that the Legislature can fund it and not leave it as an unfunded mandate upon counties.

“We could appropriate the money or be creative in raising the money. We’re fairly creative people and can figure this out. There are also other alternatives, like not mandating it statewide,” Pena said.
Pena also noted that the support for such legislation is overwhelming, even at the national level.

“We’ve had the Princeton study, the MIT study, [CNN Anchor] Lou Dobbs has come out in support of this and CNN has done specials on it, and we know there are a lot of people who agree on this, but there are a few other steps,” he said.
New Jersey Congressman Rush Hold filed legislation in Congress today that would require a paper trail nationwide in the wake of the debacle in Florida’s 13th Congressional District.

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