Panel opens college civics week

A panel on voting reform last night marked the first day of a weeklong push to increase students' civic engagement on campus.

Campus Civics Week, initiated by the Secretary of State's office, is designed to promote, encourage and emphasize political participation among college youth, said Tyler Dockins, ASUW's legislative coordinator.

Last night's event, called "Fixing Elections: Who Will Your Voting Machine Vote For?" featured a panel of representatives from voter-conscious organizations discussing the pros and cons of implementing an electronic voting system.

Washington state will switch to an electronic system in 2007.

A major benefit of implementing electronic voting is ensuring privacy for voters with disabilities. The new system will allow disabled voters to vote without a human helper, said Bobby Egan, King County Elections representative.

"It's federally required for every polling place in the country to have an accessible voting unit that will allow visually impaired and disabled voters to cast a truly independent ballot for the first time," Egan said.

Panelist and disabled voter Debbie Cook, of the King County Elections Communication Advisory Committee, said because of this technology she will be able to vote in the fairest election she ever has next fall. She said she has never known before if her vote has been "taken care of."

"One of the things that we all agree on ... is that we do want fair elections, and we do want the opportunity to vote and for that process to work well," Cook said.

Having electronic voting equipment does not mean the public's watch for fairness should go out the window, said voting rights activist Paul Lehto. Even with the system, there is still possibility of fraud, he said.

"It's not machines making decisions, it's human beings hiding behind computer codes making decisions," Lehto said.

In response to skepticism about the integrity of electronic voting systems, lawmakers are considering solutions such as voter-verifying paper trails and machine audits.

Dockins said this week's events should spark some excitement.

"[Civic engagement] is going to start gearing up in the fall," he said. "This is to kick it off and get the ball rolling."

Dockins said the ASUW has no standing opinion on electronic voting, but the Student Senate promotes online voting because it creates more access for student voters.