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WASHINGTON. D.C.--Although the November 2000 presidential election highlighted the need for technological improvements in voter registration and elections, voting technologies such as punch-card machines may have borne an unfair share of the blame for the fiasco.

"Don't assume it's a technology problem only," warns political scholar Norman J. Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. But Ornstein says improving voting technology could make elections more accurate and more accessible--although it would not necessarily increase voter turnout.

Restoring faith in the electoral system is more important right now, says Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburg.

"Public confidence is shot," Thornburg says. "We have to assure accuracy and security in elections."

The challenge and possible solutions are addressed in a report recently released by the General Accounting Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress. It concludes that although "some accounts of the election attributed voter errors solely to the voting equipment used ... Any voting method can produce complete and accurate counts as long as the technology used is properly maintained and effectively integrated with the associated people (voters and election workers) and processes."

Online Ballots?

Internet voting isn't necessarily the answer, especially when the "old technology" of voting machines and ballot-counting hasn't fared well, analysts and pundits observe.

"People say we shouldn't be doing it," says Ed Rodriguez, who helped develop one of the first online voting applications. "There are dangers, but that shouldn't stop all progress in that area. We should assess the risks and move forward. But it's not going to happen overnight."

The GAO report addresses the Net voting proposal as well. It states: "Although Internet voting at designated polling places may be technically feasible in the near term, the demonstrable benefits of this approach are limited to advancing the maturity of this technology and familiarizing voters with it."

Ensuring ballot secrecy and privacy are among the concerns noted about online voting. The GAO also cites the need for security measures to prevent intrusions or accidents, to provide equal access for all voters, and to make the technology easy to use.

People Problems

U.S. Comptroller General David Walker calls the voting problems "a combination of people, process, and technological challenges to be faced."

Finding and training adequate election staff is the number one problem, he says. Normalizing procedures at the polls is number two, and technological problems rank third, he says.

That is a good thing, according to Arkansas Secretary of State Sharon Priest, who says "people and process" problems are the easiest to change.

"It's just not possible to have the massive (technological) changes that peple expect by 2002," Priest says. "Processes can be dealt with at the local level, but technological changes require money," which states are already hard-pressed to find, she says.

Adds Ornstein, "Money is everything." In today's slumping economy, state and local politicians "will use scarce resources for roads, not elections," he says. His suggested priorities include better voter-registration systems, improved communication between polls and registration centers, machines that work, voter education, and adequate hours and staff at polling places. They'll all take "overwhelming federal funds," he notes.

Database Advocated

To prevent election fraud, Thornburg advocates "an interactive voter-registration database from county to county that is managed at the state level." The Kansas official is also president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Ornstein agrees that interactive databases are best, but "that will require getting computers for all polling places."

"States can't afford that," he says, reiterating the need for federal funds.

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