Secretary of State Debra Bowen won the office, but refused to accept the systems that could hinder voters in her state.

The state invested $450 million into electronic voting systems aimed at modernizing elections, but after an independent review of the new voting technologies to ensure they adequately protected the integrity of the vote, the study found flaws in the system. Secretary of State Bowen took the lead by placing strict limits on the use of direct-recording electronic voting machines, and imposed significant security and auditing requirements on systems to be used in California’s presidential primary election.

Secretary Bowen’s decision to use an independent non-partisan organization to study the effects of the California’s voting system is the right approach to ensure voters representing all party affiliations trust the state’s election process.

[A copy of the detail Top to Bottom Election Process Review report]
[Debra Bowen recieves prestigious John F. Kennedy award]