Months after Utah County made it through its first election using its 1,074 new electronic voting machines, a fast-tracked bill has hit the U.S. House of Representatives that may shake up the whole e-voting world.

Both state and local officials are practically frothing over proposed new requirements for voting machines.

Utah County commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday opposing HB 811, which would set new standards for the paper records produced by electronic voting machines. It is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., and U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, has signed on as a co-sponsor.

Joe Demma, spokesman for the Utah Lt. Governor's Office, sharply rebuked the bill as the federal government coming in with a new set of "grand ideals" while Utah is still "licking its wounds" from the last elections law overhaul.

Demma said the state is still paying for costs associated with mandates included in the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

"Federal mandates aren't something that we smile upon in this office," he said.

While the federal government paid for the voting machines, the state and counties were left with significant bills for warehousing, installation and training for poll workers.

Utah County Clerk/Auditor Bryan Thompson estimated the cost of using the electronic voting machines in Utah County at about $300,000. Purchasing the machines for the county cost the federal government about $3 million.

Utah already has a paper trail associated with all of its electronic voting machines, but Utah's paper records might not meet the new standards.

The current Diebold voting machines implemented by Utah print records on thermal paper, which, under the proposed law, may not be considered a sufficiently durable record.

Thompson said there are concerns that the printing technology for the proposed new rules isn't in existence, and that even if it were, installation of the required upgrades would likely cost the county another $200,000 to $300,000.

The county's fiscal year 2006 budget comes in at about $71 million.

County Commissioner Larry Ellertson said setting new requirements could lead to wasteful spending. Ellertson said that all those costs -- the $3 million for the county plus the county's installation expenditures -- are taxpayers' dollars.

"Why are we wasting itfi" he asked.

A voting reform activist, however, said there's a lot to like in the legislation.

"I love the bill," said Kathy Dopp, who founded UtahCountVotes.org and the National Election Data Archive and is a staunch critic of the electronic voting machines. "I'm very supportive."

She said she supports using a different kind of paper, saying the paper currently used is "not durable for audits and recounts." The bill would also require audits of election results by someone other than election directors.

"The fact that there would be an independent audit required would be very important," Dopp said. "We have a voting system that is fundamentally not adequate."

Thompson said if the law passes as written, Utah will have one of two choices.

The county's first option would be to switch to optical scan ballots -- similar to the fill-in-the-bubble sheets used for taking tests. Optical scan ballots take significantly longer than electronic or punch card voting systems to count, Thompson said.

The second option, says Thompson, would be to wait for new printer technology that will work with the electronic voting machines.

According to Thompson, the bill would not affect states that use election systems like Utah's until 2010. Other states will have to comply with the new law as soon as 2008.

In a statement made earlier this month, Holt explained the rationale behind the legislation.

"We can't afford to wait any longer to give people confidence that elections are accurate and verifiable," he said. "Without a voter-verified paper ballot and mandatory audits, there is no way to know whether a vote has been counted as cast or whether it just disappears."

According to Matheson's spokeswoman, Alyson Heyrend, the congressman and Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert met and discussed many of the state's concerns over the legislation.

Heyrend said the congressman is aware of the durability issue of the thermal paper record and will speak with the bill's sponsor about improving the bill to better suit Utah's needs.

"Matheson's concern is what hardship it might cause Utah," she said.

The county believes that their paper trail is properly durable. Thompson said the state's thermal paper records are certified to last for two to three years, while current state and federal laws require election records to be kept for only 22 months.

Utah, says Demma, should not be punished for election problems in states such as Ohio and Florida.

Thompson said that after Utah's last election, audit results showed 100 percent accuracy between the electronic voting machines and their paper record.

U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon's spokesman Fred Piccolo said the congressman has not yet taken a look at the legislation.

Piccolo said that Cannon, R-Utah, is eager to speak with officials to learn their points of view on the bill.

Nathan Johnson can be reached at 344-2543 or at njohnson@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.