It must be tough, posturing politically from the California Secretary of State's office. But late last Friday night, Debra Bowen - our current Secretary - managed to wiggle her way into the political spotlight when she pulled the plug on several models of electronic voting machines used here in California.

To review, Bowen built her campaign last fall on a foundation of fear, preying on those who still for some reason think the 2000 presidential election was conspiratorially rigged and that electronic voting machines are eroding the pillars of the California Republic. Bowen won the election and just minutes before midnight last Friday, she delivered on her promise, ordering the decertification of four types of machines. Her supporters suggest that this decertification is needed because it will restore voter confidence in the election process or that it will prevent "a sneaky Bush administration" from manipulating future elections. Please: it sounds good, but that's just scare-us-silly rhetoric.

Instead, Bowen's entire auditing process is what needs examination: it was flawed from the beginning, with leading experts left out of the process and with no significant errors or problems reported in previous elections. Elections registrars from around the state are united in their opposition to Bowen's decision. Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin summed up clearly her vehement opposition to Bowen when she recently testified, "There is no election system you cannot tamper with, especially when you are given time and complete access"… and Secretary Bowen's auditors were provided plenty of each.

Make no mistake, it is important to scrutinize, analyze, and inspect voting machines and voting systems. But Bowen's decision is "California kabuki:" grand political theatre, expensive staging, with a foregone conclusion. Confidence in the elections system is misplaced if it rests only with voting machines or voting systems. Our faith must rest with the people who supervise elections to make sure the votes are counted accurately. Debra Bowen's decertification is a solution in search of a problem.