CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Could a hacker with enough motivation sabotage an election?

Researchers say it's possible with electronic voting machines. Nearly a decade after the Mountain State got its first touch-screen voting machines, some West Virginians are still trying to phase them out.

But many county clerks say the state's strict election laws mean they can trust the technology, which 35 West Virginia counties use.

Earlier this month during interim legislative meetings, state lawmakers heard from a University of Pennsylvania researcher who believes the machines can be easily hacked. They also heard from a representative of Omaha-based ES&S, the maker of all 5,000 machines in West Virginia.

The researcher, Micah Sherr, says the ES&S machines West Virginia uses -- called iVotronic -- have "serious security vulnerabilities" that could let poll workers or other election officials take control of the equipment.

Sherr was part of a team that reviewed ES&S machines in separate studies in California and Ohio. Researchers carried out attacks that let them change votes, disable machines and spread viruses from one piece of equipment to others.

Many of the tactics focus on manipulating a cartridge called a Personal Electronic Ballot that is inserted into the voting machine. Some strategies also use magnets and PDAs to tamper with equipment.

It takes a lot of computer know-how to devise an attack, Sherr said. Someone with an undergraduate degree could figure out how to disable one machine. To throw off an election, a hacker would need more expertise.

Could it happen outside a lab setting?

"The question comes down to motivation," Sherr said.

An ES&S spokeswoman did not return a request for comment.

Gary Zuckett, executive director of West Virginia Citizen Action Group, called the research alarming. His group wants to phase out electronic voting machines.

"Our main concern with this type of equipment is the security issue," he said.

He also pointed to computer glitches.

"When [people] turn up to vote, they should be able to vote," he said. "And they shouldn't be turned away because a computer screen is down."

In this year's legislative session, House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo, introduced a measure to prohibit the machines, but the proposal didn't get anywhere.

West Virginia got national attention last fall when some voters said the machines were flipping their votes from Democratic to Republican candidates.

And Taylor County's Democratic Executive Committee chairwoman went to county commissioners after machine problems were reported there.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper has been critical of the technology. The county uses the optical scan system, where voters mark paper ballots that are then read by a machine.

But many county clerks like the iVotronic system, said Patti Hamilton, executive director of the West Virginia Association of Counties.

"Even those that were skeptical were pleased" after trying it, she said.

Cabell County Clerk Karen Cole, whose county in 2000 was the first to use touch-screen voting, said she couldn't imagine the researchers' scenarios happening in West Virginia.

"You would have to have a conspiracy from the manufacturer down to every poll worker in a precinct," she said. "West Virginia has probably the strictest election laws in the country, and that is a huge factor in whether these machines can be manipulated."

For instance, all equipment must be protected with security seals, which poll workers must verify weren't broken before Election Day setup starts. Voters never handle the PEBs, and poll workers can't touch them until Election Day. Machines undergo rigorous testing.

Cole likes the machines because there's no chance for "over-voting" -- when someone votes twice in a race or marks outside the lines on a paper ballot.

Monongalia County Clerk Carye Blaney had similar thoughts.

"I have confidence in the machines that West Virginia uses, in conjunction with the laws," she said.

Both clerks say they've gotten some complaints about machines where the computer thinks the voter touched a screen area they didn't. That's a problem with calibration, which they say can be fixed.

West Virginia requires all electronic voting machines to leave a paper trail. The machines print a receipt-like sheet after a voter casts a ballot. That paper is the official ballot used in canvassing.

A few years ago, Delegate Mike Caputo co-sponsored legislation to require the paper trail. He used to be skeptical of the machines, but the requirement satisfied him.

He's not convinced someone in a real-world setting could pull off the computer attacks Sherr described.

"My county spent well over a million dollars to purchase these machines," the Marion County Democrat said. "And I'm not ready to go tell them to throw them in the Dumpster on a bunch of what-ifs."

Counties have invested $15 million in the machines, Hamilton said. Some are still paying off their loans.

Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said she isn't keen on getting rid of the machines. She had questioned them and met with researchers and ES&S officials in March.

The issue comes down to voter confidence, she said. Instead of banning the machines, she would rather beef up training for poll workers. She'd also like the font on the screens to be bigger.

All systems can be manipulated in theory, but West Virginia's stringent laws make that hard, Tennant said.

"No system is foolproof," she said. "We should keep questioning all of our systems."

Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.