The apparent security breach comes just two weeks before nationwide elections that will include an array of new voting technologies.

According to news reports, three disks containing software code were sent to a former Maryland lawmaker. Maryland and Diebold officials told the Associated Press that the software in question is outdated and will not be used in the upcoming election in that state, although it might be used in other states.

Voters in Maryland use a touch-screen voting system by Diebold that lets them make and review selections before casting a ballot. For absentee voting and provisional voting, voters use a paper-based system.

The state contends that the transition to electronic voting from paper-based systems has improved the accuracy of the vote count and reduced the number of voter errors.

E-Voting Pros and Cons

But the challenges and benefits of e-voting have come under scrutiny almost since its inception. The arguments and counterarguments mostly center on security: Can the machines be hacked and do they accurately record the voter's intent?

Opponents point to the glitches in other forms of self-service technologies as worrisome indicators that electronic voting will cause similar problems on election day. Proponents argue that such technology works just fine, and that mistakes happen because of the people and processes surrounding its use.

Regardless of the relative seriousness of this release of voting-machine software, the incident has an adverse effect on the perception among public officials, voters, and voting-equipment manufacturers, said Paul Stamp, a security analyst at Forrester Research.

"Electronic voting is the wave of the future, but there remains the question of people putting their trust in unfamiliar equipment," he said. "Without a paper ballot process you are at the mercy of machines that will hopefully work properly."

Stamp noted that, while the merits of e-voting have been fiercely debated, traditional methods of casting ballots are far from perfect. He cited the "hanging chad" problems of 2000 as but one example. "But at least with paper ballots, there is a physical record to consult," he said.

Perception Is Key

Following the 2000 election, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit privacy-advocacy group, pointed to glitches that made it difficult to change votes if people made mistakes. Some electronic machines were not calibrated properly, the EFF said, which made it easy to vote for the wrong person.

And there were indications that the electronic voting process takes longer than officials expected, which could result in long lines on election day.

Unauthorized distribution of software underscores the potential for security problems associated with the use of electronic voting systems, said Stamp.

"Perception among voters is key, because we know the lengths to which people might go to rig an election, for example, with a fully-automated process," he noted.