From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Will next month's elections be free and fair?

Hello again, I'm Armin Aalny, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

After Florida's contested presidential election in 2000, Congress mandated a transition to electronic voting.

In 2004, new technology caused confusion and controversy as hundreds of different counties struggled with new machines and programs.

Next month, some experts are saying the electoral process will be more

chaotic than ever. On to the point, new technology means new opportunities for rigging the outcome,

a tradition as old as democracy in America. Both Democrats and Republicans are braced for battle,

but is partisanship as great a risk to an accurate vote count as incompetence

and mismanagement? First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine

T. MacArthur Foundation. Hello, again. I'm only back with To the Point. Electronic voting is the

latest device to make sure that elections are free and fair, but new technology means new

opportunities for rigging the outcome. On To the Point, is partisanship a worse threat than

incompetence and mismanagement? Are ID cards needed to prevent voter fraud?

First, this news update, four firefighters are dead and other fights for his life in Southern California.

Officials say the so-called Esperanza fire was deliberately set.

Those deaths make arson a case of murder. They're offering $100,000 reward.

Meantime, high winds are pushing the fire into mountain communities west of Palm Springs.

Scott Gold is covering the story for the Los Angeles Times. And Scott, thanks very much for joining us.

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