Progressive Democrat Issue 55: NYC FOCUS
From Democracy for NYC website:
Voting Machines - NY Action Item!
Draft voting machine regulations reflecting changes in State law to comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), were recently posted on the Board of Election's web site. These regulations will dictate the certification of voting systems for purchase in New York state. The Board will hold three public hearings on this issue including one in NYC on December 20. Please attend and demand that PB/OS machines be submitted for certification.
The Latest on Voting Machine Certification in New York
"PB/OS" (paper ballots with precinct-based optical scanners) is the safest, most reliable and most cost-effective choice for a voting system in NY State. And yet, the state Board of Elections has recently taken two outrageous steps against this system.
(1) Allowing the vendors NOT to submit optical scanners, effectively taking away the PB/OS option
First, representatives of the Board recently claimed they cannot force the voting machines vendors to provide the PB/OS option to the counties of NY (by having vendors submit optical scanners for certification.) This is an outrageous position, given that so many citizens, civic groups, and newspapers all over NY State are calling for the PB/OS system, rather than the expensive, insecure, error prone DREs that the vendors would prefer to sell us.
In a huge state such as New York, it is absurd for the Board of Elections to claim that they have no power to require vendors to submit optical scanning machines. New York is simply far too large of a market for the vendors to ignore. Voting machine vendors will provide anything that New York State requires of them. (As explained by New Yorkers for Verified Voting, NYVV.org)
(2) Jumpstarting certification testing on an incomplete DRE machine (no paper ballot)
Secondly, the Board of Elections has also made the outrageous decision to begin preliminary certification testing of the Liberty DRE computerized voting machine. Testing voting machines for certification was not to begin until after the issuing of draft regulations and a comment period. And most importantly, the Liberty DRE machine still has no voter verified paper ballot or full accessibility features as required by law. Doing certification testing on this machine is completely pointless. Testing an incomplete system is dangerous and bodes poorly for the need for a robust, thorough and transparent set of machine certification tests. (Also from NYVV.org)
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Mail or fax a letter to the State Board of Elections demanding that they (1) require vendors to submit NYS full face ballot compatible optical scanners for certification and (2) stop planned testing of the incomplete and illegal Liberty DRE machine. Remind the Board that they work for us, not the voting machine vendors.
Don't let the voting machine vendors decide what machines we vote on. Please write the State Board of Elections today.
By mail: NYS Board of Elections, 40 Steuben Street, Albany, NY 12207-2108
By fax: 518-486-4068
By e-mail: ldaghlian -at- elections.state.ny.us (replace -at- with @)
Please address your letter to:
Peter Kosinski, Co-Executive Director
Stanley Zalen, Co-Executive Director
Neil W. Kelleher, Chair
Evelyn J. Aquila, Commissioner
Helena Moses Donohue, Commissioner
Voting Machines - NY Action Item!
Draft voting machine regulations reflecting changes in State law to comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), were recently posted on the Board of Election's web site. These regulations will dictate the certification of voting systems for purchase in New York state. The Board will hold three public hearings on this issue including one in NYC on December 20. Please attend and demand that PB/OS machines be submitted for certification.
The Latest on Voting Machine Certification in New York
"PB/OS" (paper ballots with precinct-based optical scanners) is the safest, most reliable and most cost-effective choice for a voting system in NY State. And yet, the state Board of Elections has recently taken two outrageous steps against this system.
(1) Allowing the vendors NOT to submit optical scanners, effectively taking away the PB/OS option
First, representatives of the Board recently claimed they cannot force the voting machines vendors to provide the PB/OS option to the counties of NY (by having vendors submit optical scanners for certification.) This is an outrageous position, given that so many citizens, civic groups, and newspapers all over NY State are calling for the PB/OS system, rather than the expensive, insecure, error prone DREs that the vendors would prefer to sell us.
In a huge state such as New York, it is absurd for the Board of Elections to claim that they have no power to require vendors to submit optical scanning machines. New York is simply far too large of a market for the vendors to ignore. Voting machine vendors will provide anything that New York State requires of them. (As explained by New Yorkers for Verified Voting, NYVV.org)
(2) Jumpstarting certification testing on an incomplete DRE machine (no paper ballot)
Secondly, the Board of Elections has also made the outrageous decision to begin preliminary certification testing of the Liberty DRE computerized voting machine. Testing voting machines for certification was not to begin until after the issuing of draft regulations and a comment period. And most importantly, the Liberty DRE machine still has no voter verified paper ballot or full accessibility features as required by law. Doing certification testing on this machine is completely pointless. Testing an incomplete system is dangerous and bodes poorly for the need for a robust, thorough and transparent set of machine certification tests. (Also from NYVV.org)
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Mail or fax a letter to the State Board of Elections demanding that they (1) require vendors to submit NYS full face ballot compatible optical scanners for certification and (2) stop planned testing of the incomplete and illegal Liberty DRE machine. Remind the Board that they work for us, not the voting machine vendors.
Don't let the voting machine vendors decide what machines we vote on. Please write the State Board of Elections today.
By mail: NYS Board of Elections, 40 Steuben Street, Albany, NY 12207-2108
By fax: 518-486-4068
By e-mail: ldaghlian -at- elections.state.ny.us (replace -at- with @)
Please address your letter to:
Peter Kosinski, Co-Executive Director
Stanley Zalen, Co-Executive Director
Neil W. Kelleher, Chair
Evelyn J. Aquila, Commissioner
Helena Moses Donohue, Commissioner
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