Columbia County, NY: Election Commissioner Keeps Pledge NOT to Certify Computerized Vote Counts!

[Wilms]

Columbia County, NY: Election Commissioner Keeps Pledge NOT to Certify Computerized Vote Counts!

The pledge:



Testimony in New York City Hearing Shocks Assemblymembers "Would Refuse to Certify Electronic Vote Count" Columbia County Election Commissioner Testifies

Reported by Teresa Hommel
October 22, 2009

"The mandated transition to electronic voting and vote-counting will likely prevent me as commissioner from doing my job, which is to certify to the accuracy of election numbers," testified Virginia Martin, Columbia County Democratic Election Commissioner, in a hearing of the State Assembly's Standing Committee on Election Law on October 22 in New York City.

After Martin’s brief statement, dumbfounded assembly members questioned her for half an hour, going so far as to challenge her knowledge of computers and whether her county would support her refusal. She answered calmly, and the audience erupted in applause when she said that counting the votes by hand on election night would be both less expensive and more secure than using an insufficiently-audited computer count.

While Martin praised the State's actions to provide accessibility to voters with disabilities, she said the new computerized voting systems are poorly made and break down often, in contrast to the dependable lever voting systems currently in use.

"If Columbia County starts using software to count votes, I will not certify an election unless an appropriately designed audit of the paper ballots is conducted. So far, the State Board (of Elections) has not mandated an audit that audit experts agree will expose inaccurate counts."

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http://www.wheresthepaper.org/09/TestimonyInNYCHearingShocksAssemblymembers.htm




Testing Out the New Ballot Marking Device (and scanners; 100% hand count/audit)

By Francesca Olsen
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
Published: Friday, September 10, 2010

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All ballots in all districts in the entire county will also be subject to a hand count, and great steps are being taken locally to ensure the process will be secure and confidential, according to the commissioners.

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People still say they want their lever machines back, Martin said, “but at least for 2010, we’re not using them.”

“It’s not our choice,” (Martin's Republican counterpart Commissioner) Nastke added.

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http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2010/09/10/news/doc4c89ae58c903b252030467.txt

Election Reform Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=516232&mesg_id=516232