Subject: Paper Ballots for NY - Update
Organization: New Yorkers for Verified Voting
Here's an update on where we stand and an overview of the
things we'll need to do in the next few weeks as we approach a decision on
voting equipment.
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Status
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The first phase of our campaign for PBOS has been an overwhelming success.
In just a few months, we've gone from hardly being on the radar to being
actively talked about as THE alternative to DREs. We've won a great deal of
support for PBOS among legislators and the media, and our support is
continuing to grow. That's the good news.
But for all we've accomplished, there still is powerful opposition to the
adoption of paper ballots/optical scan in NY. The voting machine vendors who
are pushing their high-priced, poor performing DREs are ramping up their
lobbying efforts and spreading disinformation about the optical scan
alternative to state and county legislators and election officials. These
powerful interests thought they had DREs sold to NYS and they are not happy
that citizen efforts have won the paper ballot alternative incredible
support in a such short time. They are not going to give up easily. The more
successful we are, the more they will apply pressure behind the scenes for
DREs.
We've accomplished a lot, but we still have a lot to do. In the weeks ahead,
we are going to have to continue to talk to legislators, especially Senators
to endorse PBOS. The State Board of Elections, local county legislators and
election officials must also be contacted and fully informed about the
benefits of optical scan and the danger, problems, and huge expense of DREs.
Over the next few weeks, here's what we'll need to do:
1) Continue contacting state legislators, especially focusing on Senators,
to support PBOS. We want the Assembly to pass bill A6503 which calls for
adoption of optical scan, and the Senate to introduce and pass a companion
bill.
2) Continue getting our PBOS message into the media - Op-Ed pieces, letters
to the editor, setting up meeting with editorial boards.
3) Reach out to county officials - set up meetings and presentations about
the PBOS alternative with county legislators, executives and committees.
More details below.
-Bo Lipari
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HAVA Conference Committee
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The HAVA conference committee held several public meetings last month in
which agreement was announced on administrative with administrative
complaint procedure, the statewide database, and county consolidation
issues.
The outstanding issues are poll site access, voting machines and
verification of voter identity. The conference committee has received an
extension and will hold the next meeting on Monday (4/11) or Tuesday (4/12).
Although there is now strong support among many legislators for paper
ballot/optical scan (PBOS) as NY's choice of voting equipment, it still
seems unlikely that the HAVA conference committee will agree on legislation
that requires PBOS and excludes DREs. If the final legislation is open to
both alternatives, that means the choice of equipment will rest with the
State Board of Elections.
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Build Senate Support for PBOS - Introduce companion bill to A6503
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Last month Assembly women Sandy Galef and Barbara Lifton introduced bill
A6503, calling for adoption of paper ballot/optical scan systems in New York
State. There are currently 20 cosponsors of the bill. You can find the bill
summary, cosponsor list and a link to the text here:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A06503If the HAVA conference committee does not require paper ballot/optical scan
in it's final legislation, passage of A6503 and an equivalent Senate bill
will be the only legislative route we have to adoption of PBOS. There is
currently no companion bill in the Senate, and we need to build support
among the Senate for introduction and passage of a companion bill to A6503.
Contact your state Senator and tell them you support Paper Ballots for NY!
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State Board of Elections
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If the legislature passes HAVA legislation allowing for both DREs and paper
ballot/optical scan, it will fall to the State BOE to decide which machines
to certify in New York. We're going to need very strong pressure from
citizens and counties on the four election commissioners and deputy Director
Peter Kosinski to ensure that optical scanners are a choice.
We have begun making contact and meeting with state BOE officials. Depending
on what happens in the legislature and when, we will be organizing alerts
and demonstrations at the state BOE in support of paper ballots and optical
scan. Stay tuned.
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Counties
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It is quite possible that the outcome of our efforts will be that individual
counties will get to choose between a DRE or an optical scan system.
We need to begin getting the counties on our side in support of adoption to
PBOS. We've already begun doing presentations to county legislators,
executives, and budget committees around the state. We must make county
officials understand that adopting DREs is essentially an UNFUNDED MANDATE
TO THE COUNTIES.
NYVV is developing acquisition and maintenance cost projections and other
materials which show the huge additional cost and problems associated with
DREs. Many county officials are skeptical of touch screen voting and we need
to educate them and provide them with facts that they do not hear from DRE
vendors.
The counties, if they can be won over to support PBOS, will be effective in
influencing the equipment that the state BOE certifies, and may force them
to allow a PBOS system as well as DREs. If that happens, then we must have
the counties educated enough to choose PBOS.
It is vital to begin work NOW at the county level to educate county
legislators and election officials about why paper ballot optical scan is
the superior choice. We need citizens in each county willing to help us set
up meetings and presentations with county officials.
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