http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/N-Y-s-elections-being-Floridized-574636.php
Published: 01:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The Brennan Center for Justice has filed a lawsuit on behalf
of voting rights groups claiming that the new ballot scanning computers
certified by the state Board of Elections will greatly increase the likelihood
that a voter will cast more votes for an elected office than allowed.
This error, known as overvoting, makes it impossible to
count such votes. It's one of the reasons George W. Bush won Florida in the
2000 presidential election. The plaintiffs are right; New York's elections are
being Floridized. But their complaint is the tip of the iceberg.
New York's ballot scanners do not comply with the state
Election Law that requires machines approved by the Board of Elections to
notify voters of "the effect of casting multiple votes for the
office."
The U.S. Justice Department and federal Judge Gary Sharpe
may have undermined the state's certification process by rushing it, but state
attorneys never mounted a credible defense. Instead, they consented to the
replacement of our lever voting machines with computers that, unlike lever
machines, facilitate both overvoting and vote switching between candidates and
political parties.
The extreme moral hazard introduced by this new system of
voting is being challenged by Nassau County in state and federal courts. But
New York voters remain unrepresented, except for the effort to correct the
overvote notification bug -- the tip of the iceberg.
Howard Stanislevic
Founder
E-Voter Education Project
New York City
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