Non-Sponsors of Resolution 131, as of
11/24/06
Soon our city will have to replace our mechanical lever voting machines
with new equipment. The choice of what to buy must be made by the middle or end
of February, 2007.
Resolution 131 urges our City Board of Elections to adopt paper ballots
and optical scanners, with accessible ballot marking devices for voters with
special needs, and opposes electronic voting machines (touchscreens or “DREs”).
Resolution 131 now has 44 sponsors. The City Council Members below are
not yet sponsors. They need constituent
calls, emails, faxes and letters. Most know the issue, so just tell them who
you are, and request their support.
What to say: "Please sponsor Res 131 for paper
ballots/optical scanners when we have to replace our old lever voting machines.
I don’t want electronic voting machines here in NYC. All the problems they have
caused in elections this year show that they don’t work, and they will drain
our taxpayer money away from other needs such as our firehouses, schools,
hospitals, and libraries, etc."
If anyone asks a question please send it to admin@wheresthepaper.org .
One question is, “What is the difference between a paper ballot and a paper
trail? Aren’t they equally good?” Answer: There are two differences: First,
a paper ballot is first-hand, marked directly by the voter; it would be very
unusual for a voter to mark the wrong candidate (someone they didn’t intend to
vote for). A paper trail is second-hand—the voter first touches the touchscreen
to light up their candidate’s name, and later the computer prints a tiny strip
of paper with the candidate’s name. The voter is supposed to verify that the
paper contains the same name, but some voters may not check, and other voters
may fail to notice errors in the printout. In a study, voters only noticed 3
out of 108 errors in the paper trail. Second, NY state law says that a
paper ballot marked directly by the voter is their legal ballot, but a paper
trail is not a legal ballot, it is only an audit record. After each election,
3% of voting machines will be randomly selected and the votes on the paper
trail will be counted. If there is a difference between the electronic count
and the paper count, the electronic count will be used, and no one will be able
to figure out what the voters’ real intent was. With paper ballots, the real
intent of the voters is clear.
Joel Rivera, Bronx, District 15,
Dem, Majority Leader
District Ofc: (718)842-8100, Legislative Ofc: (212)788-6966, Email: rivera@council.nyc.ny.us
Simcha Felder, Bklyn,
District 44, Dem, Chair/Governmental Operations Committee
District Ofc (718) 853-2704, Email: felder@council.nyc.ny.us
Lewis Fidler, Bklyn, District 46,
Dem, Deputy Majority Leader
District Ofc (718)241-9330,
Legislative Ofc (212)788-7286, Email: fidler@council.nyc.ny.us
Domenic Recchia Jr., Bklyn, District 47, Dem, member/Governmental
Operations Cmte
District Ofc (718)373-9673,
Legislative Ofc (212)788-7045, Email: recchia@council.nyc.ny.us
David
Yassky, Bklyn, District 33, Dem
District Ofc (718)875-5200,
Legislative Ofc (212)788-7348,
Email: yassky@council.nyc.ny.us
Christine Quinn, Manh. District 3, Dem, Speaker
District Ofc (212)564-7757,
City Hall (212)788-7210, Email: quinn@council.nyc.ny.us
Andrew Lanza, Staten Island, District
51, Repub
District Ofc (718)984-5151, Email: lanza@council.nyc.ny.us
Council members who are not listed are
already sponsors of Resolution 131. Thank them!
More info: www.wheresthepaper.org/ny.html#whattodoNYC www.nyvv.org