NY’s new Election Reform and Modernization Act (“ERMA”) bans
lever machines as of 9/1/07, requires each county and the City of New York to
choose a new voting technology, and allows two options:
· PBOS -- consists of paper ballots to be marked by hand (or by ballot-marking devices for voters with disabilities or minority languages), and optical scanner machines in each polling place to check each ballot for correctness before it is cast and to print a tally at the end of the election day.
· DREs -- consist of “Direct Recording Electronic” voting machines (computers) with a touchscreen or pushbuttons, and a tiny printer to print a receipt-like list of each voter’s choices for the voter to verify before pressing “Cast My Ballot.” The printout then goes into a secure storage box in the machine.
1. ERMA has many flaws
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/ERMA_45Comments.htm
ERMA requires our State Board of
Elections to create regulations for certifying voting systems.
2.
Part of the regulations were adopted on April 20, 2006.
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/VSSpassed060420comments.htm
NYC appears to have made
an early decision for DREs. This article says NYC will receive $72 million, but
needs $100 million, the 2005 estimate for DREs. PBOS would cost $30 million
(see item 11).
3. Daily News, July 6, 2005
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/DailyNews07_06VotingMachinePlansComplex.htm
A.
Jurisdictions with PBOS love PBOS.
4. Optical Scan Survey Results
http://www.nyvv.org/reports/OptScanSurvey.pdf
B. Many voters with disabilities are enthusiastic about
the Automark ballot-marking device, and
want security of their
vote as well as accessibility. Another successful device is the Vote-PAD.
5. a. AutoMARK Quotes
b. PBOS is more accessible, private, and secure.
http://www.nyvv.org/reports/AccessibilityPB.pdf
c. Survey: Disabled prefer absentee ballots
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/DailyStar060410SurveyDisabledPreferAbsenteeBallots.htm
C. Many New Yorkers have endorsed PBOS.
6. Editorial Endorsements as of
February 6, 2006 (includes New York Times, Daily News)
http://nyvv.org/reports/EditorialEndorsements.pdf
7. Resolutions of the Public
Employees Federation (PEF), DC 37, and other organizations.
a. http://www.wheresthepaper.org/PEF_opscan_res1_proofed4_1.htm
b. http://www.wheresthepaper.org/ResoDC37.pdf
c. http://www.wheresthepaper.org/ny.html#OrgReso
8.
Press Release, League of Women Voters of the State of New York
http://www.lwvny.org/Press
Release/HAVA 3-9-05 press release.pdf
D. Many states use PBOS, and many use the Automark ballot-marking
device
9.a States with Optical Scanners
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/StatesWithOpticalScanners060624.htm
9.b AutoMARK in the news!
10.
Press Release, Arizona Secretary of State
E. PBOS costs less for initial purchase, transition, and
continuing operation.
11. NYC Costs,
PBOS versus DRE
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/NYCcost.html
12. North Carolina Legislative
Fiscal Note: PBOS is $45.9 million, DRE is $135.1 million;
2 new felonies for vendors; requires vendors to post a
bond, reveal source code, etc.
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2005/FiscalNotes/Senate/PDF/SFN0223v5n1.pdf
13. Acquisition Costs of DRE and
Precinct Based Optical Scan Voting Equipment
http://www.nyvv.org/reports/AcquisitionCostDREvOptScanNYS.pdf
14. Paper Ballot Costs and Printing
http://www.nyvv.org/reports/PaperBallotPrintingCosts.pdf
15. How many paper ballots must be
printed for 1000 voters? PBOS:
1100. DREs: 333.
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/HowManyPaperBallotsAreNeeded.htm
16. Comparing Annual Costs of DRE
and Optical Scan systems
http://www.nyvv.org/reports/ComparingAnnualCosts
DREvPBOS.pdf
17. Cost Comparison of Voting
Equipment for New York State, Touchscreen DRE with
VVPT Printer vs. Precinct Based Optical Scan + Ballot Marking
Device
http://www.nyvv.org/doc/CostComparisons.pdf
18. Was
it all about money from the beginning? 12/14/00: $9.5 billion needed for
DREs.
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/Newsday12_2000ElectionDebacle.htm
19. So far, cost estimates in our
state have been slanted (biased in favor of DREs):
Election Commissioners' Assn. of the State of NY vs.
NYVV's correction of their errors.
a. http://www.nyvv.org/reports/ECASystemsReviewV1.pdf
b. http://www.nyvv.org/reports/ECAvsrCrit.pdf
F. We should learn from the experience of other jurisdictions,
such as Miami Dade County,
Florida, which are
struggling to convert to PBOS and to get rid of their evote equipment
due to lost votes and
out-of-control cost overruns.
20. Miami Dade County Officials
Recommend Scrapping DRE system for Optical Scanners
http://www.nyvv.org/reports/MiamiDadeDumpsDREs.pdf
21. Computerworld, April 14,
2005. Fate of $25M e-voting system in
Miami-Dade dangling
www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,101105,00.html
G. We should be forewarned by the documented failures of
evote vendors and their equipment.
22. Montgomery County, MD: 7%
failed on election day, 5% more were suspect.
http://truevotemd.org/Resources/Lessons_Learned.pdf
23.VotersUnite.org, 120 pages of
documented failures of 7 vendors.
http://www.votersunite.org/info/messupsbyvendor.asp
24. Case Study – New Mexico:
Irregularities, minorities targeted, lawsuits, conversion to PBOS
a. http://www.nyvv.org/reports/NewMexico2004ReportSummary.pdf (Irregularities)
b. http://www.nyvv.org/reports/NewMexico2004ElectionDataReport-v2.pdf (more details)
c. http://www.voteraction.org/States/New%20Mexico/NM_info.html (Lawsuit)
d. http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/06%20Regular/final/SB0295.pdf (Legislation adopted)
e. http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/06%20Regular/firs/SB0295.pdf (Fiscal Impact Report)
f. http://www.votersunite.org/info/NM_UVbyMachineandEthnicity.pdf (Minorities targeted)
25. Bipartisan News Release, GAO
Report on Security Problems with Electronic Voting
http://reform.house.gov/UploadedFiles/102105VotingGAO.pdf
H. We should be forewarned by increasing citizen opposition.
Evoting undermines voter confidence
in the legitimacy of
elections: voters can’t witness the recording and casting of their own votes.
Observers can’t
observe the storage, handling, and counting of votes.
26. Inside Bay Area, June 18,
2005. Call rises to 'dump diebold'
http://www.insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=2810029
27. Daytona Beach News-Journal
Online, June 8, 2005. Voter
verification
www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/03OpOPN95060805.htm
28.
American Coup. The world is questioning the legitimacy of American electronic
elections.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0211/S00078.htm
I. Buyer beware! We should learn from the experience of
other jurisdictions, warnings of computer
professionals/scientists, past reputation of vendors, and the expressed
distrust of voters.
29. Refuting Sequoia Claims about
Optical Scan
http://www.nyvv.org/reports/CorrectingSequoia.pdf
30. USA Today, Doubts over
touchscreen tech choice for Venezuela recall
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/world/2004-07-12-venezuela-evote_x.htm
31. Coup in Venezuela, Evidence of
Fraud Abounds
http://militaresdemocraticos.surebase.com/articulos/en/20040817-01.html
32. A Summary of the Tulio Alvarez
Report on Fraud
http://www.venered.org/english/ then click "Más articulos"
33. a. Smartmatic:
all things connected. Are they owned by a pharmaceutical or money manager?
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200508141135
b. Los Angeles Times, June 3, 2006
www.wheresthepaper.org/LATimes060603BallotFirmsTiesToVenezuelaCriticized.htm
34. New York Should Ban
Communications Capability in Voting … Equipment
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/BanCommunications.htm
K. Security concepts derived from paper ballots and
mechanical lever machines won’t help us
with computer
technology.
35. Paper Ballot Concepts in a
Computerized World
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/PaperBallotConcepts.htm
L. Evoting undermines democracy in numerous ways, and any
benefit attributed to evoting
can be obtained
with less risk from lesser technology.
36. Frequently Asked Questions, Why
Do Informed Citizens Oppose Electronic Voting?
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/EvotingFAQ.htm
37. Electronic Voting - Why It's
Bad For Democracy
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/Evoting_BadForDemocracy.htm
M. Computer security is impossible to control. The FBI says 87% of companies have been
hacked, 44% by
insiders. Financial institutions with the most sophisticated computer security
have had massive
losses. How will Boards of Elections prevent electronic tampering?
USA Today. 40 Million
credit card holders may be at risk
c. http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/general/2005-06-19-breach-usat_x.htm?csp=34
N. More information about PBOS.
39. Precinct Based Optical Scan
Voting Systems