Choose PBOS, not DREs

 

 

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

        http://www.automarkts.com/

    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!

      http://www.automarkts.com/

            10. Press Release, Arizona Secretary of State

                  http://www.automarkts.com/

 

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

 

J. Evoting means the ballot box is open to the world and unguarded because computer

    communications capability allows outside hackers and insiders, regardless of where they are

    located, to alter votes, ballots, and tallies.

 

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?

 

            38. FBI: 87% of Companies Get Hacked, 44% of attacks are by insiders

             a.  http://houston.fbi.gov/pressrel/2006/ho011906.htm

             b.  http://www.wheresthepaper.org/YahooNews060120FBI_MostCompaniesGetHacked.htm

      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

      http://www.nyvv.org/doc/IntroToOptScan.pdf

             40. Advantages of Paper Ballot / Precinct Based Optical Scan Voting Systems

                  http://www.nyvv.org/doc/AdvantagesPaperBallots.pdf