http://www.nypost.com/seven/11222006/news/regionalnews/vote_groups_screaming__at_screens_regionalnews_frankie_edozien.htm

New York Post

VOTE GROUPS SCREAMING AT SCREENS

By FRANKIE EDOZIEN

November 22, 2006 -- Several good-government groups came out yesterday against ATM-style voting machines that the city Board of Elections may buy to replace the machines now in use.

The state Board of Elections has forced the city to choose between two new technologies - a touch-screen method, where voters touch buttons on an electronic screen, or an optical-scan method in which voters mark a paper ballot before it's scanned by a computer.

An analysis of the 2004 elections by NYU's Brennan Center for Justice found that ATM-style machines didn't record 15.4 percent of votes for state-ballot initiatives, while optical-scan machines undercounted by 8.8 percent.

"The data makes it clear that if New York City purchases the touch-screen machines, it is likely to disenfranchise literally tens of thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of New York," said Larry Norden, the center's attorney.

Bo Lipari of New Yorkers for Verified Voting added that touch-screens could cost up to $9,000 each, yet "we have no idea how long these machines will last."

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