NYVV Action Alert: Demand an Open Voting Machine Certification Process!

From Bo Lipari, Dec. 5, 2005

The NYS Board of Elections will commence testing of computerized voting machines (DREs) this week, even though these DREs still have no voter-verified paper ballot as required by New York law. This is outrageous. It is meaningless to test a partial system, and the Board is disregarding its publicly announced process of finalizing of voting system standards after a

45-day public comment period.

That the Board is beginning to test incomplete systems bodes poorly for the need for a robust, thorough and transparent set of machine certification tests fully available for public review.

The NYS Board of Elections has consistently misrepresented the voting machine selection process to the public, and continues to operate in near secrecy despite a tremendous outcry from citizens for full visibility and transparency. This is unacceptable. It is indefensible to cut corners and be secretive and unaccountable when our democracy is at stake.

Take Action Today! Call, email, write and fax:

1) Tell the NYS Board of Elections that they need to stop the certification testing of machines which don't meet New York State Election Law requirements, and that the public wants full visibility and disclosure of the machine testing and certification process.

2) Call your New York State Legislators and tell them they must convene oversight hearings on the Board of Election's secretive actions.

Let the Board and your Legislators know that these are our elections, and we demand the highest standards of testing and a certification process that is thorough, robust, and fully open to the public.

You'll find contact information for the NYS Board and Legislators below, and more materials on our website http://www.nyvv.org/.

Please take action today.

- Bo Lipari

Contact info for the Board of Elections:

NYS Board of Elections, Executive Unit

40 Steuben Street

Albany, NY 12207-2108

Phone 518-474-8100

Fax: 518-486-4068

The only published email address for the NYS Board of Elections is:

info@elections.state.ny.us

Please address your contacts with the State Board to:

Peter Kosinski, Co-Executive Director

Stanley Zalen, Co-Executive Director

How to Find For Your State Legislators:

Remember, your local legislators are back in their home offices right now. Contact them at their local offices rather than their Albany offices, it will have more impact.

Find your local state legislators using the New York State BOE map at:

http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/boe/main.asp

On the right half of the screen are fields where you can specify what you're looking for.

To use them map, first select either "State Senate Districts" or "State Assembly Districts":

1) Enter either your district number or your address in the provided fields.

2) After filling in your choices click the "Submit Search" button.

Once you've found out your legislators, you can then find their contact information here:

NYS Assembly Directory:

http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

NYS Senate Directory:

http://senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/senators?OpenForm