http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/nyc-votemachines1210,0,6901244.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-politics

Advocates Pulling For New Voting Machine Standards

The Associated Press

December 9, 2003

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Advocates for the disabled, civil rights groups and civic organizations called Tuesday for the state to meet certain benchmarks in replacing its old lever-action voting machines.

Among the coalition's priorities as New York implements the federal Help America Vote Act is getting rid of a decades-old state requirement for "full-face" ballots that list all races on one page.

Advocates for the disabled said the requirement has made it difficult to adopt alternatives -- such as large print ballots -- that would make it easier for them to vote.

"Legislators need to trust the voting public," said wheelchair-using Sharon Shapiro-Lacks, director of advocacy for the Center for Independence for the Disabled in New York. She has cerebral palsy. "We don't need the full-faced ballot." Supporters of the full-face ballot say that having all races listed on one page encourages voters to cast ballots in all races.

Coalition members disputed that.

Coalition member Kele Williams of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law also said that if New York lawmakers don't repeal the full-face ballot requirement, advocates may sue the state claiming a violation of their right to vote.

The coalition, among other things, also called for the state to select a single voting machine for use statewide that is secure and can provide a paper record that can be used to check voting machine operation.

New York expects to receive about $140 million in federal money to replace its 19,800 mechanical voting machine under provisions of the HAVA legislation enacted in the wake of the 2000 election problems.

So far, the state has received $66 million from the HAVA program, but the money has been tied up in a dispute between the Democratic majority of the state Assembly and Republican Gov. George Pataki over control of the funds, the selection of new voting machines and voter identification requirements.

Lee Daghlian, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections, which is overseeing the HAVA process in New York, said Tuesday that the board hopes to issue a request for proposals to voting machine manufacturers by early next year. But Daghlian said federal officials must first set standards for such machines and he said the continuing disagreement between the administration and the Assembly's Democratic majority could also slow things down.

The new voting machines are supposed to be ready for the 2006 statewide elections.

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