Statement urging passage of Resolution 131
Joint Hearing of the Committee on Governmental Operations and the Committee on Technology in Government of the New York City Council
January 29, 2007
Thank you for holding this hearing and allowing me to speak.
Computers enable one corrupt insider, or one clever outsider, to alter the outcome of every voting machine in the city.
We cannot expect everyone to be a saint. We cannot expect everyone to be such a genius that they can figure out what no one else has ever been able to do – to make a computer system that cannot be tampered with by insiders or outsiders.
Computer scientist Avi Rubin said three and a half years ago that these computerized voting machines can't be made secure by little fixes because their whole design is insecure.
Optical scanners are a more reliable, safer choice.
I urge you to vote Resolution 131 out of committee, so that the entire City Council can go on record as opposing electronic voting and supporting the less computerized alternative of paper ballots, optical scanners, and accessible ballot marking devices for voters with disabilities or non-English languages.
Thank you.