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Staten Island Advance
Organizations say devices under consideration by the city
would produce a high percentage of lost ballots
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
By HEIDI J. SHRAGER
The ATM-style, touch-screen voting machines being considered
by the city Board of Elections to replace the 44-year-old lever machines would
lead to a dangerously high percentage of lost votes, warned three advocacy
groups on the steps of City Hall yesterday.
The new high-tech system -- Direct Recording Electronic
machines, or DREs -- is one of two technologies now being certified by the
state Board of Elections.
The second, which has the endorsement of the groups speaking
yesterday, is the so-called paper ballot optical scanner machine, whereby
voters fill in circles on a paper ballot and then feed the ballots into the
machine.
New York is the last state to comply with the federal Help
America Vote Act, passed in 2002, which required every state to modernize its
voting equipment.
The upside of Albany's tardiness, however, is that officials
have been able to learn from snafus in the new technology that emerged around
the country during this year's election season.
The 10 commissioners on the Elections Board are expected to
vote their decision by March, in hopes that the new technology will be in place
for the primary next September, when seats for some judges and district
attorneys come open.
"New York City cannot ensure that voters' choices will
be accurately recorded if it decides to use the touch-screen machines that it
is currently considering," said Lawrence Norden of the Brennan Center of
Justice at NYU School of Law.
Critics' chief concern with the DREs lies in the fact that
New York, unlike all other states that have gone with the touch screens, would
use the so-called full-face version -- which presents all election contests and
all candidates on a single, giant screen -- rather than scrolling screens that
present one race at a time.
Data compiled by the Brennan Center of Justice at NYU School
of Law showed that of votes cast in more than 2,000 counties across the nation
in 2004, 1.2 percent were uncounted when full-face DREs were used. That's nearly
twice the 0.7 percent of lost votes resulting from the paper ballot optical
scanner machines.
The disparity was considerably more striking for races that
appear toward the bottom of the screen, such as statewide ballot initiatives.
Of these votes, 15.4 percent were lost with touch-screens, compared to 8.8
percent with optical scanners.
"In a big turnout year, this difference could mean the
loss of approximately 175,000 votes in New York City alone," said Norden
of the Brennan Center.
Norden was joined by advocates from the New York League of
Women Voters and the New York Public Interest Research Group
Critics say the touch screens are too expensive: They cost
up to $9,000 per machine, compared to about $6,000 for an optical scanner machine.
The single screens are also overwhelming and confusing, they
charge.
And without a paper trail, recounts are rendered less
reliable if the machines fail.
Heidi J. Shrager covers City Hall for the Advance. She may
be reached at shrager@siadvance.com.
© 2006 Staten Island Advance
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