http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=637153&category=STATE&BCCode=&newsdate=11/8/2007
timesunion.com
Election
activists call for return to paper ballots
State, federal officials still sparring in court over how
New York should upgrade its system
By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau
Nov. 8, 2007
ALBANY -- While the state and federal government battle in
court over how and when New York should modernize its elections system, voting
advocates offered an old-fashioned solution: paper ballots.
Instead of spending tens of millions of dollars on new
equipment, advocates said, markings on paper and a large force of elections
workers can do the job.
"We can cast our votes by our own hand and count them
ourselves," said Andrea Novick, a lawyer with Northeast Citizens for
Responsible Media. She read a letter at the board's meeting urging it to eschew
voting machines that other states have already found to have security flaws.
Other activists at the meeting agreed, but none of the four
state election commissioners seemed to like the idea.
Instead, they moved into executive session to deal with the
U.S. Justice Department's latest motion in a lawsuit against the state for
failing to comply with the Help America Vote Act.
Federal lawyers are urging a U.S. District Court judge to
demand New York get new voting machines even if they aren't up to New York's
standards.
Lee Daghlian, a spokesman for the board, said the commissioners
are trying to fashion a response and believe they can submit a unified plan by
Dec. 6. The commissioners, who submitted two differing plans Oct. 2 to the
court, will also arrange a meeting with federal officials and county election
boards to discuss New York's problems with honoring the mandate to make voting
more accessible to disabled people while ensuring a paper trail.
As for the idea to scrap plans to buy new voting machines
and hand-count paper ballots, Daghlian said: "It brings us back to the
19th century. ... I don't know if that is feasible."
"That would be a last resort, if we couldn't certify an
electronic voting system of some kind," he added.
Dennis Karius, an activist with ARISE, an advocacy group for
people with disabilities, said the older method of voting makes sense and New
Yorkers could be recruited to count ballots.
The state could offer incentives, he said, such as giving
election workers credit toward jury duty service or offering school credits for
students. The board has talked about jury duty credit, and recruiting election
inspectors from public colleges.
James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at
jodato@timesunion.com.
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