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Presentation description

How do electronic voting machines work? How are they affecting our democracy? This nonpartisan presentation will give you an overview of electronic voting machines and the alternative of voter-marked paper ballots with the votes tallied at close-of-polls by hand-to-eye counts. What issues do the different voting technologies raise? You will also learn about federal and state legislation, and the widely recognized problems with using computers in elections. We will provide suggestions on what concerned citizens can do today.

About Ms. Hommel

A corporate trainer in computer technology and a consultant for more than 20 years, Teresa Hommel has been speaking to groups in New York and other states, alerting them to the problems with electronic voting machines and the potential threat they pose to the integrity of our elections. Her voting machine simulation, a demonstration called the "Fraudulent Voting Machine" has been used internationally to help people understand the special security problems with computers used in voting. It was exhibited at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Symposium "Building Trust and Confidence in Voting Systems" Dec. 10-11, 2003, www.vote.nist.gov/

Teresa testified before the NY State Task Force on HAVA Implementation in July, 2003, in New York City; her testimony in the official transcript begins on page 138. She also testified before the Government Administration and Elections Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly in February, 2004. She has addressed the 2004 Communications Workers of America National Legislative/Political Conference in Washington DC. on March 28, 2004; the USACM-Sponsored Workshop on Voter Verified Election Systems in Denver in July, 2003; and the Urban Ministries Conference of the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston, March 20, 2004. She has written articles on this issue for the September, 2003, newsletters of the NY Women's Bar Association and the Sierra Club New York City Group.

Teresa's work was featured in the Spring, 2004, issue of The Key Reporter. The Fraudulent Voting Machine was mentioned in the Rocky Mountain News, May 30, 2004, and the Village Voice, July 21-27, 2004. Here is Teresa's July 13, 2004, statement at the Rally for Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trails in Albany, New York. Here is her statement before the Governmental Operations Committee of the New York City Council, October 18, 2004. Teresa wrote an article called Don't Hand Democracy Over to Computers for the November/December 2004 issue of UU World. Here is her statement before the Election Law Committee of the New York State Assembly, Dec. 20, 2004.

In 2005, Teresa addressed New Standards for Elections: A forum on technical and nontechnical requirements for voting systems , at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Feb. 12. Her remarks are available here and at the forum web site. On May 4, she addressed the New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Mayor's Election Modernization Task Force.

She spoke in Pennsylvania on Monday, June 27, 2005.

On June 30, 2005, she testified before the EAC. On September 23, 2005, she testified before the Government Operations Committee of the NY City Council on VotersUnite.org's analysis of New Mexico data from November, 2004, which suggests that two pushbutton DRE voting systems disenfranchised Hispanic and Native American voters. On November 21, 2005, she testified before the Government Operations Committee of the NY City Council on two subjects, calculation of acquisition costs of PBOS versus DREs, and criticism of the State Board's new Draft Regulations on Voting Systems Standards. On December 13, 2005, she testified before the Assembly Elections Committee on four subjects.

On December 20, 2005, Teresa Hommel submitted a comment to the New York State Board of Elections on the draft Voting System Standards. On January 22, 2006, she submitted a second comment including proposed language for escrow provisions and the conduct of a large public test of systems prior to certification.

On February 27, 2006 Teresa spoke before the Governmental Operations Committee of the New York City Council on Oversight of the Process of Selecting New Voting Machines. On March 7, 2006 Teresa spoke before the same committee on The Cost of New Voting Machines.

On March 9, 2006 Teresa spoke before the Ways and Means Committe of the Suffolk County Legislature.

On April 24, Teresa testified before the Governmental Operations Committee of the New York City Council in favor of resolutions urging adoption of paper ballots and optical scanners, and urging public testing prior to selection.

On June 10, 2006, Teresa addressed a Caucus at the League of Women Voters national convention. On June 12, the delegates approved a strong resolution requiring voting systems to have a voter-verifiable paper ballot/record.

Teresa addresssed the City Council Governmental Operations Committee on June 26, 2006 and Oct. 4, 2006 to urge continuous, detailed oversight of the NYC Board of Elections, and to urge that simplicity, understandability, manageability, and observability be added to the Board of Elections' criteria for selection of equipment for 2007.

Teresa addresssed the Press Conference at City Hall for Resolution 228-A Aug. 16, 2006. Click here for more on the resolution and press conference, including photos.

Teresa addresssed a Press Conference in Brooklyn sponsored by State Senator Velmanette Montgomery on November 13, 2006 and the Board of Elections in the City of New York on November 21, 2006. She addresssed the Board of Elections in the City of New York AGAIN on January 23, 2007, the joint hearing of the Governmental Operations Committee and the Technology in Government Committee of the New York City Council on January 29, 2007, and law students at Cardozo School of Law on January 31, 2007.

Teresa addresssed the Press Conference on the steps of City Hall on March 14, 2007 to celebrate passage of Resolution 131 which urges adoption of paper ballots and optical scanners.

Teresa submitted a statement entitled "Limitations of Certification Testing, "Transparency," and Current Standards and What Congress Can Do" to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, on the occasion of their Field Hearing in New York City, May 7, 2007.

Here is Teresa's paper Election Fraud in America: Don't worry about Paper Ballots--The Problem is Secret Procedures and Lack of Observers! dated Nov. 16, 2007.

Teresa submitted a statement for the official record of the July 25, 2007, hearing on S1487 by the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee.

Teresa testified before the New York City Council Governmental Operations Committee on Nov. 13, 2007 and explained why "one of the greatest voter deceptions in our nation today is the use of computers to record, cast, store, handle, and count votes."

Teresa testified before the New York City Council Governmental Operations Committee on Feb. 14, 2008 on "Improving Democracy and the Ability of Citizens to Participate in the Electoral Process." She testified again on September 26, 2008 and on November 25, 2008.

Teresa testified before the New York State Senate Elections Committee on April 24, 2009 on election day voter registration and enabling voter registration forms to be submitted to a Board of Elections as late as 10 days before an election.

Teresa spoke at a workshop at the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations 48th Annual General Assembly in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday, June 27, 2009, on "Does Touchscreen Voting Violate the 5th Principle?". She also spoke at the forum with Secretary of State Ritchie of Minnesota and Secretary of State Bowen of California.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie of Minnesota, Secretary of State Debra Bowen of California, and Teresa Hommel of Community Church of New York, June 27, 2009.