In a shocking move, New York State Supreme Court Justice O'Connor
overruled the decision of the State Board of Elections and allowed
touchscreen voting machines (DREs), to be purchased by counties.
These machines are entirely electronic and do not create an auditable
paper ballot that can be used in recounts or to verify the accuracy
of the electronic vote total stored in the machine.
Last week the Board voted to eliminate the LibertyVote (shown at right)
and Avante DREs
because they violate New York State law and don't qualify as ballot
marking devices. But legal experts were astounded when the Court
decided that vendors should be able to sell whatever equipment they
want - whether or not it serves the needs of voters. There are no
less than 3 paper ballot/ballot marker/ballot scanner systems
available to the counties. There is no need to buy expensive, failure
prone DREs when a superior alternative is available for less cost.
County election commissioners are scheduled to make their machine
choice today, February 8. It is urgent that you call your county
Board of Elections today and tell them -
DO NOT PURCHASE TOUCH SCREEN VOTING MACHINES.
For NYC residents,
- Manhattan: 212.886.2100
- Bronx: 718.299.9017
- Brooklyn: 718.797.8800
- Queens: 718.730.6730
- Staten Island: 718.876.0079
The adoption of DRE's is very likely in upstate (i.e. Republican)
counties and if you have friends or family outside the five boroughs,
you should contact them and ask them to call their Board of Elections
TODAY. Residents outside the five boroughs can find contact
information for your Board by clicking on your county on this map:
http://www.elections.state.ny.us/portal/page?_pageid=35,1,35_8677:35_8685&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Here's a sample statement you can use when you speak to your election
commissioners:
I understand a state court has directed the NYS Board of Elections
to include the LibertyVote and Avante DREs among the machines to be
considered for disabled voters. These machines do not comply with NYS
Election law and must not be purchased by our county. The LibertyVote
DRE was banned in its home country of Holland after a government
authorized study confirmed the ease with which the machine could be
hacked. The LibertyVote DRE fails as a ballot marking device for
voters with disabilities. Voters with special needs cannot
independently verify their ballots as required by State and Federal
law.
Listed below is more source material you can use. Please call your
County Board of Elections today and tell them no DREs!
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