2 actions you can do to protect voting in Maryland. Please share with friends, lists, etc.
Lobby Night in Annapolis for Accurate, Verifiable Paper-Ballot Voting
Monday, March 16, 5:30 p.m.
Senate Building, 11 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=11+Bladen+St.+Annapolis+MD+21401 We'll meet in the Rotunda (turn right and walk up the ramp after passing through the metal detector), organize into teams, receive
... Read Moreassignments, talking points and other materials. Bring a valid ID!
Find your State Delegate(s) and Senators here: http://mdelect.net/ and send your contact information and the names of your state elected officials to Stan Boyd, sbb223@yahoo.com ASAP.
Transition to paper ballot voting across the state will save Maryland money, due to extravagant costs for maintaining the less reliable and impossible to verify touch screen machines. Our state should use a system which will provide private and independent voting for disabled voters alongside the paper ballot-based system. Many jurisdictions in Maryland used to use the paper-ballot optical scan voting.
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Maryland Legislators are seriously considering eliminating funding for paper ballot voting systems. Not only is that wrong for elections, it's money wasted.
If you have already sent a message to lawmakers, thank you, please send another message today!
Make yourself heard once more. And if you have not sent a message urging lawmakers to keep us moving away from the touch screens, now is the time to act. Please take just a moment help to educate lawmakers about the costs of keeping the touch screens. Visit our action center to send a message to your lawmakers and to key members of the leadership.
Reminder--please use your own words, elected officials and staff tend to discount several emails with the same comments. You can reword the sample message (already loaded at the website) or pick and choose from points (below).
TAKE ACTION BY CLICKING HERE:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26869 Legislators have received cost estimates that do not include the maintenance costs of the touch screens, even though those are some of the highest costs of the state's current, unverifiable system of voting.
The state's current touch screen voting systems cannot prove their accuracy, and do not allow meaningful recount. Please take action today to make sure that the 2010 elections in Maryland are verifiable:
TAKE ACTION BY CLICKING HERE:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26869 Thank you for all you do.
Best regards,
The Team at Verified Voting
Some talking points:
My research and discussions with election integrity activists and others suggest the following:
Legislation passed unanimously in 2007 and the Governor's budget provided the means and funding to purchase Optical Scan and other voting equipment sufficient to transition to paper-ballot voting for all Marylanders, including those with special access needs.
The planned transition to optically scanned paper ballots will save Maryland the most money in the mid to long term, but apparently requires amending the 2007 legislation to grant flexibility to election boards so they can purchase reliable, secure, effective and appropriate--although not necessarily federally certified--voter assistance equipment.
Enacting Del. Hixson's HB 893 (with Senate companion legislation) offers to fully address concerns about accessibility, and would save Maryland the most money in the mid and long terms.
Enacting Del. Cardin's HB 738 as currently drafted would implement a "mixed machine" solution which is preferable to delaying implementation of Optical Scan machines, but could be improved by an amendment allowing implementation of reliable, secure, effective and appropriate--although not necessarily federally certified--voter assistance equipment.
Delaying the transition to paper ballots and optical scans would cost Maryland the most money due to higher ongoing expenses for elections in the near, mid and long term--and continue unverifiable, highly vulnerable voting--an outcome which is untenable for several reasons discussed below.
Fewer machines means lower costs: The Optical Scanning machines each replace approximately 10 touch screen DRE machines. This is because approximately 10 voters may mark ballots at voting stations simultaneously, and then feed their ballots into the Optical Scan readers--requiring only 1 or 2 machines per precinct. The touch screen DRE machines require one machine per voter. Therefore, Maryland needs to buy, store, maintain, transport, etc. ten times more touch screen machines than optical scan machines.
Touch screen DRE machines suffer from degradation similar to laptop computers--they wear out quickly, require hardware and software patches and upgrades, etc. which incur added expenses and may void their certifications. (Note: This places into context concerns about new equipment specifically the delay or lack of federal certification.
Maryland has been using problematic and potentially out-of-certification technology because of vulnerabilities and other flaws in the touch screen systems. Attorney General Gansler brought civil action against vendors in an attempt to recover ongoing costs to maintain and remedy these vulnerabilities.
We have an obligation to accommodate voters with special needs. Some voters who are currently able to vote on require another person or additional equipment to assist them, but there aren't any certified voter assistance systems yet. The certification process is slow. Some argue the state should purchase such equipment in anticipation of certification.
Purchasing voter assistance equipment to facilitate voting by those with special needs as well as the optical scan equipment this year would deliver the greatest savings and best outcomes for all voters over the mid and long term, because voter assistance equipment could ease implementation of other reforms including early voting and voting by Maryland citizens who speak English as a second language. This approach would provide the least expensive implementation of paper ballot based voting for all Marylanders in time for the 2010 cycle.
Paper ballot-based voting is the only reliable, verifiable form of voting. Their operation is opaque to voters, election officials and others, and they have well-established hardware and other vulnerabilities, making widespread errors or even intentional "vote flipping" possible. There is no tangible record of the ballots cast, making audits, recounts etc. impossible. As noted, known and likely to emerge vulnerabilities in touchscreen DRE machines call into question the transparency, accuracy and legitimacy of elections. Any approach which depends on use of any such touchscreen DRE machines remains problematic for these reasons.
We support HB 893 the Hixson/Dyson/Carter Conway attempt to reconcile the 2007 legislation with current conditions to allow for purchase of optical scan and tested (although not necessarily federally certified) voter assistance equipment which would facilitate voting by special needs voters, ease implementation of early voting as well as voting by Maryland citizens who speak English as a second language. This approach would provide the least expensive implementation of paper ballot based voting for all Marylanders in time for the 2010 cycle, and save the state $millions over the short, mid and long terms.
We support the Cardin approach HB 738--hopefully with amendments, and if not, with reservations. Using both Optical Scan and touchscreen DRE machines machines in 2010 as a temporary transitional measure, with the goal of complete transition to paper-based, verifiable voting by 2012 (once voter assistance machinery is federally certified) is better than delaying the transition to paper-based voting past 2010. We can accept HB 738--preferably if amended to allow for full implementation of paper-based voting for all Maryland voters in time for the 2010 election cycle. Such amendment(s) would address concerns in the 2007 legislation, and allow the purchase and implementation of reliable, secure, effective and appropriate--although not necessarily federally certified--voter assistance equipment.
Mike Hersh
Chairperson, Montgomery County Progressive Alliance
