Paper Ballot Optical Scan Voting Far From Certain
New York State Board of Election decision threatened by lawsuit;
more machines declared non-compliant

Left to Right, front row only - (W/dog) Sherry De Francesco, President, Westchester Council of the Blind, (sitting) Lisa Tarricone, Director, Systems Advocacy, Westchester Independent Living Center, Inc., (standing) George Klein, Chairperson, Lower Hudson Group of the Sierra Club, (standing) New York State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef

Assemblywoman Sandy Galef warned that the recent New York State Board of Elections (BOE) decision approving the use of an accessible ballot marker for voters with disabilities at all poll sites in 2008 was in jeopardy. The DOE selection of ballot markers at a January 24, 2008 meeting, would lead to the use of voter-marked paper ballots and precinct-based ballot scanners in 2009.

Liberty, a Direct Recording Electronic voting machine (DRE) vendor, has applied for a temporary restraining order in Albany Supreme Court against the BOE decision. Liberty is challenging the denial of approval for their DRE voting device, and is asking that it be declared compliant and available for use in 2008 by voters with special needs. The Board found that the machine was not fully accessible.

A federal court order earlier this month forced the Board to hastily approve accessible machines for the 2008 elections in order to comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). On January 24, 2008, the Board did so by approving three ballot marking devices which can be used with optical scan systems. The three machines included the Sequoia ImageCast, Premier Automark (compliance contingent upon modifications) and ES&S Automark (compliance contingent upon modifications). No machines that are part of DRE systems were found to be accessible. On January 29, however, the Board determined that both the Premier Automark and ES&S Automark did not comply with New York State requirements, leaving the Sequoia ImageCast as the only state-approved accessible voting device.

Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, in a press conference held outside the Westchester County Board of Elections in White Plains, stated: "I am not surprised by Liberty's action. We knew three years ago when we began our fight for paper ballot optical scan voting machines with ballot markers for the disabled that the vendors would fight hard for electronic voting machines. After all, DREs guarantee substantially larger profits. This is a sad day, however, for our friends in the disabled community. They should be provided with the opportunity to vote on machines that are both accessible and provide a real voter-marked paper ballot. I hope that the Judge upholds the State Board's decision so that we can move forward and guarantee access to a secure vote to all voters."

George Klein, Chair of the Lower Hudson Group of the Sierra Club, representing 5,000 members in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties said: "As citizens of the most powerful democracy on earth, we need a voting system that is honest, transparent, and inspires confidence. The New York State Board of Elections decision to certify paper ballots that are counted by a precinct-based scanner for disabled voters is a step in the right direction. Now we need to make this technology available to all voters, and work for a robust and transparent chain of custody for the ballots in case of a recount."

Lisa Tarricone, Director, Systems Advocacy for the Westchester Independent Living Center stated: "With optical scan voting, persons with disabilities are now, finally, guaranteed their constitutional right to a private and independent vote in New York State."

Margaret Yonco-Haines, Executive Director of the Mid-Hudson Voters for Voting Integrity and board member of New Yorkers for Verified Voting said: "Our votes don't mean anything unless they are accurately counted. That is an obvious point, but that doesn't mean we can take it for granted. By voting on paper ballots instead of computers and by remaining active and engaged in the election process, New Yorkers can make that happen."

Teresa Hommel, Creator of the web site WheresThePaper.org and Chair of the Task Force on Election Integrity of Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist, said: "The State Board's approval of simpler, more low-tech equipment will keep citizens in the picture - we would be able to understand what's going on, observe the handling of the paper ballots, and make sure our elections are well-run and honest."