The League of Women Voters of Lackawanna County

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d. schreffler

LWVLC makes recommendation for voting systems under consideration for Lackawanna County

The League has reviewed the offerings for a new voting system and recommends a paper ballot system with automarking device for the disabled and optical scanning for counting.

If possible, we recommend leasing the system to lessen risk to county due to limited real world experience with the various voting systems, and to allow technical and legal issues to settle out.

a. The issues experienced at the November 2007 election with paper ballots was one of process and planning, and not inherent with the paper ballot system. Scanning equipment sat idle while ballots boxes sat on tables.
b. Optical Scan ballots preserve a Òhard copyÓ of all votes cast in case the electronic counter fails. A DRE with no voter-verified paper backup may have lost or corrupted memory, and votes can be lost forever. For electronic machines, if a problem is found after votes have been entered, there is no way to know the intent of the voter. In November, former Commissioner Cordaro raised concerns that votes were counted improperly. With DRE machines, there would have been no means to verify these. This historic landslide could have been perceived as possible machine error or tampering if there had been no paper ballots to recount.
c. Paper ballot/optical scan voting is tried and true technology with a proven track record of use for over twenty years. In 2006, more than 50% of the US population voted on Optical Scan, including many whole states and large cities. DRE touchscreen technology is only a little over five years old and we are still learning about how these machines behave in use during real elections.
d. Using DRE machines with paper validation would introduce more process complexity for the voter and poll workers. There is a need for the voter to have easy access to a paper trail, while ensuring they would not be able to handle it physically so that it cannot be taken from the polls. If it were able to be taken from the polls, then votes could be sold, coerced, and recount would no longer be possible.

Full Statement to Commissioners and Election Office: (2008VoteMachines.pdf)

Criteria chart (as of 1/23/08) Total cost of ownership and procurement not complete:(voteselectioncriteria.pdf)

League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh: Comments from Citizens in Three Discussions of the Voting Process: (LWVPittCombinedComments.pdf)

Report: Magnet and PDA Sufficient to Change Votes on Voting Machine:(http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/12/report-magnet-a.html)

CA Releases Results of Red-Team Investigation of Voting Machines: All Three Systems Could Be Compromised:(http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/07/ca-releases-res.html)

Diebold AccuVote-TSX (Premier) Decertified: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/ttbr/diebold_102507.pdf

Software Review and Security Analysis of the ES&S iVotronic 8.0.1.2 Voting Machine Firmware:http://election.dos.state.fl.us/pdf/FinalAudRepSAIT.pdf

DRE more expensive per voter then paper:http://www.ncvoter.net/affordable.html

New York Times Article, Can You Count on Voting Machines? (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06Vote-t.html

Colorado decertifies machines: (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7746932)

Why is a voter-verified paper record or ballot important? http://www.votepa.us/why.html

New voting machines under consideration for Lackawanna County

VENDOR FAIR IN LACKAWANNA COUNTY! Wednesday, 1/23, 4-7pm, at the Hilton in Scranton

Story and video of what Northampton County selected. Click here. They are in the same situation as Lackawanna County

All certified for PA. That does not mean there are not issues - this is what we need to research. These were demostrated at the Northampton County Courthouse on 1/15. Photos