New Yorkers for Verified Voting
NYS League of Women Voters
NYPIRG
Common Cause / NY
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Monday, December 5, 2005
Civic Groups Outraged at NYS Board of Elections Action
Certification Testing of Incomplete Voting Systems
a Betrayal of the Public Trust
Groups call for the Legislature to convene oversight hearings on Board actions
A coalition of civic groups today condemned the State Board of
Election's decision to begin preliminary certification testing of the
Liberty DRE computerized voting machine this week, even though the
prototype still has no voter verified paper ballot or full
accessibility features as required by law. The groups found out
about the move through a letter received on Friday by members of the
HAVA Citizens Advisory Committee.
"The Board has consistently misrepresented the machine selection
process to the public, and continues to operate in near secrecy
despite a need for full visibility and transparency in the machine
selection and certification process" said Aimee Allaud,
Elections/Government Specialist of the League of Women Voters of New
York State. "The pre-emption of the public review process of the
proposed Draft Voting System Standards is a slap in the public's
face. It is a subversion of the process which the public comment
period is designed to accomplish."
"Computer engineers know that it is technically naïve to believe that
a partial system can be adequately tested." said Bo Lipari, Executive
Director of New Yorkers for Verified Voting. "Testing a voting system
when some of its parts do not yet exist is fundamentally an exercise
in futility. A voting system includes hardware and software with many
interdependent parts. In particular, a voter verified paper ballot
printer and accessibility interfaces are not simple add-ons."
"In their decision to start the certification process for a voting
machine that isn't fully built yet, the Board of Elections is acting
like nincompoops. They're not only putting the cart before the
horse, they're putting political expediency before a public and
thorough testing of one of the foundations of our electoral system."
said Neal Rosenstein, Government Reform Coordinator of the New York
Public Interest Research Group.
"This adds insult to injury to New York voters. Revamping our voting
systems has to happen, but the process has been mishandled since day
one by our leaders and the NYS Board of Elections. Now as we run out
of time, the real threat is we will approve systems that are not
completed and have voters serving as guinea pigs in the next
election. Voters deserve a thorough and deliberative process as we
decide how New Yorkers will vote for years to come. It is
indefensible to cut corners and be secretive and unaccountable when
our democracy is at stake," stated Rachel Leon, Executive Director,
Common Cause/NY.
The groups called on the Board of Elections to stop the certification
process of any incomplete machines and for the New York State
Legislature to swiftly convene oversight hearings on the Board's
actions to date.
For more information contact:
Bo Lipari, NYVV: 607-387-9308 phone
607-351-2314 cell
Neal Rosenstein, NYPIRG: 212-349-6460 phone
917 -575-4317 cell
Rachel Leon, Common Cause: 917-847-3625
Aimee Allaud, LWV: 518-482-2617
Allegra Dengler
60 Judson Avenue
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
914-693-8023
http://citizensforvotingintegrity.org/http://www.nyvv.org/"... touch-screen machines are highly vulnerable to being hacked or
maliciously programmed to change votes. And they cost far more than
voting machines should." New York Times editorial, March 9, 2005
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