Humboldt Supervisors Approve Limited Vote-PAD Pilot Project

http://guvwurld.blogspot.com/2006/04/humboldt-supervisors-approve-limited.html

Humboldt Supervisors Approve Limited Vote-PAD Pilot Project

As the first order of business on this morning's agenda, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors heard a revised report from Carolyn Crnich, Recorder/Clerk-Registrar of Voters. As noted in GuvWurld's Sunday dispatch, the plan now calls for deploying Vote-PAD at only the elections department for the June 6 primary. This was approved unanimously by the Supes.

For my part, as indicated on Sunday, I pointed out the "alternatives to staff recommendations" that Crnich included with her proposal (.pdf) because they indicate her preference for blowing off the Help America Vote Act rather than falling back upon purchasing Diebold touch screen machines. Today's approval would have made this a moot point had I not brought it up. Chairman Woolley thanked me for offering this perspective which I called a welcome willingness to consider "municipal civil disobedience" (.pdf).

In addition to bringing recognition to that important position shift at the elections department, I requested that the topic of vote counting and election security be added to the next Supervisors' agenda so that we may "report out of committee" what is discussed at the meeting coming up this Thursday for the Election Advisory Committee (6:30pm at the Courthouse in Eureka; open to the public). Elections Manager Lindsey McWilliams requested that the Supes delay hearing the item due to Fortuna's local election next Tuesday and so the matter is now slated for April 25. Altogether, I think we got what we needed this morning.

This headline could have read:

Humboldt Registrar Prefers HAVA Non-Compliance Over Diebold Touch Screens

I have a feeling that people elsewhere can find ways to get traction from this. Read the story carefully and review the links.