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Ballot Marking Concerns
To the Editor:
The NY State Board of Elections has filed a court-ordered timetable for having accessible voting equipment available to persons with disabilities in time for the September 2008 primaries. The timetable requires our County Boards of Election to choose ballot-marking devices by 2/8/07.
This is a crucial decision because cost issues will require that the choice of ballot marker will determine how all citizens in NY State will vote starting in 2009 when the transition away from lever voting is complete.
The choice will be straightforward - will our Commissioners choose ballot markers designed for the sole purpose of marking a ballot, which then would be capable of being run through an optical scanner for counting and recording the vote. Or will they instead choose the only other alternative - a touch screen voting machine which has been jerry-rigged to perform only the printing of a small "paper trail", which then will be hand counted.
This Sunday at 2pm, Desmond Fish Library in Garrison, Philipstown for Democracy will show a documentary on the issues surrounding touch screen voting machines and follow with a discussion of the New York State situation.
The following is the body of a letter I sent to our Putnam County Election Commissioners, asking them whether they intend to implement paper or electronic ballots in Putnam County.
To: Robert J. Bennett, Commissioner, Anthony G. Scannapieco, Jr. Commissioner, Putnam County Board of Elections
"Dear Commissioners,
As you know, the State Board of Elections has submitted a timetable for implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to Federal Judge Gary Sharp, as a result of the Department of Justice lawsuit against New York State. Pursuant to this timeline, all New York State counties will be required to provide ballotmarking devices for use in all polling places in New York State. As you know, these ballot marking devices are intended to allow voters with disabilities to mark ballots independently.
Since you will be required to make this choice by 2/8/08, it is important that the voters of Putnam County know now whether the ballot-marking devices you intend to purchase for Putnam County will be readily compatible with a paper ballot optical scan system (PBOS) which uses a full face paper ballot, or if you intend to acquire ballot marking devices compatible with a Direct recording Electronic (DRE) system which uses an electronic ballot.
I eagerly await your response."
Margaret Yonco-Haines
Garrison
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