FROM:

FROM:

Teresa Hommel

Chair, Task Force on Election Integrity, Community Church of New York

TO:

New York State Board of Elections

40 Steuben Street

Albany, NY 12207-2108

Comment on Draft Voting Systems Standards

Section 6209.3 Paper-based Voting Systems

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In this section, the term "Optical Scanner" should be used when requirements are being specified for the Optical Scanner

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SBOE DRAFT

(1) mechanically or electronically prevent a voter from voting for candidates or ballot

proposals for whom or which he or she is not entitled to vote.

NYC BOE RESPONSE

The paragraph is the subject of footnote 3, "This cannot be accomplished in any automated way."

HOMMEL SUGGESTION

Omit this paragraph.

REASON

ERMA specifies:

44 S 6. Section 7-202 of the election law is REPEALED and a new section

45 7-202 is added to read as follows:

46 S 7-202. VOTING MACHINE OR SYSTEM; REQUIREMENTS OF.

...

5 C. BE CONSTRUCTED SO THAT A VOTER CANNOT VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE OR ON A

6 BALLOT PROPOSAL FOR WHOM OR ON WHICH HE OR SHE IS NOT LAWFULLY ENTITLED

7 TO VOTE;

The draft voting systems standards modifies the law by requiring paper-based voting systems to perform this "mechanically or electronically." Such a requirement is not appropriate for paper ballot systems because the poll worker or Board of Elections simply gives the voter the correct ballot.

This requirement is appropriate for DREs where the voter needs a smart card to activate the DRE

and display the ballot for the voter's Election District.

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SBOE DRAFT

(2) be able to prevent a voter from

(a) Over-voting

(b) Voting for the same person more than once for the same office or position

NYC BOE RESPONSE

(2) be able to alert a voter that he or she has:

(a) Over-voted

(b) Has attempted to cast a ballot from which no votes were recognized by the Vote

Tabulation Equipment

HOMMEL SUGGESTION

(2) be able to alert a voter that he or she has:

(a) Over-voted

(b) Has attempted to cast a ballot from which no votes were recognized by the Vote

Tabulation Equipment

REASON

I suggest using the NYC BOE language but omitting paragraph (2) (c).

Paragraph (2)(c) is appropriate for DREs where the voter needs a smart card to activate the DRE

and display the ballot for the voter's Election District.

Such a requirement is not appropriate for paper ballot systems because the poll worker or Board of Elections simply gives the voter the correct ballot.

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SBOE DRAFT

G. The system shall provide a means by which the software may be positively verified to

insure that it corresponds to the format of the ballot face.

HOMMEL SUGGESTION

G. The Optical Scanner shall provide a means by which it may display the lot number

of the ballot being scanned.

REASON

The paragraph in the draft is unclear.

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SBOE DRAFT

H. The system shall be capable of accumulating and reporting a count of the number of

ballots tallied for an election district and shall be capable of separating and tabulating those

election district totals to produce a report of the total of ballots tallied by groups of election

districts such as legislative districts, wards, etc.

NYC BOE RESPONSE

H. The Election Day Tabulating Equipment shall have a public counter that shall be capable of

accumulating and reporting a count of the number of ballots for each ballot type, tallied for each

election district. It shall be capable of separating and tabulating those election district totals to produce a report of the total of ballots tallied by groups of election districts such as legislative districts, wards, etc.

HOMMEL SUGGESTION

H. The poll-site-based Optical Scanner shall be capable of accumulating and reporting a count of the number of ballots tallied for each ballot type, tallied for each election district. When each ballot contains, in both machine- and visually-readable form, the voter's Assembly District and Election District, the Optical Scanner shall be capable of separating and tabulating those election district totals to produce a report of the total of ballots tallied by groups of election districts such as legislative districts, wards, etc.

REASON

If the Optical Scanner is to create tallies by AD/ED, then each ballot must specify the voter's AD/ED.

The easiest way to encode this information in a manner that is both machine- and visually-readable is to use 6 columns of numbers. For example, if a voter is in AD 105 ED 38, then the ballot would be marked as follows (for ease in creating this document, a solid filled in bubble is displayed as X).

--AD-- | --ED--

0 X 0 | X 0 0

X 1 1 | 1 1 1

2 2 2 | 2 2 2

3 3 3 | 3 X 3

4 4 4 | 4 4 4

5 5 X | 5 5 5

6 6 6 | 6 6 6

7 7 7 | 7 7 7

8 8 8 | 8 8 X

9 9 9 | 9 9 9

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SBOE DRAFT

I. The system shall be capable of accumulating and reporting by election district the total

votes cast for each candidate and the total vote for or against each ballot proposal. The

system shall also be capable of tabulating and reporting the vote cast for each candidate

and the vote cast for or against each ballot question by groups of election districts such as

legislative districts, wards, etc.

NYC BOE RESPONSE

I. The voting system shall be capable of accumulating and reporting by election district the total

votes cast for each candidate (including write in candidates) and the total vote for or against each

ballot proposal. The system shall also be capable of tabulating and reporting the vote cast for each candidate and the vote cast for or against each ballot question by groups of election districts such as legislative districts, wards, etc.

HOMMEL SUGGESTION

I. The Optical Scanner shall be capable of accumulating and reporting by election district the total of votes cast for each candidate, the total of write in votes cast in each race,

and the total of votes for or against each ballot proposal. The system shall also be capable of

tabulating and reporting the total of votes cast for each candidate, the total of write in votes cast in each race, and the total of votes for or against each ballot proposal by groups of election districts such as legislative districts, wards, etc.

REASON

The optical scanner can provide the tally of write-in votes.

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SBOE DRAFT

J. Qualification tests for paper-based voting systems shall not be required for the following

types of equipment, and their suitability for elections use shall be determined by functional

tests which integrate them with the remainder of the system:

(1) Standard production models of general purpose data processing equipment

(PC'S, printers, etc.) shown to be compatible with these requirements and with the paper

ballot voting system.

(2) Production models of special purpose data processing equipment (scanners, bar

code readers, etc.) having successfully performed in elections use and having been shown

to be compatible with the paper ballot voting system.

NYC BOE RESPONSE

J. Any change in hardware, including standard off the shelf components, shall be required to be

submitted for reexamination pursuant to section 6209.7 of these rules.

HOMMEL SUGGESTION

J. Any change in hardware, including standard off the shelf components, shall be required to be

submitted for recertification.

REASON

Only complete testing and examination can reveal whether a PC, scanner, bar code reader,

etc. is a standard production model or has been altered; whether such equipment is

compatible, or has performed successfully in elections use.

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SBOE DRAFT

(3) Coding which is both machine readable and manually readable shall be used to

identify different ballot styles.

NYC BOE RESPONSE

(3) Coding which is both machine-readable and visually readable shall be used to securely

identify different ballot styles.

HOMMEL SUGGESTION

(3) The ballot style of each ballot shall be identified by coding which is machine readable, and such coding must also be visually readable. Each ballot shall also contain a grid of 6 columns of

numbers from 0 (zero) through 9 (nine) for marking by the poll worker to specify each

voter's Assembly District and Election District. Each number shall be printed within a small

optical scan marking bubble (circle). This grid shall be in the following form.

--AD-- | --ED--

0 0 0 | 0 0 0

1 1 1 | 1 1 1

2 2 2 | 2 2 2

3 3 3 | 3 3 3

4 4 4 | 4 4 4

5 5 5 | 5 5 5

6 6 6 | 6 6 6

7 7 7 | 7 7 7

8 8 8 | 8 8 8

9 9 9 | 9 9 9

REASON

All machine readable coding should ALSO be human-readable, to ensure that the machine readable coding does not contain improper information. Also, since the same ballot style

may be used in many Election Districts, the Election District needs to be coded on the ballot.

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SBOE DRAFT

(4) Ballots used in the system shall be able to be counted by hand as well as be

counted by machine. The system shall provide an audit trail of all ballots cast, making

possible the reconstruction of the election, starting with the individual votes of all eligible

voters, in the case of a recount.

HOMMEL SUGGESTION

(4) Ballots used in the system shall be able to be counted by hand as well as be

counted by machine. The system shall securely store all ballots cast, making

possible the reconstruction of the election, starting with the individual votes of all eligible

voters, in the case of a recount.

REASON

For optical scan systems the "audit trail" consists of the original paper ballots marked by

voters.