Bo Lipari
report, 4/18/05
Lots
happening around New York State in our Paper Ballot/Optical Scan (PBOS)
campaign. Here is an update on what's going on, and current actions you need to
take.
We have made
a huge amount of progress in our struggle for PBOS, but we're not done yet. Please
keep up your efforts and get your friends, neighbors and families to join us in
calling, contacting and meeting with state and county legislators and election
officials.
Thanks to
everyone for your efforts!
-Bo Lipari
--------------------------------------
HAVA
conference committee
--------------------------------------
As of today,
4/18/05, there is no scheduled conference committee meeting. The last meeting was on March 23, almost a
month ago. The Senate has refused to sign the assembly's certificate
authorizing the continuation of the committee.
There has been a back and forth between the two houses over when and how
the certificate should be extended with the senate making a series of demands,
the most recent of which was that the assembly pass the database and complaint
procedure bills that have been agreed upon.
The Assembly has promised to move the bills through the Ways and Means
Committee next week and to the floor for a vote after that. However, the senate still refuses to come to
the table.
Assemblyman
Keith Wright issued a press release calling on the senate to reconvene the
conference committee, and to "stop dragging their feet." Included in
the release was a letter from Wright to Flanagan dated April 4th asking him to
reactivate the committee and work toward a final package.
The
outstanding issues that the conference committee has to deal with are voting
machines, and voter verification (verification of voter identity as a
prerequisite for registering to vote). We seem to have won solid support for
precinct based optical scan systems in the Assembly, but the Senate support
does not yet seem to be there (although individual Senators often tell us they
like the optical scan alternative).
Whether the
HAVA conference committee will pass legislation requiring paper ballots and
optical scan is still an open question. We hope that the Senate committee
members will get behind optical scan.
This week,
give the HAVA conference committee members (especially the Senators) a call and
remind them that New Yorkers want paper ballots!
http://www.nyvv.org/actionConferenceCommitteeMembers.htm
--------------------------------------
NYVV
releases acquisition cost comparison
--------------------------------------
On April 13,
2005, New Yorkers for Verified Voting released an Acquisition Cost Analysis
comparing the purchase costs of DREs vs. Optical Scan systems for all counties
in New York State.
The analysis
shows the following Acquisition costs:
Electronic
voting machines (DREs): $230,473,000
Paper
Ballots & Precinct based Optical Scan: $114,423,640
Cost SAVINGS
from Optical Scan: $116,049,360
You can
download a copy here:
http://nyvv.org/doc/AcquisitionCostDREvOptScanNYS.pdf
Let's get
this circulating among all the local and state legislators and election
commissioners.
--------------------------------------
Support Bill
A6503, Urge Senate companion bill
--------------------------------------
The new
"Scan and Be Sure" bill introduced by Assemblywomen Sandy Galef and
Barbara Lifton, A6503, would mandate
the use of paper ballots and precinct-count optical scanners. We need the NY
State Senate to introduce and pass a companion Scan and Be Sure bill.
Call your
state senator and tell them about the advantages of optical scan - the
reliability, the paper ballots, the cost savings! Send them the link to New
Yorkers for Verified Voting's acquisition cost analysis. We don't want
electronic voting, and we can't afford it!
Then call
your state assembly member. Tell them the same thing, and send the link. Tell
them to cosponsor and support the Scan and Be Sure bill, A6503.
To look up
your state legislators, go to:
http://www.nyvv.org/actionStateOfficial.htm
- statelegislator
--------------------------------------
Newspapers
continue to endorse PBOS!
--------------------------------------
More and
more newspapers are coming out with endorsements for paper ballots and optical
scan. This Sunday, the Syracuse Post Standard became the latest major New York
State newspaper to endorse PBOS.
Please
contact the editorial boards of your local paper to arrange a meeting to
discuss paper ballots and optical scan. Contact me if you'd like help with the
presentation.
Here's a
list of recent endorsements:
Syracuse
Post-Standard - 4/17/05
http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/opinion-4/1113640588152910.xml&coll=1
Elmira Star
Gazette - 3/29/05
http://www.stargazettenews.com/opinion/Tuopin1.html
Troy Record
- - 3/20/05
http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1170&dept_id=7018&newsid=14184126&PAG=461&rfi=9
Eagle
Regional Newspapers - 3/20/05
An editorial
endorsing paper ballots and optical scan
appeared in the Eagle regional papers in Chittenango, Canastota, and in
the Oneida Press on March 30, 2005. We currently do not have an online link to
the endorsement.
New York
Times - 3/9/05
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=5638
New York
Daily News - 3/9/05
http://www.nydailynews.com/03-09-2005/news/ideas_opinions/story/288160p-246677c.html
--------------------------------------
Town And
County Resolutions
--------------------------------------
There are
now several towns and counties that have passed resolutions calling for paper
ballot and optical scan. Getting towns and counties to call for optical scan is
an important part of our strategy. I've been making presentations with local
citizens to counties around the state as part of this effort. Please contact me
(bolipari@nyvv.org) and let's get working on one in your county or town!
Meetings
with county officials can get important media coverage. Here's an article from
Otsego County where we presented to the IGA committee: http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2005/04/13/vot6.html
We have
several counties now working on passing resolutions. Here is the current list
of optical scan resolutions which have passed:
Tompkins
County http://nyvv.org/doc/TompkinsResolution.pdf
Schuyler
County (No link yet)
Putnam
County http://nyvv.org/doc/PutnamResolution.pdf
Greenburgh
Town Board http://nyvv.org/doc/GreenburghResolution.pdf
Philipstown
Town Board (No link yet)
--------------------------------------
Help Wanted
--------------------------------------
The more
successful we've been, the more work we have to do. We need to enlist some
people who are willing to commit several hours a week to helping us with the
many different tasks we need to get done. Let me know if you can help out with
any of the following:
1) Web
master - Keeping our NYVV website up to date is very important, but hard to do
with so much going on. We need an experienced web master who can help us post
information in a timely fashion, and to rework our site to add some planned
improvements.
2)
Researchers - We are gathering data from counties around the US using optical
scan systems. We need individuals willing to make long distance calls and
interview election officials about their experiences with optical scan.
3) Voting
Equipment specialists - We want to develop a core of specialists who know
everything there is to know about the different voting machines being offered
to New York. You'll need a technical background, the ability to analyze technical
specifications, and a modest writing ability to compile reports on the
machines.
If you can
volunteer for any of the work above, please let me know at bolipari@nyvv.org.