http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071013/COLUMNISTS32/710130374/1002/NEWS01

theithacajournal

Oct. 13, 2007

Lifton continues on voting-machine panel

Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, D/WFP-12th District, has been reappointed to the Citizens Election Modernization Advisory Committee, she announced Thursday.

The committee is a 12-member bipartisan team assembled to reviewing and make recommendations as to which voting machines meet the requirement of the Help American Vote Act and New York's election law.

The committee, established in 2005, was to expire this year, but a bill Lifton sponsored extended its life until July 1, 2010. The new law allows the committee to continue advising the state Board of Elections on voting machine certification. Lifton has advocated that paper ballots and optical scanning machines, along with an AutoMark system for people with disabilities, be selected to replace the state's aging mechanical-lever voting machines.

“Continuing my work on this committee will give me an opportunity to ensure voters cast their ballots on machines that work reliably and count every vote accurately,” Lifton said. “New voting machines will allow us to increase voter confidence while better accommodating voters with disabilities.”