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Letters to the Editor

Post-Standard Letter

Monday, March 28, 2005

Protect democracy and push for paper ballots

To the Editor:

The Help American Vote Act requires that the New York State Legislature decide within the next few weeks on a new voting system or risk losing vital federal funds.

To meet this urgent need, there is a proposal to utilize voter-verified paper ballots with optical scanning devices. Paper ballots are the key to an accurate and fair election. Under the best scenario, the voter would mark a paper ballot in much the same way one does a standardized test form, and then place it for verification under an optical scanner available right at the polling place.

This will avoid any losses of votes during transmission and will have the added benefit of being able to catch errors such as over-voting right on the spot, so that the voter can be given a fresh ballot to correct them immediately.

To eliminate any loss of votes due to electronic glitch or deliberate tampering, the paper ballots can be secured in locked boxes in case a recount is needed. Studies have shown this system to be not only far more reliable than electronic voting systems but also far cheaper.

There is a bill now before the state Assembly, A06503. Please contact your assemblyperson immediately to urge support for this bill and your state senator to support such a measure in the Senate. Let's protect democracy by making sure our votes will always be counted!

Jeanne Fudala

Alpine

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