Some help on this flyer on BBV

[Kelvin Mace]

I am attending a dog & pony show today put on by my BoE and are friends at Diebold and ES&S.

I am working on a flyer listing why OpScan is a good idea and TS is a BAD idea.

I would appreciate suggestions on things I may have missed.



Why optical scan systems are a GOOD idea

1. They are much less expensive than touch screen systems to deploy – Since you only need one per precinct, they are much cheaper than TS systems which require you buy 5 or more per precinct. The average cost is $5,000 per precinct versus $17,500.

2. They cost less to store and deploy – Fewer units means less storage space and less equipment to haul to individual precincts. This can mean this difference between needing a car trunk or a rental truck to deliver voting equipment to the precinct.

3. They require less training – TS systems are complex, require calibrations, and easy to damage in transit. An optical scan system is easy to understand, easy to use and robust.

4. Voting does not stop because the power went off or the scanner failed – Should you have problems with power or equipment, voters can still vote. Pen and paper does not crash.

5. The system is self-documenting - Paper ballots are tangible evidence of voter intent. The voter can see what has been recorded on the paper by their own hand. In the event of software or hardware failure, or questions about the electronic count, the actual ballots can be counted.

6. Shorter voting lines – Since voters do not have to wait in line to use a voting machine, voting is faster.

7. Software/hardware failures doesn’t mean lost votes – Since a tangible record exists of each vote cast, a failure of the scanner or the tabulating computer doesn’t mean you get to be on TV explaining why the votes of x-thousand voters have been forever lost.

8. Mature technology – OpScan systems have been around several decades and are very reliable. This means that you have a system that works, not a system where you are a guinea pig for the latest attempt to get it right.







Why touch screen systems are a BAD idea

1. TS is hideously expensive – While individual units are cheaper than optical scan units, you need 5 or more TS units per precinct, versus a single OpScan unit.

2. TS units are complicated and difficult to train for and support – TS requires officials to learn how to program ballots (or they have to PAY the vendor to program them), how to calibrate the screen, and requires lots of hand-holding from the vendor (who may, or may not have time to deal with you on election day with all his other clients requiring similar support). When you TS systems won’t boot, do you really have time to sit on the phone and listen to a recording telling you how important your call is?

3. TS units are delicate and easy to damage – Touch screens are very easy to damage. They are sensitive to temperature swings (like when they sit in a freezing truck overnight and are brought into a warm room on Election Day). A damaged TS unit means long lines and angry voters.

4. TS units can and do lose votes PERMENANTLY – We saw this in NC in 2004 when a TS system lost 4,000+ votes, costing the state untold grief and lots of money (that was NOT billed to the vendor).

5. TS systems create votes that can be altered without detection, either accidentally or deliberately – This has been discussed and demonstrated by computer security experts multiple times. In the case of Diebold, their source code has been on the Internet for over 5 years.

6. A voter can never know if their vote was recorded correctly, or at all – Since their is no tangible record of their vote, no one can be sure.

7. TS systems cost more to maintain and store – Because of their delicate screens, TS units must be stored in a temperature controlled environment. Because you need so many of them, it will be a LARGE temperature controlled environment. Support for these systems means expensive training and additional staff, or expensive service contracts with the vendors who may, or may not, be available on Election Day.

8. TS systems have a bad reputation – Thanks to Diebold with its lies and law suits to suppress critics, the public has a VERY bad opinion of this technology.

[Boredtodeath]

1. TS are like your desktop computer

And will have to be replaced with great frequency, making that initial expense a never ending cost, to keep up with changes in technology and security.

(Georgia is being told they will have to throw out their current machine and buy new if they want voter verified paper ballots. $54mil down the drain.)

[petgoat]

2. Touchscreen machines will not age gracefully.

When they get to be ten years old, all that banging around in trucks will take its toll.
They'll start to get flaky, and reliability testing of machines suffering intermittent
malfunctions will be very expensive.

[troubleinwinter]

3. "What A Ballot Is" By Andy Stephenson

The following was written by Andy April 29, 2005, about which he said, "Just putting thoughts on paper right now. So in case something happens to me, god forbid...I have it down for others in the future."

What a ballot is: It is not merely a piece of paper, it is me...it is my voice. Each of us should guard it more than we would our most prized or precious possession. That ballot protects our other possessions. Without it you have no say.

Over the last couple of years I have been adamant about the need for a voter verified paper ballot. It has been the driving force behind what I have done and will continue to do. To me, my ballot is the most sacred sacrament of the secular religion we call Democracy.

<snip>

... David Dill explains that voting on DRE’s is like handing your ballot to a man behind a curtain, telling him how you want to vote, he fills in your choices and you never see the ballot again. This is UNACCEPTABLE! Our ballot must be human readable we must be able to discern our own choices and not leave it to a machine interface. Now this is not always possible as in the case of the blind but there are technologies that help the blind to vote in secret that produce a ballot. Equipment such as Automark produces an optical scan or human readable ballot. The ballot is printed on a heavy weight 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper with standard markings. Any human or optical scan machine can read these ballots and they are ideal for hand counts should the need arise.

Now there are many people that say we should be all hand counted paper all the time. In an ideal world we would do that. But realistically that is not going to happen. Elections offices in most jurisdictions, if not all, are under funded. Elections officials struggle with tight budgets and in most cases do a damned good job with what they have. Not all elections officials are bad and many want to run good clean elections. Keeping the system honest is up to us. With proper auditing and truly random recounts, optical scans are the safest and most accurate way to count an election. The trouble starts when the votes are sent via electronic means to a central tabulator. I would also add that the tabulator needs to be as secure as Ft. Knox because after all, our votes are more precious than gold.

[troubleinwinter]

4. Good work, KM. And nominated for more input.

[pocket]

5. you nailed it

imho

[pocket]

6. .

.

[troubleinwinter]

7. KICKIN' for a good piece that we can all print and hand out!

[demobabe]

8. you might want to simplify some of the points

like this one:

7. TS systems cost more to maintain and store – Because of their delicate screens, TS units must be stored in a temperature controlled environment. Because you need so many of them, it will be a LARGE temperature controlled environment. Support for these systems means expensive training and additional staff, or expensive service contracts with the vendors who may, or may not, be available on Election Day.

All of this is correct and well stated, but you might want to boil it down a little and make it specific to your area. Additionally, the temperature controlled problem is even more of a problem on election day, maybe say:

TS systems do not function properly in humid or hot conditions and have been known to fail during elections in Southeast US climates.

[Kelvin Mace]

17. Thanks!

[RazzleDazzle]

9. Whoa. Surely you of all people know that optiscans are not

problem (fraud) free, right?

The ONLY saving grace is the fact that they start with a Voter-Verified Paper Ballot. Otherwise, they're absolutely no better than touchscreens.

Please don't lead your people down the primrose path. If anything, you have a really good oppty, a teachable moment, to make everyone suspect computerized technology of any kind, which IMO is the appropriate attitude for voting systems. My strong preference would be paper and pencil -- well, okay, pen -- but I'd compromise with optiscan as long as everyone knows they're just as rigable and just as hackable, or close enough, as touchscreens.

[yowzayowzayowza]

15. OS alone does not guarantee reliability, but...

a required manual audit of a few pct of all ballots on election nite would verify the accuracy of every counting device. The system must require the devices to prove their validity in every election, something a TS system could never do.

[Kelvin Mace]

19. NC law now requires

manadatory random hand counts to check against the digital count.

[Kelvin Mace]

18. I don't say they are problem free

or fraud free. They are the best choice of the hardware out there at the moment, especially when the vendor must disclose their source code.

[Stevepol]

10. I'd suggest that TS machines are subject to increasing lawsuits.

When they're used in places that have laws requiring recounts, they are probably sooner or later going to be the subject of lawsuits by disgruntled voters or candidates. How can you have a recount when the machine is incapable of recounting? In this case, will it not be the elections officials who will be sued? Or the state or the county?

The county in turn could sue the company as Montgomery County PA did Micro-Vote in the mid-90s (and won a $1M settlement for computer malfuncion and miscounting), but this is costly and time-consuming. An optiscan is immune to lawsuit as long as there are laws in place requiring audits and recounts.

[crispini]

11. One point you may want to address.

We've run across this point here and so far we don't have a good answer: Early Voting.

During the two-week early voting period here, the elections office only opens about 8 polling places, and they are in locations all over the city. You can go to ANY polling place in order to vote. That means that each polling place must have ballots for ALL 4,000 precincts available to them. A ballot could be different for each precinct because each precinct could be voting in different races for school board, state rep, state senator, federal rep, federal senator, on and on.

So, the county considers that touchscreen voting systems are necessary for early voting, and I can't really say that I have a good rebuttal for that yet.

Now, on voting day, we vote on optical scan systems, and yes indeed, they are very easy to deal with. Which is good, because on election day you have to have every single precinct open, which means you need a LOT more election staff than you do during early voting.

[struggle4progress]

12. My county in NC uses optical scan for early voting without any problem.

[crispini]

14. Interesting, how does that work?

Do you happen to be an election judge for early voting? How many different precincts in your county? I'd like to get a basis for comparison. I'm wondering if they can justify this more easily here because they have so many different precincts to work with.

[Luminous Animal]

13. Make a two sided flyer

One side with a bold headline across the top. Then devide the flyer into two columns. One colum labeled GOOD the other labeled BAD. Then in the most succinct manner possible, list the assets under the GOOD column (Cheaper To Buy... Cheaper To Store... Cheaper To Run... Will Survive a Power Outage... , etc.)

Then in the BAD column, do the same (Hideously Expensive... Too Complicated... Easily Damaged... etc.)


Then, on the reverse, list the same with details.

[eridani]

16. Touchscreens conflate voting (slow) with tabulation (fast)

That automatically slows down the fast step to the pace of the slow step, for a huge decrease in overall process efficiency. One very slow voter can disenfranchise ten others on a tight lunch hour schedule. With opscans, voters can use any flat surface if they don't want to wait for a privacy booth to become free.