Lou Dobbs: The country has done well with paper ballots for a long time

[Stevepol]

Bradblog has the transcript of Friday's "Democracy at Risk" segment on the Dobbs show on CNN. A lot of people are beginning to make waves, a lot of them and with good reason. Reasons? The cost, the unverifiability, the lack of transparency, the break-downs and glitches, the cost, the lack of confidence in outcomes, the always suspicious discrepancies between polls and alleged results. Did I mention the cost?





KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: The crank of a voting machine lever has a solid sound, and Suffolk County officials don't want to give them up. They are asking the courts to rule counties have the right to use lever machines that have worked perfectly, and ignore state rules that call for them to be replaced.

The Help America Vote Act called for new election equipment across the country after the disastrous election in 2000.

STEVE LEVY, SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE: We do not believe that because a couple of counties in Florida had problems with hanging chads that we should have to spend tens of millions of dollars in new systems that are susceptible to fraud and are intimidating to many in our voting public.

PILGRIM: It would cost the county $14 million to buy machines that have not proved reliable. Neighboring Nassau County also wants to keep the old system in place, saying Nassau County doesn't have the space to store the electronic machines properly, in proper climate- controlled conditions.

Clinging to the old technology, only about 6 percent of the country will still use lever machines in this November election, mostly in New York and Connecticut. And with the recent electronic voting mess, many counties are printing and storing paper ballots, just in case the new electronic touch-screen systems fail.





Link:

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3588

[texpatriot2004]

1. K & R for Transparent Democracy nm

[Kurovski]

2. K&R.

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