Alternet: The Fallout From California's Ban On Electronic Voting Machines

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/stories/59077

The Fallout From California's Ban on Electronic Voting Machines

By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. Posted August 8, 2007.

Thousands of electronic voting machines will be out of circulation in California after the secretary of state pulls them -- and the House Democrat in D.C. in charge of electronic voting reform applauds the decision.

The decision by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen to replace an estimated 33,000 electronic voting machines in 20 counties before the 2008 presidential primary wasn't that surprising because the machines' security flaws were known, said Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., the lead sponsor of the House's first bill to regulate the machines.

"It is not really new," said Holt, speaking of the design flaws that prompted California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, also a Democrat, to issue a series of directives ordering counties to replace most of the touch-screen voting machines made by Diebold Election Systems and Sequoia Voting Systems by the Feb. 5, 2008, primary. Bowen acted after University of California computer security experts issued a detailed report finding the machines could not prevent people from altering vote counts.

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"It just adds more weight, more urgency to the need to pass federal standards," Holt said, speaking of Bowen's decision to restrict the touch-screen machines. "We can't go into another federal election with machines that do no allow voters to verify their votes and have people in 20 states saying they do not believe the results."

On Tuesday, Kentucky's attorney general, Gregory Stumbo, asked his state board of elections to re-examine their paperless voting machines, citing California's actions. Earlier this year, Florida's Legislature followed its Republican governor, Charlie Crist, and passed an election reform package that included returning to paper ballots and optical-scan counters by 2008.

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[B Calm]

1. Good news for the BLUE Grass State

[SoCalDem]

2. sigh.. SIX and a HALF years later, they still have no cohesive plan

We HAVE to have universal standards & methods..

In the beginning, perhaps it made sense to piece together a patchwork quilt of voting systems, since communication between states was less than perfect..but thtre is NO reason on earth to NOT update that now..

We could have/should have the most transparent and easiest voting system.

We don't vapor-voting machines.. we don;t need 8 page ballots..

all we need is a new twist on things.

States should hold THEIR elections in odd years, and they could have 1000 page ballots, and diamond-studded Diebold machine for all I care..but their handling of the election to FEDERALLY held offices DOES matter to me.

I could not care less who the county commisioners are in Sandusky Ohio, but who they send to congress really DOES matter to me, so in EVEN years there should be 6 regional primaries (Bob Graham stole my idea)



These regions encompass approximate population parity, and would give a true flavor for regional candidates.. they all include a major media center, and travel would be simple within the region.

The actual voting would be a snap too.. the MOST races in any given year would be 3 names.. some years there might be only congressional elections... a vacancy seat in the senate "could" be added to the state balloting in the odd year if necessary.

1.pres
2.senate
3.congressperson

There would be no long lines..

a 5x7 index card and a sharpie pen would be all that was necessary to vote..

and to tally the votes, poll workers being videotaped to count the votes..a chalkboard to record the votes and a phone to call in the numbers..

each polling place would have no trouble recounting/storing the ballots


This will never happen though, because it's too transparent and too easy..