Re: Rock and a hard place

[kellen carey <kcarey636@xxxxxxxxx>]

Alan,

 

This is a complicated subject.  Few people are informed well enough to make a decision.  There are a whole range of intertwined electoral and technical issues, and the more a I read/learn, the more layers of complexity I see.

 

I suggest we be cautious.

 

Therefore, I suggest for Boulder County what Al Kolwicz of CAMBER is suggesting:

 

1. In the short term (i.e. 2004, possibly 2005), we should opt for hand-marked paper ballots, preferably identical to the absentee mailed ballots, all read by the same optical scanning devices Boulder County already owns and has been using for years.

 

2. That buys some time to acquire in the future computer/voter interface machines (whether touchscreen or other) capable of multiple ballots, multiple languages, second chance voting, a voter verifiable paper ballot, and audio capability for the one ADA-compliant machine mandated per precinct by HAVA.

 

3. There should be NO digital balloting at all unlessl all technical security and privacy issues have been thoroughly hashed out to the satisfaction of a whole range of independent testers and experts.  Establishing the specifications, testing, reviews, etc., will almost certainly take several years.

 

kell 

Alan <Alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Ok, for everyone that attended the meetings in Boulder regarding the
> Electronic Voting machines currently being considered for Boulder county
> (and for others that are generally informed on the subject), what is your
> favorite system?
>
> I personally feel that some of the sales people were bold face lying in
> their presentations and some were deliberately misleading in their answers
> to certain questions. There are to many security concerns and proprietary
> software issues with any of the systems. This decision is like which flavor
> of mud do you like best. If I were to choose today I believe I would still
> go with Advante due to their embracing the voter verifiable paper ballot.
>
> In many ways I am suspicious of the whole effort to use DRE's in the voting
> process. I personally feel that we should mark a paper ballot and then
> place it in the "vote
>  reader" scanner. When the display verifies that the
> ballot scan reflects the voters intentions then the ballot is transfer to
> the ballot box. That way we have a check and balances system and paper
> ballots for a recount.
>
> What are your thoughts.
>
> Alan

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