FW: Elections must be verifiable

["Paul Tiger" <tigerp@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gotta treat 'em right when they do the right thing. Get more press with
honey. --Paul Tiger

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Tiger [mailto:tigerp@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 1:47 AM
To: evansc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Elections must be verifiable

Greetings Clay,

Thank you, for the investigation and publication of your "Elections must be
verifiable" article.

It is incomprehensible how in some quarters this issue is viewed as a
political one. Or at worst a partisan one.
No matter how our views may differ, we should all have the same rights to
vote our views. In order to do so effectively, each voter must be able to
see a permanent record of his or her vote.
For this reason, civil libertarians; computer specialists; academic
researchers; and joe-in-the-street are all saying that a voter verifiable
paper ballot is the optimal method.

While touch-screen and other schemes for control of a Direct Recording
Electronic voting terminal are mandatory for the disabled under the HAVA
legislation, there is some consternation over the storage of the individual
ballot.
What many propose is that the DRE terminal print out a hard copy
opto-scanable ballot (just like the recent mail-in ballot). The difficulty
is that most vendors of DRE equipment see this as unnecessary. They make
claims that this does not constitute HAVA compliancy. However, HAVA
compliancy is meant to conform with standards written by NIST that have not
yet been created.
In effect, the federal government is forcing communities to purchase systems
now, which may or may not be compliant in the future.

The issue of a paper ballot has become a legislative and political issue.
The makers of DREs are lobbying against it. Many legislators are considering
that by using a completely electronic method, that they can know the outcome
of races within a few minutes of the close of the polls. Instant
gratification.
Others quiver at the consequences.

At what cost, liberty? Should our systems be fast, or fair?

I am aware of citizen's groups meeting all over our state, and throughout
the country. People who have heard of this dilemma and have joined with
others to seize the moment and change the tide. Or be the tide.
This is a real grass roots movement, of which the fourth estate has been
paying a small amount of attention to. Again, I thank you for speaking out
on such an important subject.

Paul Tiger, Legislative Director of the Libertarian Party of Colorado
legislativedirector@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
303-774-6383 voice and messages
720-323-0570 cell
http://www.lpcolorado.org/
"The government that governs best, governs least."
                            Thomas Jefferson