Nevada 1st to go with voter verifiable paper trail by '04

[tom bldr <tom_bldr@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.renogazettejournal.com/news/stories/html/2003/12/10/58808.php

Secretary of State Dean Heller said Wednesday that
Nevada has become the first state to demand a
voter-verifiable receipt printer on new touch-screen
voting machines being purchased for the 2004
elections.

Heller picked Oakland, Calif.-based Sequoia Voting
Systems over Diebold Election Systems of North Canton,
Ohio, as the supplier of the new direct-recording
electronic voting machines that will be bought with
federal funds.

Heller also decertified all punch-card voting machines
in Nevada as of next Sept. 1, just before the state?s
primary, saying it?s his duty ?to provide voters with
the highest level of confidence that elections in this
state are fair, unbiased and secure.?

?A paper trail is an intrinsic component of voter
confidence,? Heller said in explaining why he insisted
that Sequoia ? which already has nearly 3,000 machines
installed in Clark County ? include the receipt
printers on new machines for the upcoming elections.
The printers must be added on existing machines by
2006.

Heller mentioned the Florida elections in 2000,
saying, ?The Florida debacle and the chaos created by
the ?hanging and pregnant chad? controversy clearly
demonstrate the need to move forward with advanced
technology.?

While the printers add to the cost of the voting
systems, Heller said ?money takes a back seat to
accuracy, security and voter confidence.? The printers
let voters see their ballot choices before finalizing
their votes.

The decision to go with Sequoia machines was based in
part on a review by the state Gaming Control Board?s
slot machine experts who issued a report saying the
Diebold machine that was analyzed ?represented a
legitimate threat to the integrity of the election
process.?

Marc McDermott, the GCB?s electronic services division
chief, said the Sequoia machine ?represents a much
more secure option.?

Heller also said more than two-thirds of the state?s
voters already use Sequoia voting machines, and Clark
County ? encompassing Las Vegas ? has used Sequoia for
the past 10 years.

He added that now every polling site in the state will
have the same voting system and technology, and that
will help as the state shifts to a statewide voter
registration system prior to the 2006 elections.

Funding for the Sequoia machines and the printers will
come from federal funds allotted to the states under
the Help America Vote Act. Nevada will get a minimum
state allotment of $5 million under part of the act,
followed by another $15 million under other provisions
of the new law.


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