Re: CVV Elections System Public Response

[Evan Daniel Ravitz <evan@xxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for this, but this phrase near the end is vague:

"we urge the Commissioners to require full public disclosure of any
voting system used in Boulder County as an integral part of any
contract."

Is this supposed to mean public, open-source software, as well as a
way for techie reps of all parties to insure proper installation etc.?
I hope so.

Without open software or hand-counts, we are letting the public's most
important business be done out of sight of the public.

Evan


On Mon, 12 Jan 2004, Joe Pezzillo wrote:

>
> From: 	  jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: 	CVV Elections System Public Response
> Date: 	January 12, 2004 2:18:03 PM MST
> To: 	  commissioners@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: 	  bcv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, sashcraft@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
> lsalas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> January 12th, 2004
>
> FROM: Boulder County Citizens for Verifiable Voting
> http://www.coloradovoter.net
>
> TO: Boulder County Board of Commissioners
> CC: County Clerk Linda Salas
> CC: Boulder County Citizens for Verifiable Voting
>
>
> Citizens for Verifiable Voting has learned that the Elections Division
> will recommend the purchase of a Hart InterCivic optical scan system on
> January 22, 2004. While we are pleased that the Elections Division is
> recommending a system based on voter-verifiable paper ballots, we have
> several concerns about this recommendation that merit your attention.
>
> The public has not seen the details of the Elections Division's
> recommendation - only a summary press release. We therefore ask that
> you direct the Elections Division to post prominently on the Internet
> all documentation relevant to its recommendation well before any
> scheduled public hearing to allow sufficient time for analysis.
>
> We are also concerned about the Election Division's recommendation to
> purchase, rather than lease, a system at this time. Our previous voting
> system lasted for more than 25 years, and the investment we now make
> will affect our elections and our democracy for a long time. Since NIST
> and the Election Assistance Commission have not issued their voting
> system technical standards, any system purchased now may not comply
> with yet-to-be-released Federal standards.
>
> We are also concerned that the Elections Division's recommendation to
> purchase a system could potentially lock the County into future voting
> system purchases from the same vendor. Since HAVA will almost certainly
> require the County to purchase some form of ADA-compliant voting
> terminals in the next few years, and the market for voting systems
> continues to change at an unprecedented rate, the County should keep
> all its options open by leasing a system for the current 2004 election
> only. This way, the County will be free to choose any vendor's
> products, without worrying about the major system integration problems
> inherent in combining voting systems from multiple vendors. A system
> purchase now seems premature and particularly risky.
>
> Finally, since computerized optical-scan systems can be tampered with,
> we ask that you direct the Elections Division to incorporate some form
> of "random sample" double-checking into their vote tabulation
> procedures. A small but statistically significant fraction of ballots
> should be hand counted for independent verification of the machine
> count accuracy. If the hand count demonstrates that the computer count
> is invalid, we would know there was a problem and be able to get an
> accurate count, either by fixing the system or doing a full hand count.
> Without this critical safeguard, no one can be sure that any
> computerized vote counting method has not been maliciously tampered
> with in a way that could affect the outcome of an election.
> For the same reasons, we urge the Commissioners to require full public
> disclosure of any voting system used in Boulder County as an integral
> part of any contract.
>
> Citizens for Verifiable Voting appreciates that the Boulder County
> Commissioners have taken a strong interest in ensuring that our
> elections are demonstrably accurate and reliable. We urge you to
> continue your commitment to our democratic heritage and rights by
> responding to our concerns described above.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Joe Pezzillo, Spokesperson
> Boulder County Citizens for Verifiable Voting
>
>
>
>
>
>