Do you all realize that you are NOT advising anyone about your
concerns, nor
providing "assistance" anymore?
You are actually trying to *dictate* actions?
You are making DEMANDS.......not suggesting routes of action, like
ONCE was
the goal.......
and all this *constant* deriding of the "Election Office".......these
are
people *trying* to do the right thing.....they're NOT hidden
anarchists and
incompetent boobs, for the most part. (tho there may be a couple of
hidden
boobs in the woodpile, the top administration is well aware of them)
This is why *I* for one have backed off this CVV group......
I'm tired of hearing everything and everyone who *doesn't* agree 100%
with
CVV demands, made out to be grossly incompetent or criminally
negligent.
This is an issue with valid points on *both* sides......
What happened to the spirit of cooperation?
Bo Shaffer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Pezzillo" <jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Citizens for Verifiable Voting" <cvv-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
<commissioners@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Leslie Lacy" <llacy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 1:09 PM
Subject: Comment OPPOSED to Voting System Purchase
4/26/04
To: Boulder County Citizens & Board of Commissioners
Fellow Boulder County Citizens:
Our so-called representatives have ultimately failed us.
We have made it clear that we do not support any purchase of any
voting
system at this time, that we do not support the storage of votes
electronically under any circumstances, that accuracy is more
important
than speed, and that undisclosed voting software is entirely unwelcome
in our community.
And what do we get? An over-inflated purchase contract for a system
for
which our own elected representatives and paid staff cannot guarantee
us that there will be any verification of results and that the "Paper
Ballots" central to the voting process may not even legally be treated
as such. Not to mention only a few days to review hundreds of pages of
contract language (and then only thanks to a dedicated Citizen's
efforts) to attempt to find additional fault with an already flawed
process that is being forced upon us at great taxpayer expense at the
same time we are told we face an ongoing budget crisis.
Based on even a brief reading of the contract, there are clearly new
problems compounding the already broken process that produced it. For
example, the term "eSlate" -- the vendor's brand for unverifiable
computer terminal voting equipment -- appears repeatedly, making it
suddenly unclear again what system is actually being "purchased" now
and going forward, that among other unexplained costs there is $10,000
apportioned for some type of electronic vote communications system
that
has heretofore not been mentioned. Most importantly though, absolutely
no provision has been made in the contract to answer Boulder County
Citizens' specific requirements for Trustworthy Elections for which
both the Commissioners and the County Clerk's office have been
repeatedly requested, and thus, no accountability for not meeting our
requirements, either.
Furthermore, it is clear that the only "purchase" being made is
largely
of hardware destined to be obsolete well within the expected lifespan
of a voting system, and that any and all of the vendor's software will
only be "leased" to the County requiring renewed annual payments that
are not detailed. It is also not clear why, for example, "Three
Workstations per Scanner" are required, since no such operational or
technical information to explain these extraneous and inconsistent
components has been provided to the Citizens despite repeated
requests.
The Citizens of Boulder County have made it abundantly clear in
multiple presentations to the Commissioners and County Clerk that,
among other concerns, "Accuracy is more important than Speed" in the
tabulation of results, yet it appears that the Commissioners
completely
ignored this and in direct contradiction to the Citizen's requests,
instructed the County Clerk's office to "purchase" additional
equipment
with the expressed intent of increasing the Speed, not the Accuracy,
of
counting. Furthermore, despite the Commissioners' voiced concerns
about
the state's unconscionable laws regarding recount methodology, they
are
continuing to support the purchase of a system for which the legal
status of recounting is at best deliberately vague.
Instead, the Commissioners are essentially rubber-stamping a contract
by and for an Elections Office that despite months of opportunity, has
failed to demonstrated that it either cares for or is capable of
conducting quality elections by: using an uncertified system during
the
last election (for which there has been no known accountability);
failing to demonstrate proper procedures (leading to a complete
recount
of the same election); and repeatedly dismissing the detailed concerns
and requirements of local citizens and national experts with much
greater knowledge of technological systems than they admit to possess.
Instead of any professional verification and documentation of such
claims and correction of such issues, "our" Elections Office has
continuously relied on the verbal assurances of multiple vendors for
whom there is no doubt substantial profit motive in every transaction,
and ignored the growing body of public evidence that suggests
virtually
all existing electronic voting equipment is unsuitable for use in
elections.
While it is already clear that despite repeated warnings from the
Citizens NOT to purchase any system at this time, the Commissioners
and
County Clerk's office will forge ahead in unison to waste our money,
continue to work in disregard for their constituents' requirements,
and
remain wholly unrepresentative of the People's interests regarding
this
matter. Indeed Boulder County's Elections Manager is quoted in the
Boulder Daily Camera as being more concerned about the interests of
the
private investors of the vendor than the requirements of the people he
was hired to serve.
Please let this comment stand as public record that although large
numbers of local citizens continue to attempt to provide highly
valuable assistance in this process to achieve Trustworthy Elections,
the County has deliberately and collectively ignored them and thus
failed in their commission as representatives of the public's
interests, and that these repeated failures on this matter both
directly and indirectly undermine the central premise of Democracy
that
Citizens hold dear and to which we are entitled, namely trust in the
system and its processes.
Be it by ignorance or intent makes no difference, may Our Democracy
survive such blatant and repeated disregard for the most fundamental
act of legitimizing governance.
Disappointed Boulder County, Colorado Citizen,
Joe Pezzillo
PO Box J
Boulder, Colorado USA
jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx