[IP] Voting machine details hidden
Begin forwarded message:
From: Jeff Baker <jbaker2@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: September 21, 2006 9:08:19 PM JST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Voting machine details hidden
Dave,
For IP, if you wish. It doesn't bother me that NY is so slow in
changing their voting machines. What bothers me is we appear to be
doing such a weak job of it, given the amount of time NY has had to
address the issue.
Jeff Baker
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?
storyID=518229&category=STATE&newsdate=9/19/2006
Voting machine details hidden
State tells counties to decide which devices they want before
certification process is finished
By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau
First published: Tuesday, September 19, 2006
ALBANY - A consultant helping the League of Women Voters scrutinize
the state's future voting machines said he's being prevented from
seeing technical specifications from bidders who want to distribute
the devices statewide.
And, said Bo Lipari, the state Board of Elections is now telling
counties to choose which machines they want before they are even
certified for use.
``It's really putting the cart before the horse,'' said Lipari, a
software engineer who was the League of Women Voters' appointee to a
special Board of Elections committee that is supposed to help look at
the machines.
According to the latest instructions from the state, county election
boards across the state have until the end of October to chose which
model and brand of machines they want. But the state's schedule for
certifying the machines to ensure they are reliable and easy to use
runs through late December.
``It's just crazy to ask counties to make a choice prior to knowing
if the machine is qualified for use,'' said Lipari.
Board of Election officials, though, say counties need to get started
with their orders early if they are to meet a court-agreed deadline
for having the new machines by September 2007.
State board spokesman Lee Daghlian added that purchase decisions
aren't final contracts, and that counties also have to list backup
choices, should some of the 11 different machines, offered by six
manufacturers, fail the tests.
``If we waited to do contracts and all of that work after everything
is certified, there would not be enough time to get those machines in
place,'' said Daghlian.
Lipari, though, was also concerned that he hasn't yet been able to
inspect the technical data packages, or software specifications, of
the machines.
``They are still hemming and hawing,'' he said.
Daghlian said the board needs to figure out what portions of the
specifications are proprietary and thus legally protected from public
view.
``The technical data packages are owned by vendors. Some of it is
copyrighted,'' said Daghlian, who explained that they may have to
black out portions of the specifications that manufacturers want to
keep to them selves. ``If we gave it out, it would be an infringement
of their privacy.''
Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open
Government, agreed that some of the proprietary information can be
shielded.
That may not have been the case a few months ago, when a special
Legislature-appointed committee, which Lipari was on, was still in
existence.
But that committee expired earlier this year and lawmakers never
renewed it. The current committee was appointed by the Board of
Elections, but doesn't have the same legal rights. They haven't yet
met, said Lipari, who also noted that he signed a non-disclosure
agreement he believes should let him see the documents.
Under the federal Help America Vote Act, all states are supposed to
modernize and increase accessibility to their voting systems. The law
was passed in the wake of the disputed 2000 presidential election, in
which there was much confusion about the paper ballots used in some
Florida counties.
In March, the Department of Justice filed suit against New York in
U.S. Northern District Court, charging the state has failed to create
a system to accommodate disabled voters or set up a system that can
generate a paper record. New York officials agreed to make those
changes. The Department of Justice has also said New York, which
relies mostly on outmoded lever machines, has been the slowest state
to change over.
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/