Michelle
10-13-2006, 10:28 PM
Board Of Elections Try Out New Electronic Voting Machines (http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=3&aid=63455)
October 13, 2006
Next month will likely be the last time New York voters will be using traditional voting machines, instead of electronic voting machines.
It's coming down to the wire, just a couple of months, for the city to cast its vote on what kind of machine, and voting rights advocates are keeping a watchful, if wary, eye.
"The most important thing is that the machines not only are usable and understandable, but they can be protected against fraud," said Michael Waldman, of New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice.
Some say Albany's dysfunction actually saved the state from making mistakes other states have, for example, it will not allow counties to choose wireless machines, which can be easily manipulated using devices like a palm pilot. Still some say all the other options are rife with problems.
"There has to be a paper trail so voters can check their vote, and then for auditing after the fact” said Waldman. ”So we know that the votes that went into the machines are the votes that get counted after."
The city is looking at two different types. The first is an optical scan where voters would mark an actual ballot and then scan it in a machine.
The other is called a DRE where a voter would either lay a ballot over a screen and push a button by the name or use a screen like an ATM.
Sounds easy enough, but there's one catch, NY has a law requiring a "full face" ballot, meaning all of the candidates' names need to be visible all at once.
"When you're required to have dozens of candidates, the screen is no longer the size of an ATM,” said Waldman. “Instead, it's the size of a small refrigerator."
Critics warn it will be confusing to use and many people will not actually complete their votes, especially for those with reading disabilities.
Officials say all of the gloom and doom is unwarranted, that the machines they are considering have internal auditing components and paper trails if a recount is needed. And, as for concerns about high-tech sabotage?
"Whatever system we choose, the software for that system, will be housed on an exclusive server here at the Board of Elections,” said John Ravitz, of the New York City Board of Elections.
Meanwhile, the city is testing special machines for the disabled, which will help voters mark their ballots, with audio components, a sip and puff device, or rocker pedals.
But critics say there needs to be more sites around the city for disabled voters to access.
Choosing the system may actually be the easiest part. It's going to be a mad scramble to get the more 7,500 machines up and running, and train thousands of poll workers, not to mention millions of skeptical voters in time for the 2008 presidential election.
- Molly Kroon
October 13, 2006
Next month will likely be the last time New York voters will be using traditional voting machines, instead of electronic voting machines.
It's coming down to the wire, just a couple of months, for the city to cast its vote on what kind of machine, and voting rights advocates are keeping a watchful, if wary, eye.
"The most important thing is that the machines not only are usable and understandable, but they can be protected against fraud," said Michael Waldman, of New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice.
Some say Albany's dysfunction actually saved the state from making mistakes other states have, for example, it will not allow counties to choose wireless machines, which can be easily manipulated using devices like a palm pilot. Still some say all the other options are rife with problems.
"There has to be a paper trail so voters can check their vote, and then for auditing after the fact” said Waldman. ”So we know that the votes that went into the machines are the votes that get counted after."
The city is looking at two different types. The first is an optical scan where voters would mark an actual ballot and then scan it in a machine.
The other is called a DRE where a voter would either lay a ballot over a screen and push a button by the name or use a screen like an ATM.
Sounds easy enough, but there's one catch, NY has a law requiring a "full face" ballot, meaning all of the candidates' names need to be visible all at once.
"When you're required to have dozens of candidates, the screen is no longer the size of an ATM,” said Waldman. “Instead, it's the size of a small refrigerator."
Critics warn it will be confusing to use and many people will not actually complete their votes, especially for those with reading disabilities.
Officials say all of the gloom and doom is unwarranted, that the machines they are considering have internal auditing components and paper trails if a recount is needed. And, as for concerns about high-tech sabotage?
"Whatever system we choose, the software for that system, will be housed on an exclusive server here at the Board of Elections,” said John Ravitz, of the New York City Board of Elections.
Meanwhile, the city is testing special machines for the disabled, which will help voters mark their ballots, with audio components, a sip and puff device, or rocker pedals.
But critics say there needs to be more sites around the city for disabled voters to access.
Choosing the system may actually be the easiest part. It's going to be a mad scramble to get the more 7,500 machines up and running, and train thousands of poll workers, not to mention millions of skeptical voters in time for the 2008 presidential election.
- Molly Kroon