Bad news for democracy in New York State

[Mark Crispin Miller]

At long last, new voting systems certified
DECEMBER
15

http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2009/12/15/at-long-last-new-voting-systems-certified/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lohudblogs%2Fpolhudson+%28Politics+on+the+Hudson%29

   The state Board of Elections voted unanimously today to give the official go-ahead to the state's new voting-machine system, nearly four years after all states were supposed to have updated systems in place. Commissioners certified that the technology meets the state's standards.
   The certification process was unexpecedly long, but New York now has the most rigorous testing standards in the nation, Anna Svizzero, director of election operations for the state Board of Elections, said at a meeting today.
   "The road has been a long one, certainly a hard one, but in the endŠwe have no doubt these systems can be safely and properly used by voters," she said.
   New York is switching from mechanical-lever voting machines, which have been used for decades, to paper ballots and machines to scan the votes next year, along with ballot-marking devices to accommodate voters with disabilities. The state will be using the Dominion Voting Systems ImageCast and Election Systems & Software DS-200 optical scanning systems.
   New York is the last state in the nation to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, which required states to update their voting technology and enable people with disabilities to vote without assistance. The U.S. Department of Justice sued New York over the delay, and U.S. District Court and the Justice Department have been monitoring the state's actions.
   There are still a dozen or two issues for each of the two new voting systems, but they are relatively minor and are similar to a "punch list" at the end of a construction project, said Doug Kellner, co-chair of the state Board of Elections. They do not affect the ability to safely and properly use the systems, he said.
   Forty-seven of 62 counties participating in a pilot program to test out the new systems this year. Nineteen of them used only the new systems (not lever machines), said Svizzero, who said the pilot was a "resounding success" and accurately recorded votes.
   New York's Voting System Certification Program is the first in the country to require that voting systems comply with the federal Election Assistance Commission's 2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, according to the state Board of Elections.
   "This certification by the State Board of Elections is another testament to the high quality work of the men and women throughout New York State that make and service the ImageCast machine," Howard Cramer, vice president for sales at Dominion, said in a statement.
   "From Buffalo to Brooklyn the ImageCast Voting machine involves 61 New York companies and helps support over 1,600 jobs," he said.