Voters Should Demand Paper Ballots On Election Day

[orleans]

"Early voting for the upcoming general election was launched in Illinois this week. Citizens should be aware that Diebold TSx touch screens, the machines promoted in early voting sites in DuPage County, reportedly have significant flaws and pose security risks that can affect the outcome of elections.

"This is unacceptable.

"We at Illinois Ballot Integrity Project believe accuracy and trust in our electoral process transcend efficiency and speed. Therefore, we urge citizens to wait and cast votes on paper-based optical scan machines Tuesday, Nov. 7.

"Numerous reports and studies substantiate our recommendation, including the following:

"* The U.S. Government Accountability Office's report released a year ago ("Federal Efforts to Improve Security and Reliability of Electronic Voting Systems Are Under Way, But Key Activities Need to be Completed"), addressed serious concerns with the security and reliability of electronic voting systems. According to the report, votes have been miscounted, security controls are weak, system designs are flawed, the certification process is vague and substandard, and security testing is inadequate or nonexistent.

"* In a paper submitted to the 2004 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. Symposium on Security and Privacy, professors at Johns Hopkins University wrote of Diebold touch screens, "We conclude that this voting system is unsuitable for use in a general election."

"* A recent Princeton University study demonstrated that with minimal access with a hotel mini-bar key or nail file, election results could be altered undetectably on a Diebold touch screen machine in less than a minute.

"Many publications including the New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today have reported on the vulnerabilities of Diebold touch screen voting machines. CNN's Lou Dobbs has declared electronic voting a national security risk.

"Why is there no chain of custody of memory cards in DuPage County? Is there really 24/7 security of all 18 early voting sites for the full three weeks of early voting? Who has administrative access to the machines and machine components?

"IBIP and other Americans around the country advocate the use of paper ballots, hand counted at the precinct level. We ask citizens to join our cause and demand transparent, secure and accurate elections -- the bedrock of our democracy. We believe optical scan voting is a better choice than early voting on touch screen devices.

"Request a paper ballot for the optical scan machine from your election judge Nov. 7. Citizens who have voted in DuPage County in recent years will recognize the ballot where ovals are filled in with special pens provided at polling places.

"We strongly encourage citizens to vote -- the hard-won right to vote must be practiced by every American without excuse. Yet we also encourage citizens to make a wise, informed decision on the best method of casting that vote.

"With so much at stake on election day -- our education, our health, our environment, our jobs, our security, our very lives -- we cannot afford to cast our votes with an adulterated voting process.

http://www.libertysuburban.com/story.php?sid=67927&pub=1

[AtLiberty]

1. *kick*