New Yorkers: urgent action alert. Tell your legislators no touch screens!

[Amaryllis]

JUst got this from a friend who is an Alliance for Democracy member, who got it from another AFD member. Sorry if dupe!
And, sorry for all the carots >>> toward the bottom. I got the email this way, and didn't have time to delete them all, but it seemed important to get this up asap!

Here's what New York is doing:

This week, our state senators must hear that constituents don't want to vote on touch screen voting machines. The state senate will introduce and pass HAVA legislation sometime in the next two weeks.
THIS WEEK, WE NEED YOU TO CALL YOUR SENATOR and tell them you want
paper ballots and optical scanners for NY.
Instructions for finding your state senator are at the end of this
message.

When you call, mention some of the benefits of PB/OS systems for NY:
* PB/OS is RELIABLE, AUDITABLE, ACCESSIBLE, and COST EFFECTIVE.
* Easy and intuitive for voters and poll workers to learn and use.
* Paper ballots are inherently voter verified.
* Paper Ballots are easily recounted by hand.

* PB/OS will cost NYS TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS less in acquisition
and ongoing costs compared to touchscreen systems.
* They are fully accessible to disabled voters using ballot marking
devices.
* PB/OS is fully HAVA compliant. Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Minnesota and other states have adopted PB/OS to meet HAVA requirements.

Please make your call today. Then let us know you called at
[e-mail].
We have only a few more weeks to go before NY's voting equipment
decision is made. New Yorkers must do everything we can over the next weeks to ensure that New Yorkers won't vote on touch screen machines.

PLEASE ACT TODAY!

Find out more about NYVV's Paper Ballots for NY campaign and what you
can do: www.nyvv.org/paperballotHome.htm

Visit our action page at:
http://www.nyvv.org/currentAction.htm

> > >> CURRENT NY STATUS:
> > >> -----------------------
In January, the NYS Assembly passed HAVA legislation that allows NY to choose paper ballots/optical scan instead of DREs. Many county Board of Election commissioners have begun to see the benefits of optical scan systems, and are starting to ask why we aren't adopting PB/OS. County legislatures have passed resolutions calling for the state to adopt paperballots/optical scan.

We have made much progress, but we are not there yet. I'm asking you to
FIND YOUR STATE SENATOR
1) Go to the New York State BOE map:
http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/boe/main.asp
2) On the right half of the screen are boxes where you can specify who you're looking for. Select "State Senate Districts"
3) Enter either your district number or your address in the provided
fields.
4) After filling in your choices click the "Submit Search" button.
5) You can then find their contact information here:
http://senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/senators?OpenForm

Or, download a list of NYS Senator contact information here.
www.nyvv.org/doc/NYSSenateContact.pdf

Contact the following officials who have great influence over
decisions involving elections and New York's HAVA implementation.
> >
> > a.. Governor George E. Pataki
> > b.. State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno
> > c.. Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver
> > d.. Assemblyman Denny Farrel, Chairman of the Assembly Ways
> > and Means Committee
> > e.. New York State Board of Election Commissioners
> > f.. Contact Your State Legislators
> > In addition to those listed below, the HAVA Conference
> > Committee, must hear from you as well
> >
> > Governor George E. Pataki
> > Executive Chambers
> > State Capitol
> > Albany, NY 12224
> > 518-474-8390
> >
> > Email - go to www.state.ny.us/governor/ and use the
> > "Contact The Governor" link on the left.
> >
> >
> > State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno
> > Albany Office
> > Room 909 LOB
> > Albany, NY 12247
> > 518-455-3191 District Office
> > 368 Broadway
> > Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
> > 518-583-1001
> > Email - [e-mail]
> >
> >
> > Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver
> > LOB Room 932
> > Albany, NY 12248
> > 518-455-3791
> > District Office
> > 250 Broadway Suite 2307
> > New York, NY 10007
> > 212-312-1420
> > Email - [e-mail]
> >
> >
> > Assemblyman Denny Farrel, Chairman of the Assembly Ways
> > and Means Committee
> > Albany Office
> > LOB 923
> > Albany, NY 12248
> > 518-455-5491
> > District Office
> > 2541-55 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.
> > New York, NY 10039
> > 212-234-1430
> > Email - [e-mail]
> >
> >
> > New York State Board of Elections
> > These five officials will make the final decisions about
> > certified voting equipment after HAVA legislation is passed. Please send
> > letters to all of them !
> > Carol Berman, Chairperson
> > Neil W. Kelleher, Vice Chairperson
> > Evelyn J. Aquila, Commissioner
> > Helena Moses Donohue, Commissioner
> > Peter S. Kosinski, Deputy Executive Director
> >
> >
> > New York State Board of Elections
> > 40 Steuben Street
> > Albany, NY 12207-2108
> > Phone [phone]
> > Phone - [phone]
> > Fax - [phone]
> >
> >
> >
> > Contact Your State Legislators
> > It is always important to let your own legislators know your
> > views on important issues.
> > Find your local state senator or assembly memeber follow the
> > instruction below.
> >
> > Find Your State Senator
> >
> > 1.. Go tothe New York State BOE map.
> > On the right half of the screen are boxes where you can
> > specify who you're looking for.
> > 2.. Select "State Senate Districts"
> > 3.. Enter either your district number or your address in the
> > provided fields.
> > 4.. After filling in your choices click the "Submit Search"
> > button.
> > 5.. You can then find their contact information here:
> > NYS Senate Directory
> > 6.. Or, download a list of NYS Senator contact information
> > here.
> > Find Your State Assembly representative
> >
> > 1.. Go tothe New York State BOE map.
> > On the right half of the screen are boxes where you can
> > specify who you're looking for.
> > 2.. Select "State Assembly Districts"
> > 3.. Enter either your district number or your address in the
> > provided fields.
> > 4.. After filling in your choices click the "Submit Search"
> > button.
> > 5.. You can then find their contact information here:
NYS Assembly Directory

New Yorkers for Verified Voting 2004.

[Amaryllis]

1. Kick

[berniew1]

2. Documentation of vote machine fraud & dirty tricks in over 20 states

Send this documentation to them:

Widespread touchscreen vote machine fraud; and dirty tricks and ballot manipulation to reduce minority vote in many counties of many states
http://www.flcv.com/ussumall.html

[pbartch]

9. Very, very good. This is excellent. Make sure NY legistatures know about

this.

[marions ghost]

3. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ COST!

"PB/OS will cost NYS TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS LESS in acquisition
and ongoing costs compared to touchscreen systems."

Here are some figures on cost of DRES vs PB/OS from "Myth Breakers: Facts about Electronic Elections" www.votersunite.org

DRES with Integrated VVPB Printer $20,000 (5-booth)

Optical Scan and Tactile Ballots $6,500 (5 booth)

----------
This can add up to millions for one county. Snohomish Co. WA spent
$5 million for paperless DRES which only handled 32% of the voters in 04. (And that was hardware only, maintenance, software and personnel not included).

[Bill Bored]

4. Please post this on the NYS forum too, Amaryills. thanks! nt

[Amaryllis]

5. Don't know how to find NYS page. Would someone else please post?

[Amaryllis]

7. Never mind, I found it. DU is HUGE! I didn't even know about the state

forums.

[joevoter]

6. kick

[Bill Bored]

8. kick nt

[Bill Bored]

10. kick nt

[Wilms]

12. kickin for all my buddies in NY

[thanatonautos]

11. Excellent! Did it already. kick. n/t

[garybeck]

13. what's wrong with touch screens?

if touch screens produce a verified paper ballot, then they are not bad, especially if the paper ballots are used for the original count.

i just think we need to be careful and precise when we call our legislators and ask for one thing or another. the most important thing is the verified paper ballot.

I think some of the most accurate and secure systems I've seen proposed include a touch screen and VVPB.

and I question this:

"* PB/OS is RELIABLE, AUDITABLE, ACCESSIBLE, and COST EFFECTIVE."

I think we should be careful about overstating the virtues of PB/OS. If the scanners are made by Diebold and the software isn't open source, they are prone to fraud. As you know, many people think that a significant amount of funny business went on with Optiscan systems on 11/2.

If we are contacting our legislators, I think we should focus on these issues:

NO PAPERLESS VOTING
DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM DIEBOLD, ES&S, SEQUOIA
RANDOM AUDITS
PAPER BALLOT USED IN ORIGINAL COUNT, NOT JUST A BACKUP
OPEN SOURCE CODE OF ALL SOFTWARE

etc...

if we just say no touchscreens and yes to optiscan, we end up with NY State being filled with Diebold scanners which, as Bev Harris has shown, can be hacked by a chimp. Perhaps even a smirking one.

g

[sacxtra]

17. Why not use a paper ballot in the first place?

Remove the electronic vote fraud sea of death from your local precint.
Remove the cost.
Remove the complexity.
Remove the confusion.
Bypass the MSM.

[dmac]

18. I am glad you said this -

I have seen this proposed in other places too and had just about decided perhaps I was mistaken about the op-scanners since it was being abdicated. Why would any of these groups think scanners are okay?

[NationalEnquirer]

19. Yep, nothing will be perfect..

But we have to get as close as we practically can.
I think these measures would approach that.

[Bill Bored]

14. kick nt

[feelthebreeze]

15. Great, kick...

[NYFlip]

16. Done

Thanks for the information