NY: ES&S Withdraws Op-Scans from Erie County Test Run

[Wilms]

ES&S Withdraws Op-Scans from Erie County Test Run

Joanne Lukacher

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Election officials in Erie County (Buffalo, NY area) agree that lever voting machines are more accurate and reliable than the electronic voting technologies. However, in anticipation of the state-mandated change to electronic voting machines, the county Board of Elections arranged with Election Systems and Software (ES&S) to test their optical scan voting machines through their use in eight village elections in March 2009.

These optical scanners are currently undergoing certification testing by the State Board of Elections, but last year optical scan machines made by ES&S failed pre-election tests in one Michigan county and produced conflicting vote totals in other areas. Election officials reported that the same ballots run through the same machines yielded different results each time.

The Erie County Board of Elections worked for two months with ES&S and election officials in the eight villages on arrangements to use the machines in the March elections.They were prepared to conduct 100% hand counts if necessary to correct scanner errors. But, a week before the election, ES&S abruptly withdrew their offer to make the op-scan machines available. Instead the elections were conducted on the traditional lever machines.

In a press release dated March 11th, Erie County Election Commissioner Ralph Mohr concluded that, "Unfortunately, the fact that the manufacturer pulled out of the pilot project at the last minute indicates to me a lack of confidence in its own system...The lever style machines will afford voters and candidates the confidence in the integrity and accuracy of the voting process during this election."

~snip~

http://re-mediaetc.blogspot.com/2009/03/es-withdraws-op-scans-from-erie-county.html


Erie County Board of Elections Press Release (.pdf): http://sites.google.com/site/remediaetc/home/documents/CommissionerMohrpressrelease.pdf

[Lugnut]

1. My county junked the lever machines.

We vote on ES&S iVotronic machines. :mad:

[Stevepol]

2. Junked the levers and now vote on the junk. Not a good trade-off.

[Bill Bored]

3. This explains how that happened:

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6956

And the voters of NY have been suffering ever since!

[Lugnut]

4. Here's the best part.

When the iVotronic was implemented in the voting location for my precinct the location itself was not handicapped accessible. We've been scammed.

[Wilms]

5. Oh, definitely.

Most Americans with disabilities wouldn't even need an accessible polling place, let alone an accessible voting machine.

And many of the ones that need an accessible machine would find their particular disability is not accommodated by the accessible machines required.

However good the intentions of those who voted for HAVA...

[Lugnut]

6. Here's the thing.

Local laws vary but in my county a disabled person has the option of voting by absentee ballot. I qualify for that ballot but it's my preference to vote in person. My point is there are no roadblocks in place that deny the disabled the means to vote with or without lever machines.

[Wilms]

7. Well, the idea was to permit people with accessibility needs to vote at a polling place.

But in addition to the voters with disabilities discussed in my previous reply, there are these people...

Survey: Disabled prefer absentee ballots

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=422273

The article is archived here:

http://www.wheresthepaper.org/DailyStar060410SurveyDisabledPreferAbsenteeBallots.htm