Lever Replacement Costs: NYC Case Study

[Wilms]

Lever Replacement Costs: NYC Case Study

In May 2009, Teresa Hommel and Ellen Theisen published a study, the first of its kind, on the cost of replacing New York City’s lever voting machines. To date, no other cost studies exist. Here are some highlights and a link to that study.

Under HAVA (the “Help America Vote Act”), $21M have been earmarked for NYC lever replacement. However, the new study shows:

Cost, year 1 $27 to $44 million.
Cost, annual, years 2-5 $5 to $16 million.
Cost, annual, years 6+ $5 to $16 M + maintenance/replacement costs


NYC is eligible for additional HAVA funds for election-related uses, and may be able to spend some of it to cover these costs, however

* Not all lever-replacement costs are eligible for HAVA funds. Our local taxes will pay for ineligible costs starting in the first year. (Please note, HAVA money is also our tax money.)
* All HAVA funds will be depleted in four years. Local taxes must pay all costs after that.
* The Study’s cost estimates are low, including only those costs for which information could be obtained from published state or city documents.

~snip~

http://nylevers.wordpress.com/faqs/cost-of-replacing-lever-voting-machines/

[Dumak]

1. Must....Have....Machine...

Look, the only "machine" the voter needs is a marker to fill out a paper ballot. The only "voting stations" you need are a bunch of old tables and chairs. Buy a few tabulators to store and count the paper ballots, and you're set. I don't get this obsession - do people feel inferior without a fancy machine?

Okay, I was wrong - the blind could use a machine to help them fill out the paper ballots - but you wouldn't require many of them.