Defenders Of Democracy

Georgia Secretary of State Candidate Bill Stephens-(R) files a Voting Machines Paper Trail bill in Senate (Senate Bill 367).  Critics of the unaccountable Diebold Voting Machines state the bill is weak and not universally applied across the state.

S.B. 367: Why Waste Time & Tax Dollars?

by Roxanne Jekot,
co-founder, CountTheVote.Org

As I was reviewing Senator Stephens pre-filed SB367 one thought came to mind - why are we wasting this time and money?

Stephens' legislation calls for a 3 county test of Diebold's current voting system (at a cost of more than $3,000.00 per machine) in 3 counties during the 2006 election.  Georgians don't need to waste more time and money running a "test" of a fully certified voting system if the federal certification process is to be trusted.

There's a great deal not being made public buried behind this legislation that I'd like to point out to Georgia voters:

#1 - Toss and buy new
Stephens proposal requires new Diebold voting machines, at a cost of approximately $1 million dollars per the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

     By CARLOS CAMPOS, JAMES SALZER
     The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
     Published on: 09/21/05

     "Stephens' legislation would create a pilot project for paper receipts in three counties: Cobb, Columbia (near Augusta) and Cox's native Decatur (in South Georgia). The pilot would cost about $1 million and would be in place for the 2006 elections, Stephens said at a news conference. If that is successful, Stephens would like to see paper      receipts statewide for the 2008 presidential election."

The price tag for Georgia's current voting system has already escalated to $108 million dollars, and is only 3 years old.

Are Georgia taxpayers going to be required to fund new voting machines every 3 years?

#2 Toilet paper roll.
Diebold's voter verified paper ballot printers roll the ballots in the order they are printed rather than other systems which cut apart the paper ballots.  This means officials can determine how each voter cast their ballot.  A legal challenge to the certification of this "feature" is likely to result in decertification of all systems which employ this method of voter verified paper ballots.

#3 Current machines are equipped to complete this process.
Georgia's current Diebold voting machines are equipped in 2 ways to produce a voter verified paper ballot.  Each DRE contains a printer as required by law to produce beginning and ending election reports.  A simple program modification would allow Georgia to utilize the equipment we own and have paid for.

In addition, each DRE contains a separate printer port as part of the current configuration.  A state contract purchasing printers would be far less costly than "tossing and buying new."

#4 Our voting machines have been decertified.
Georgia's Diebold voting machines are certified to 1990 standards.  However, Georgia law requires we follow the FEC standards - which are currently required to use the 2002 standards; with 2005 standards fast approaching.  Under this requirement, our voting machines cannot be used in federal elections.  Why hasn't the Georgia legislature, and Bill Stephens specifically, addressed THIS more pressing issue?

#5  Delay, delay, delay
Stephens' legislation is simply a delaying tactic to avoid verifiable elections.  Either the federally certified systems are reliable or they aren't.  Bill Stephens should avoid spending tax dollars for a dog and pony show.

#6 Stephens supported and voted for SB500
In the 2004 legislative session, Bill Stephens was a co-sponsor of SB500 which required a voter verified paper ballot, with an effective date of July 1, 2006.  Bill Stephens cast a vote in support of that legislation and helped to pass it in the Georgia Senate.  Why is he now trying to delay that which he supported in the past?

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2003_04/sum/sb500.htm

#7 The current machines are flawed, why buy more?
With each passing day, evidence shows Diebold's electronic voting machines are seriously flawed - the State of California has decertified them twice in two years.  Taxpayer dollars would be better spent dealing with our outdated, current federally uncertified voting system.

We shouldn't support legislation which perpetuates a flawed system.  The least costly approach to voter verified paper ballots in Georgia would be to advocate a return to an optical scan system* which creates a voter verified paper trail which bears the actual vote of Georgians and not some computerized version which can be manipulated.  With this approach, we can salvage some of the current system (the GEMS tabulators and county absentee optical scans) and trade in DREs for optical scanners in every precinct. 
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*The optical scan system proposed here is not opposed by Defenders Of Democracy, however it is not our official position.  Optical scan systems consist of a scanner and a computer, and the computer can be rigged to switch votes before, during and after the ballot scanning.  The great advantage of optical scan systems is that the voter creates the paper trail with pencil or ink at neglible cost, and voting precincts require only one scanner, instead of many touch screens.  If legislators incorrectly deem that that optical scanners or touch screens must count votes, the optical scan route is cheaper and superior because the scannable paper ballot is the physical evidence of the voter intent, created by the voter personally. 

Our position is to promote the strongest legislation remedy possible to our evidence-free voting system.  The strongest legislative solution is the Original Vote Count Protection Act (OVCPA).   The OVCPA is intentionally not technology-explicit, but it is evidence-explicit in making the paper ballot the foundation upon which a secure election system is built.  Read the OVCPA on this website and help us create a transparent, secure democracy.