I just posted this at the Phillyburbs site. I'm busy with other work right now but I hope to have more later. The story in the local paper really was pretty horrible. This post was based on one line in the whole thing:
Of all of Charley Martin's quotes and attributions in today's Courier Times story about the battle raging over the use of the unverifiable, unsecure and too-expensive Danaher touchscreen machines in Bucks County, this is the one that best captures the attitude of the County and the one that should most outrage anyone who is interested in seeing their vote recorded and counted accurately in November:
Martin added that the Danaher machines are here to stay, so instead of debating and causing disruptions, the coalition should focus its efforts on educating the public on how to use them.
Not only is it wrong on practically every count, but it also captures the kind of arrogance of power and obvious disregard for the voter that the Coalition for Voting Integrity is devoted to combating.
First of all, the Danaher machines are by no means "here to stay." But while I can't understand why anyone would be opposed to voter-verified paper ballots in Bucks County and Pennsylvania, I do understand why the only elected county commissioner to vote for unverifiable, unsecure and over-priced machines that don't use VVPB would like to shut up any dissent and quell any growing awareness of the issue. It's that arrogance of power thing. Luckily for Pennsylvania voters, there are two lawsuits currently pending that would stop the use of the Danaher machine, which does not create a permanent physical record of each vote. There is a small chance that there will be an injunction against their use in time for November.
Secondly, there is legislation about to be introduced in the PA General Assembly, which would allow all PA voters the option of voting on paper in November. The bill is the Alternative Paper Ballot bill (SB1299) and was introduced by Joe Conti (R-10) in the Senate. The companion bill in the Assembly doesn't have a number yet, but it is supposed to be being introduced soon by Rep. Chuck McIlhenny (R-143) Call him and find out when that's going to happen. Call your state representatives and encourage them to pass SB1299 the week that the General Assembly returns from summer vacation.
Now it's true that offering the voters of PA the option to vote on paper at the polling place via SB1299 won't make the Danaher machines disappear. And it's true that SB1299 wouldn't get any of the money that two out of the three county commissioners voted to waste on the Danaher machines back in the county's coffers, but it would provide a secure and verifiable option to voters who don't trust a machine that provides no independent, voter-verified paper record of the vote. Since polls show that 85% of PA voters do not trust electronic voting machines that don't use a voter-verified paper ballot, we can expect a lot of Bucks County voters will be walking past the Danaher White Elephants and asking for those paper ballots. Commissioner Martin would, of course, be welcome to vote on the unsecure and unverfiable machines he bought.
Thirdly, the Coalition for Voting Integrity did not cause any disruptions at the Grange Fair. The CVI volunteers who worked at the fair were successful in maintaining a civil and welcoming atmosphere to anyone who came by wanting information about the voting situation in Bucks County and Pennsylvania. I have statements to that effect and can probably get dozens more. I also have statements from citizens who visited the County's voting education booth only to be confronted by angry and/or misinformed workers who defamed CVI and CVI volunteers. A County worker told a citizen that if he doesn't trust the Danaher machines, his other option is not to vote. So much for caring about everyone voting. I have a signed statement from a woman who was told by a County worker that the CVI people don't know what they're talking about. I have recording of a County worker telling a citizen that CVI volunteers don't vote and suggesting that they want others not to vote. (To be clear on that last point, included in the CVI literature is the following statement in boldface: MOST IMPORTANTLY - VOTE! WE NEED TO MAKE SURE OUR VOICES ARE HEARD. Further, CVI volunteers handed out voter registration forms and took names of people interested in being poll workers in November. )
Of course, everyone who visited the County voter education booth during the fair was given the misleading information that the Danaher machine provides a paper audit trail, when what it really provides is a useless strip of paper that is never seen by the voter. It is a self-audit run by the machine, of the machine and for the machine and is only a record of what the machine says were the voters' intentions - not of what the voters intended.
Lastly, Martin unbelievably suggests that CVI should focus its efforts on educating voters how to use the unverifiable, unsecure and over-priced Danaher machines. The idea that the Coaltion of Voting Integrity should give up the fight to bring voter-verified paper ballots to Pennsylvania thereby betraying the over six hundred people who signed the petition urging the immediate passage of SB1299, SB977 and HB2000 over the five days of the Grange Fair as well as the 85% of Pennsylvanians who don't trust electronic voting and the thousands of Pennsylvania citizens devoted to and counting on CVI's work is, frankly, absurd. He and the voters of Pennsylvania can be assured that CVI will do nothing of the kind.
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