NYC City Hall Electronic Voting Machine Meeting

So, I'm on this lady's political list, and she sends out bunches of emails a day about the shape of the political world. Sometimes she sends out actions as well. I won't be able to do this, but if you're in NYC, and feel like trotting down to City Hall on your lunch break, there's a meeting on the use of electronic voting machines in NYC.

Mark Crispin Miller will be giving testimony. Lots of people should attend and show the City Council that electronic voting machines need to be accountable down to the last vote.

PLEASE ATTEND!

Committee on Governmental Operations
hearing, Monday, November 21, 2005, 10:00 AM-1 PM

on the 2005 Election and the Help America Vote Act

Council Chambers, 2nd floor, City Hall, New York, NY
N or R train to City Hall
4 or 5 or 6 train to Brooklyn Bridge

1-2-3 to Park Place

Vendor will be there with their DREs and OpScans

My political friend also urges you to write local newspapers. I believe writing to local newspapers is a state-wide issue. Here's an EXAMPLE letter:

PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITORS OF YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPERS IN NEW YORK. HERE IS A SAMPLE THAT WAS SENT ON TO ME THAT I MADE MUCH STRONGER (NOTE FROM THE POLITICAL LADY)

To the Editor:

Soon all counties throughout New York State will be upgrading their old lever voting machines. As a voting citizen I'm deeply concerned about which technology will be used to count my vote. I want to feel confident that the voting machine will be secure, reliable and cost effective. I believe that the best choice is the paper ballot counted by the optical scanner. But it seems that if left up to the corporate vendors of voting machines this will not be an option for the county Boards of Elections.

Representatives of the New York State Board of Elections, who are in charge of certifying the machines that county commissioners will choose from, have recently claimed that they cannot compel voting machines manufacturers to submit their optical scanners for certification. This is an outrageous position, given that citizens, state and county legislators, and newspapers all around the New York State are calling for adoption of the paper ballots and scanners rather than expensive, insecure, error prone touch screen computerized voting machines that the vendors would prefer to sell us.

In a huge state like NY, it's absurd for the Board to claim that they have no power to require vendors to submit scanners--unless we now live under an oligarchy instead of the capitalist system. The market is king under capitalism and we, the people, are the market. The Board of Elections is supposed to represent the voters not the voting machines manufacturers, unless they have been hopelessly compromised by undue corporate influence. If that is so, the members of the New York State Board of Elections should be investigated for possible corruption.