Voting machine follow-up
As I said earlier - I was part of a discussion with Tom Ferrarese and others at the voting machine display. Here is a brief summary.
Why are we replacing the lever machines they work so well.
I asked Tom Ferrarese (Monroe County Democratic Election Commissioner) this question and learned something. First off - how many of you poll workers or citizens using lever machines have experienced a serious problem in Monroe County with the machine? Didn’t think so. Well - Per Tom - Our machines are well maintained. Why - We have one of three maintenance sites in New York (didn’t ask where the other two are located). So, where our machines are stored in a big warehouse and are quickly worked on - some other county’s machines might be stored in next to the snowplows in the highway department shed and be in dire need of a technician.
His point is we are spoiled in Monroe County. We also have newer lever machines when compared to other counties. Point being - other places in New York have problems we don’t see here.
How is it all going to work in September (Primary) and beyond
Well - This is a process question and there are a lot of process answers that need to be worked out. In September - each polling place will have a new voting machine for the disabled. I’m not sure exactly how that will work because we are organized by Election District not by number of people with disabilities. As I understood the conversation. Each place will have a machine and people can opt to vote on the new machine if they want (I don’t know how that works with signing the poll book and such). Those details will have to be worked out. In 2009 all lever machines will be replaced. - There will be public displays/demos of the new voting machines, plenty of training for Election Inspectors, and all that. The BOE recognizes that these things must take place. The specifics haven’t been worked out.
Bipartisan election commissions.
I was amazed at how many people equate the election disasters of Florida and Ohio as solely with voting machines. Tom Ferrarese was repeated asked by a bunch of people - about voting issues in Florida and Ohio. These states when coupled with the angst of the HAVA act- Well - discussions got contentious. In this group discussion - I actually interjected that New York has a bipartisan election commission something other states do not. This caught some folks by surprise. Then Ferrarese piped in that we are one of 5 states - that have such a set up. 5 states. This means all commissioners have to agree on machines, process and procedures before going forward. People simply don’t understand that - New York is not Florida or Ohio. Partisan election commissions - Be it Mayor Daley in Chicago supposedly getting dead people to vote or Bush’s State campaign managers in running the election operations in Florida or Ohio is simply wrong.
What happened to to the other two machines?
As you know there was supposed to be three vendor displaying machines at the Medley Center. Well, per Tom Ferrarese the other 2 machines were decertified - meaning they did not pass the basic requirements as laid out by the State Board of Elections. I’m also told and need to follow up, that the two machines which were decertified - one of the companies bought the other. I have to check this out some more - can anyone shed like on that subject - one of the decertified machine vendors bought the other one?
Finally - as Ladkiddo points out - We aren’t out of the dark yet. One of the decertified machine manufacturer sued NYS and touch screens may be an option.
Seems to me you failed to mention some key information about the two machines that weren’t certified. Why weren’t they certified — was it security, was it inaccurate totals, was it the machine required the wrong type of power supply, was it that the machine was the wrong color, was it that the manuals were in Japanese? These are important things to know. And then, you didn’t tell us the names of the two companies that made those machines. The public needs to know.
paige - am I sensing some ‘tude here? If so, I am sooo sorry I failed to meet your expectations with my paltry post which unfortunately has as much a dirth of information - as Mother Hubbard had food in her cubbard.
Geez paige -If I knew I would tell you. Feel free to call up the BOE or actually attend a voting machine meeting and listen for yourself.
I think it is great that you have followed up on these voting machine issues and reported back to us, as these are extremely important issues. However, I must object to one of Mr. Ferrarese’s points.
This is a total red herring. This is not the fault of the machines. This is a fault of the NYS beaurocracy. NYS could have decided to spend the proper amount (now and in the past), to properly maintain these machines, but instead it is being legally required to replace them all with electronic machines, costing a whole lot more than proper maintenance of the leve machines. And the maintenance issue doesn’t go away once you switch to electronic machines. If the state does not have the funds and resources to properly maintain the lever machines, then it also will not have the funds and resources to properly maintain the more complicated electronic machines. We are no better off on the maintenance issue than we were with the lever machines.
Paige, with all due respect my friend, you need to spend a couple of years in Florida or California to know a red herring when you see one.
Ferrarese has been a magnificent replacement since Betsy Relin left. He’s hard working, fair, and above all honest. He can make the statements he did, because he knows that thanks in part to his efforts, our equipment is treated with the proper care, and that his concern covers everything from the voter registration to the machines that accept the vote.
And this has to be a citizen participation project. You would not want someone to pick out the car you drive in. Why would you not take the same role in deciding on the issue of which machine will carry your vote?
I take my voting very seriously. I sense you do too? I think you need to contact the BOE and ask to be on a citizens committee, and ask some of these hard questions.
We can’t just sit on our laurels and expect RT to spoon feed us our rights. We need to get off our asses and jam once in a while too.
yes - there can still be a maintenance issue. My point here is that based on my conversation - we are spoiled in Monroe County in terms of machine maintenance.
Other places in NY - machines break down.
So we need to view this machine switch (something we are legally mandated to do) through the filter of NYS as opposed to Monroe County.
Yes maintenance in important and needs to be addressed.
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