Andrea Novick, Legal Counsel (845) 876- 2359 [email protected] Joanne Lukacher, Exec. Director (845) 337-4855, (845) 417-6238
For Immediate Release Monday, May 11, 2009 State Election Law Changes 'Unconstitutional,' Say Lever Advocates The state law slated to force NY to abandon its lever voting system, as well as proposed election law changes that would expand absentee voting and establish early voting, would eliminate constitutional protections of the right to vote, according to testimony given today at the New York State Senate Committee on Elections hearing in Albany. Attorney Andrea Novick of the Election Transparency Coalition NY (ETC) testified that two centuries of state law show commitment to conducting elections in ways that prevent "even the opportunity for fraud" because elections are understood to be "crime scenes waiting to happen." The Committee on Elections hearing today was held to check the pulse of the public about a series of election bills, to "reinvigorate participatory democracy," and to "create transparency in the legislative process," according to the official hearing announcement. 'Transparency' is exactly what the ETC seeks to preserve through its efforts to retain the state's lever voting system, which provides for the official vote count to be established in an observable fashion on election night, before chain of custody issues compromise evidence of the count. According to Novick, both paper ballots and electronic vote tallies are more vulnerable to undetected tampering than are mechanical lever machines. One of the bills in question, S5028, would allow "no excuse" absentee voting by amending the Constitution to remove restrictions on who is allowed to vote without being physically present at the polling place. Novick testified that absentee voting has historically been seen as less secure than in-person voting. "That is why we correctly limit it to those who absolutely cannot be present at the poll site." Her testimony continued, "Any abrogation of that system not only prevents continuous observation, but unconstitutionally exposes the count to increased opportunities for fraud." More than half of the speakers at today's meeting advocated for retaining the lever voting system, even though the fate of levers was not officially on the agenda. Pro-lever speakers represented Clean Elections New York, the Kingston Chapter of the American Association of University Women, and the ETC, as well as poll workers and voters. These concerned citizens cited not only constitutional concerns, but also the exorbitant costs of conducting elections via electronically tabulated paper ballots. With encouragement from the Election Transparency Coalition, six NY counties and the Association of Towns have now passed resolutions urging the state to lift the Election Reform and Modernization Act mandate to change to electronic voting systems. Such a change would be legal, they claim, because with the addition of ballot marking devices in every polling place, New York now complies with federal election law. Additional counties are expected to pass similar resolutions this week and later this month. # # # The following document was sent as an embedded object but not referenced by the email above: --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
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