Returning from the March 15 meeting where, despite the dissent of Commissioner Miller, Commissioners Cawley and Martin discounted the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania voters (85 percent in the OpEdNews/Zogby People's Poll) who want paper ballots, I wrote this letter to the editor:
To the Editor:
In choosing paperless voting machines, Commissioners Cawley and Martin refused to take seriously the concerns of the many Bucks County voters who want paper ballots as proof that their votes count as intended. They say we can trust the manufacturers' secret proprietary programming despite all the contrary evidence of computer experts and our own Government Accountability Office, as documented at CoalitionforVotingIntegrity.org. Mr. Cawley and Mr. Martin are ignoring the fact that there is no way to know when there are inaccuracies with paperless electronic voting machines unless the tallies are so wildly improbable that someone happens to notice. Even then, there is no way to audit or recount elections with paperless electronic voting machines, no matter what the vendors say.
Thank you, Commissioner Miller, for supporting the voters' need for paper proof that their votes count. If only your fellow commissioners understood that.
To the Editor:
In choosing paperless voting machines, Commissioners Cawley and Martin refused to take seriously the concerns of the many Bucks County voters who want paper ballots as proof that their votes count as intended. They say we can trust the manufacturers' secret proprietary programming despite all the contrary evidence of computer experts and our own Government Accountability Office, as documented at CoalitionforVotingIntegrity.org. Mr. Cawley and Mr. Martin are ignoring the fact that there is no way to know when there are inaccuracies with paperless electronic voting machines unless the tallies are so wildly improbable that someone happens to notice. Even then, there is no way to audit or recount elections with paperless electronic voting machines, no matter what the vendors say.
Thank you, Commissioner Miller, for supporting the voters' need for paper proof that their votes count. If only your fellow commissioners understood that.
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Rob Kall of OpEdNews.com had a really interesting take on their capitulation--and Governor Rendell's.
