Folks, our state legislature has been a MISERABLE FAILURE ON THIS ISSUE! But we still have some time left to stop DREs at the local level.I just received this from New Yorkers for Verified Voting. Please help! (New Yorkers only please.)
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Contact:
[email protected]Subject: Paper Ballots for NY, Help Us in Your County
Date: 5/20/2005
It looks like the decision about lever machines replacements will wind up
with the counties. However, the HAVA conference committee still has not
agreed on specific bill language, and we're waiting to see what the final
law looks like. But it's clear they don't intend to specify a single choice
for New York State.
There are still many questions about what the phrase means "let the counties
decide". Who in the counties will decide? The election commissioners? The
county legislature? Nobody knows for sure, and there are a thousand more
undefined details about how the decision making process will actually work,
and what equipment counties will actually have to choose from.
A number of election commissioners believe they will get to make the
decision, without consulting their county officials. And all too many feel
that citizens should have no say in this decision at all.
I couldn't disagree more strongly. The public WILL HAVE A SAY IN THIS
DECISION, a decision that will determine how we vote in New York for the
foreseeable future. But in order to do that, we need your help.
The lobbyists and vendors have already begun spreading out to the counties
with their message about the wonders of DREs. Right now, as you read this,
they are talking to your town and county legislators and executives, your
county election officials. They are telling them that they don't want paper
ballots and optical scan. And your county officials are listening. We cannot
let the lobbyists be the only voice they hear.
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PHASE TWO - WE NEED YOUR HELP!
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We have to get to work, right now, at the county level. Just as the
lobbyists are out talking to your county officials, we need to be as well.
NYVV is looking for residents in EACH AND EVERY COUNTY IN NEW YORK who can
help us spread the message about the benefits of paper ballots for New York.
We have to arrange presentations, provide support materials, appear at town
and county meetings, and meet with local officials to make sure that they
hear our voice as well as the lobbyists.
We can help you prepare with materials, training, and presenters. I've been
traveling to different counties presenting and assisting and I'll come to
your county too. But we need you to get the ball rolling, and to keep it in
play at the local level.
We are going to have to fight this county by county, and we will. But we
can't do it without your help.
We've achieved a lot in a short time. we've FOUGHT AND WON to get paper
ballots and optical scan as an option on the table for New York. But now the
lobbyists, the vendors, are fighting back hard, and they think they have
more resources than we do for a county by county struggle. I think they're
wrong!
Please contact me let me know you can help NYVV in your county. We have a
lot of territory to cover, and we need everyone's help.
You can vote on paper ballots in 2006, or you can vote on DREs. Help us make
the right choice.
-Bo Lipari
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