Reply #13: "ONE precinct in EACH County" is 3 better that what we have now, ZERO!

[Up2Late]

This isn't delaying anything, our Diebold selected, State Government, has always been saying 2008 for a paper trail, this eliminates one more excuse they could have used to delay the 2008 roll out.

Plus, it still has to be passed by the State House, where it could be changed, AND it might contain a little surprise for all concerned, check the part in bold:

<http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2005_06/fulltext/sb500.htm>

SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "2006 Georgia Accuracy in Elections Act."

SECTION 2.
Part 5 of Article 9 of Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to electronic recording voting systems, is amended by adding a new Code Section 21-2-379.12 to read as follows:
"21-2-379.12.

(a) The Secretary of State shall implement a pilot program providing for the use of direct recording electronic (DRE) voting equipment equipped and configured with an elector verified, permanent paper record of the votes cast by each elector on each DRE unit in one precinct each in the Counties of Cobb, Bibb, and Camden in the 2006 November general election and any runoff from such election.

(b)(1) Each DRE unit used in the pilot project shall meet the requirements of this subsection and shall be of the same general type from the same vendor or manufacturer as those DRE units in use in the state.

(2) Each DRE unit used by the counties in the pilot project shall have received national qualification and shall have passed state certification for use in elections. For the purposes of this Code section, the Secretary of State is authorized to provide for a conditional certification of the units which shall expire on December 31, 2006.

(3) Each unit shall produce an elector verified, permanent paper record of the votes cast by each elector on such device and shall provide the elector with an opportunity to review the permanent paper record privately and independently before casting his or her vote on the unit and to change his or her ballot or correct any error in such record or vote; provided, however, that it shall not allow the elector to have actual physical possession of such record. Each unit shall bear a unique identifying number and each unit shall be equipped with a storage device that:

(A) Stores each of the elector verified, permanent paper records at the same time as such electoŕs votes are stored electronically by the DRE unit;
(B) Bears the same unique identifying number as the DRE unit to which it is attached; and
(C) Can be removed from the DRE unit for the purpose of transporting the permanent paper records contained therein to a central tabulating center....

(more at link below)

<http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2005_06/fulltext/sb500.htm>

I could be wrong here, but I'm fairly sure these DRE's ("...direct recording electronic (DRE) voting equipment..., or Touch screen voting machines, as most of us call them) I don't think they have EVER "...received national qualification...!"

I'm not a Judge or a Lawyer, but this could be an important point to ask a Judge about, if this passes with this language.