Info on voting systems in Gulf states (sorry if this is a dupe)

[preciousdove]

Information from NASS on the situation in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana
The following message was sent out by Leslie Reynolds, Executive Director, National Association of Secretaries of State last week:

http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/2005/09/information-from-nass-on-situation-in.html

State of Alabama

Janice McDonald, AL State Elections Director, reported that many counties in AL are still recovering from Hurricane Ivan and are now dealing with the destruction caused by Katrina. She stated that six counties on the western side of the state were impacted with damage to equipment and polling places. She also reported that many areas are still inspecting the damage so there isn't a complete reporting. She said that AL does have many misplaced voters so major efforts will have to be put in place to remind residents to update their voter registration information.

State of Louisiana

Angie La Place, the Louisiana Commissioner of Elections, reported that they will have to delay the implementation of their statewide voting system. She too was concerned about the HAVA deadlines and the challenges they will face in the coming months. She reported that they lost over 2000 voting machines (all the equipment in New Orleans was electronic), 500 polling places (many sites are in people's homes), and volumes of original records. They have a statewide voter database in place, but the database doesn't include a digitized signature and LA law requires matches with signature records. She and Sherry Hadskey reported that because much of what needed to be inspected was either still underwater or contaminated and off limits to anyone, they really don't have a complete picture on the damage. FEMA had indicated to LA that they will replace the voting equipment that was destroyed. That surprised most people in the room. They are worried about the ability of vendors to replace the volume of equipment lost and even if they were, equipment storage facilities have been destroyed. Construction crews are not being allowed in and building supplies aren't available....(more)

State of Mississippi

Sec. Clark of MS said that while they do not have the water damage suffered by parts of AL and much of LA, many MS counties have experienced a complete loss of infrastructure. Sec. Clark said that because HAVA funding was not appropriated by the federal government for the final authorized year, MS was already facing a serious problem securing the number of voting machines needed by each county. The counties were going to have to undertake a significant financial burden to support the mandates of HAVA, but now with many counties devastated by the Hurricane, he doesn't see how they will manage. He reported that Katrina destroyed infrastructure, voting machines and the buildings that served as polling places.

If there is some good news, it is that MS is in the process of implementing their statewide voter registration database and the counties in the southern part of the state have been entered into that database. The bad news is that many of the original records in that area have been damaged or destroyed. However, Sec. Clark did say that unlike LA, he thought that many of the residents of MS were able to remain in the state and that finding MS voters may not be as difficult as it will be elsewhere...(more)