A voter advocacy group called Voters Unite! has produced a valuable document called "Myth Breakers: Facts About Electronic Elections." (in pdf). The document is extremely thorough and well researched. Of particular value for what is currently going on in Winnebago County is the section showing that the "Help America Vote Act" (HAVA) DOES NOT REQUIRE the purchase of touch screen voting machines. The HAVA myth is a powerful one, preached even by the Winnebago County Clerk and propounded by anonymous posters in a previous thread.
The Myth Breakers report makes it clear that there are other ways to meet the handicap accessibility requirement of HAVA. To simply say that "the Diebold touch screen equipment is compatible with what we currently have" just does not cut it. The handicapped are as deserving of reliable voting equipment as any other voter.
For those who still refuse to open their eyes to the unreliability of electronic voting, the city of Philadelphia in its primary election this past Tuesday reported hundreds of malfunctions. Check out this statement from a popular Philly blog. And this one.
Still think HAVA was meant to force touch screen voting on us?
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No, HAVA has nothing to do with this machine. And NOWHERE did anyone say this was the ONLY way we could comply with the law. Therre are other machines to help handicapped citizens vote. This is the one our local clerks chose after much research and hands on testing of the machine. Have any of you ever operated or used the machine in question?
At the county board meeting, the deputy county clerk said that HAVA REQUIRED that we get touch screen voting machines or be fined - and this machine was the only one compatable with our current system.
What HAVA actually says is: "The voting system shall satisfy the requirement of subparagraph (A) through the use of at least one direct recording electronic voting system or other voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities at each polling place;"
There are many other voting systems equipped for individuals with disabilities that can meet this requirement. The easiest one, which actually allows the visually impaired to vote is the Vote-PAD (Voting on Paper Assistive Device):
http://www.vote-pad.us/
This would allow the visually impaired and people with dexterity impairments to vote using the EXACT SAME BALLOT everyone else uses. Our current Diebold AccuVote system works extremely well - why muck it up with a machine that breaks down and doesn't leave a "permanent paper record", which HAVA does require.
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