The June 14th Winnebago County Board of Supervisors Special Meeting Agenda has been released. The meeting starts at 5 p.m. and includes a reconsideration of the resolution to accept a grant to purchase electronic voting machines.
The Board should not vote to reconsider on the 14th for two main reasons. First, the June 14th meeting from the beginning was supposed to be a public hearing. It has now degenerated into a forum for Diebold reps to perform a touch screen show and tell, a presentation by State Elections Board director Kevin Kennedy, and a motion to reconsider the resolution. It's also not clear from the agenda where citizen statements fit. Before Diebold and Kennedy? After? Will citizens have the opportunity to question Diebold and Kennedy?
Second, disabled people and their representatives are owed a demonstration of all voting equipment approved by the State Elections Board. From the agenda it is not clear that all vendors have been invited. It is unacceptable for only Diebold reps to have the opportunity to demonstrate their equipment, especially when advocates for the disabled have expressed frustration that they "have had little say in which kind of equipment Winnebago County chooses, let alone if it's the most usable choice for the disabled population." (from the Oshkosh Northwestern).
Contact your supervisor NOW and let him or her know that a vote to reconsider at the 14th meeting is premature will not allow enough time to examine alternatives to the Diebold TSX. Also tell them to read this important report by professor Doug Jones.
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