Reply #3: NY: “I’m still not sure why we need new voting machines.” No kidding. [View All]

[autorank]

Here’s a columnist from New York State. Why get new machines, he asks. Well, so Diebold, SAIC (ESS), or Sequoia (all Republican friendly;) can count your votes, that’s why.


http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060305/NEWS0201/603050328/1002/NEWS

I'm still not sure why we need new voting machines

Mark Hare

(March 5, 2006) — With more than a century of voting experience among them, Tim Minerd, Al DeSoto and Jake Patla have every right to be concerned about the so-called improvements required by the so-called Help America Vote Act.

The three retirees, all from Pittsford, are concerned that federal law, and now a federal lawsuit, may push the state into buying equipment that will be less reliable and less secure than the automated voting machines we've been using for decades.

"I don't want the state to make a mistake," says Minerd. "I'm glad that the state and county boards of election are taking their time and trying to do this right." Patla, who looked at sample machines recently, says, "They look pretty amateurish, not really ready yet."

(Ed. The 2002 law requires the state to upgrade their voting machines shortly.)

<snip>

Sorry, but this law looks like a solution in search of a problem. Washington is determined to protect us from fraud, whether we need it or not. I'm glad New York is taking its time. With time, we may wind up with machines that are almost as good as the ones we have.