This idea is being floated by Kevin Kennedy, who was also responsible for making the disastrous contract for the statewide voter list. He is proposing that the state should do its own (less rigorous) testing of a new machine to consolidate vote totals from the various other voting machines. This sounds like a very bad idea, all in the name of getting the results out faster, whether or not they accurately measure the voters' wishes. It also might jeopardize local clerks' access to federal funding for voting equipment. The article says the Government Accountability Board could begin discussing this as early as May 5, at its next meeting.
In what may be a first nationally, Wisconsin is considering forgoing federal certification of a new vote-counting device and testing it itself in an effort to simplify and speed the tallying of votes in November, the state's top election official says.
The device, known as HAAT for Hybrid Accumulator Activator Transmitter, consolidates totals from the electronic touch-screen voting machines and the optical scanners that read paper ballots, spitting out a single tally - a step local election officials say could significantly speed voter returns on election night.
"We've told clerks to assume it won't be ready for fall," said Kevin Kennedy, director and general counsel of the Government Accountability Board, which oversees Wisconsin election and ethics issues.
But, he said, "we may ignore the federal requirement and test it ourselves before November."
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=736564The next meeting of the GAB is May 5, 9:30 am, Room 150, Risser Justice Center, 120 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Madison, Wisconsin.
Members of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board are:
Judge David Deininger, chair
Judge Thomas Cane, vice chair
Judge Gerald Nichol, secretary
Judge Michael Brennan
Judge William Eich
Judge James Mohr
(Note: Brennan is a right-wing judge, the one who disregarded the plea agreement of the young men in the election day tire case and made them serve jail time.)
To contact members of the Government Accountability Board:
Send paper mail to:
Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
17. W. Main Street, Suite 310
P.O. Box 2973
Madison, Wisconsin 53701-2973
Or send electronic mail to:
gab@wi.gov
and put "Message to board members" in the subject line.