ANOTHER NY COUNTY PRESSES FOR PERMISSION TO CONTINUE LEVER VOTING!

[Bill Bored]

http://www.columbiapaper.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59:debora-gilbert&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

County presses for permission to continue lever voting

by Debora Gilbert

Wednesday, 18 February 2009 04:33

HUDSON—

Last week the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, following the lead of Dutchess County, adopted a resolution that asks the state to allow counties to continue using lever voting machines.

-snip-

Columbia County Election Commissioners Virginia Martin (D) and Don Kline (R) enthusiastically support the initiative for logistical and economic reasons. Both commissioners worked with the Board of Supervisors to draft a resolution, which passed with little discussion Wednesday, February 11.

“A whole new process has to be looked at and put into practice,” Ms. Martin said. She said that in the future there may be better voting systems than the old lever machines, but she cautioned, “We ought to wait until we are comfortable that they are better.”

-snip-

But for the county to use this type of system for all voters, even if it purchases no additional machines, would cost taxpayers $78,000 for software still to be purchased from the vendor and around $30,000 for ballots each election. Ballots cost 50 cents apiece, and counties must have enough ballots on hand to account for voters who make a mistake and need to start over. The county would also have to train more polling place technicians; one day of training by the manufacturer costs $2,900.

Reports of slipshod manufacturing and lack of adequate quality control by vendors have cropped up. Last spring, for instance, the county discovered that printers jammed on the ballot marking devices, each of which costs over $6,000.

-snip-

Some voting-rights activists and local officials wonder whether the state is moving too quickly toward decommissioning all the lever machines, which have been in use since the 1950s.

“I totally support it. I think it would be wise to retain the lever machines,” said Mr. Kline, the GOP county elections commissioner.

-snip-

Mr. Kline called the lever machines “foolproof and much less expensive to operate.”

[Captain Hilts]

1. Yaaaaaaaay...you know what's coming...

ER: That's grand news!

[Wilms]

2. Yes it is!

I hit the "Recommend" link at the bottom of Bill Bored's posts in hope of getting this on the greatest page. ;)

[kster]

3. Still pushing these mechanical paperless vote counting machines

UNBELIEVABLE, are you also for paperless touchscreen vote counting machines?

Come on Bill this looks ridiculous, jeeze, we have the internet, there are many many people that know and understand why you shouldn't have paperless elections but yet you keep trying to sell them.

You have to have paper ballots and you must hand count them at the polling place at the close of election.

Give it up already, the INTERNET is exposing this electronic/mechanical vote counting scam.

http://freedocumentaries.org/theatre.php?filmid=234&id=...