Voting Machine Court Decision Got it Half Right

by: Reed Gusciora

Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 07:29:45 PM EST

This suit bears Reed Gusciora's name as plaintiff, along with Mercer County voter Stephanie Harris, who tried to vote in 2004 on a Sequoia Advantage machine but received no indication that her vote was recorded, and the Coalition for Peace Action & NJ Peace Action. Full opinion is here. Thank you, Assemblyman. - - Promoted by Rosi

I know a lot of individuals were disappointed in yesterday's court decision regarding the electronic voting machines. I share in that disappointment. Since 2004, I have been fighting to get a voter-verified paper trail system in New Jersey. Over 30 states have some type of paper trail when voters cast their ballots. Jersey needs to get on board with this.

Yesterday's decision stopped short of what I would have liked to have seen happen. The court did not say electronic voting machines needed to be phased out in favor of optical scan machines. The court did not mandate electronic machines be retro-fitted with paper recording devices, which would have forced the implementation of the law I sponsored in 2005.

Despite that outcome, there is some good news. The court did agree that there were serious risks associated with these electronic machines and corrective steps were needed. The court also agreed the State needed to do more to ensure the integrity of elections and set specific requirements for this.

The State now has 120 days to re-evaluate our 11,000 voting machines with a new panel of experts to see if the machines are accurate and reliable. There will also be new security procedures to secure equipment and mandated background checks for device vendors.

While these are all common sense approaches to protecting elections, I still contend they do not go far enough. The court was correct in pointing out deficiencies, but then only gave minimal guidance on how to fix it. It's as if a water main broke and the water company came out with a 12 pack of Brawny paper towels to clean up the mess.

My one hope is that this new panel of experts, who have actual knowledge of computers and computer security, will see the flaws in our current system and make the recommendation the court did not; to mandate new machines with paper trails. Otherwise, I'll be ready to continue the fight to make sure everyone's vote is counted and counted right.

Finally, a special thanks to the Coalition for Peace Action and the Rutgers Law Clinic for all their hard work - we wouldn't have come this far without you.

Reed Gusciora :: Voting Machine Court Decision Got it Half Right

Tags: Reed Gusciora, Paper Trail, Voting, voter-verified, (All Tags)

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Voting Machine Court Decision Got it Half Right | 2 comments

Let's Face It....All The Arguments and Intelligence... (0.00 / 0)

...weighs in favor of optical scan. It's a far cheaper and more secure and easier to maintain method which leaves voters with far more confidence that their vote actually counts.

The burden of proof required to get a court to rule that the current machines are SO bad that they should be declared ILLEGAL.....was very high, but that threshold goes way beyond what simple common sense dictates.

Rush Holt is no fool, I heard him speak on this and watched him testify in Trenton.

At the end of his brilliant and overwhelming testimony he was there standing prepared to take questions.....NOT ONE question was presented from the advocates for the stinking status quo. NOT ONE!!!

As I see ity....there are only three possible reasons for the status quo. It could be as simple as legally corrupt pay to play with the existing contractor (along with the infrastructure of existing jobs and maintenance contracts etc) and/or it could be an actual criminal conspiracy that relies of fixable machines and software to play games with our elections. Machines fixing machines.....frankly I wouldn't out it past the bastards.

The days of machine politics in New Jersey, from BOTH parties, are numbered. We simply can't afford to continue to be bled by these damned vampires!

And getting voting machines in place that are cheaper and more secure remains a good part of what has to be done to clean uo New Jersey! It's all connected.

Primaries are what's needed, and stick in the mud machine candidates from both parties need to be kicked out of office, post haste.

We have the spectacle of a governor who is great at acting like he's upset withh the status quo......but then he governs in a way that pleases corporate polluters and the Norcross machinery.

This ain't sustainable folks.

by: Nick Lento @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 04:44:57 AM UTC

Voters need a paper trail (0.00 / 0)

Following this logic, lets do away with paper receipts at the ATM and paper receipts for credit card purchases. Lets also end all written contracts. A pet peeve of mine is the number of products in a supermarket which display no printed price, nor on the shelf above or below.

As court documents reveal, tests have demonstrate that once a vote-stealing program is installed on a machine, the data can be manipulated to change the results. Also even unintended bugs can be in the machine which cause errors. With no paper trail there is no accountability, a lack of voter confidence in the integrity of the system, and likely fewer people going to the polls.

Alice needed her golden brick road. E.T. followed the Reese's Pieces. Voters need a paper trail.

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." - Sen. Ted Kennedy

by: Bill Orr @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 14:37:42 PM UTC