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"The future of democracy in North Carolina
will hinge on a paper wad fight..."
CRITICAL ALERT: Verified Voting threatened, take action NOW
Instant runoff is not what it seems and can only be done by violating our own Public Confidence in Elections Law.
Following the low turnout Labor Commissioner runoff, some organizations are promoting "instant runoff"as a solution. IRV is not "instant" and it is not the same as a runoff. The IRV "solution" creates new problems and will confuse some voters. IRV may serve as a literacy test for some, since at least 18% of North Carolina citizens have serious literacy difficulties.
In prioritizing reforms, lawmakers should consider their impact on the less educated with in our community. Literacy tests were eliminated decades ago for a reason. Reforms must be prioritized to protect everyone's right to vote.
On Tues July 8, 10:00 AM the House Judiciary I Committee will hear an amendment in SB 1263 to allow a 3 year Instant runoff experiment. I heard that the lawmakers plan to allow the use of uncertified software in touchscreen counties to make IRV easier. This will incentivize the use of touchscreens in any county that has optical scan and is experimenting with IRV.
ACT NOW BEFORE WED. JULY 8th: email the House Judiciary I Committee , email addressess and a sample message below:
Deborahr@ncleg.net; Melanieg@ncleg.net; Pauls@ncleg.net;
Bonners@ncleg.net, Marthaa@ncleg.net, Johnbl@ncleg.net,
Angelab@ncleg.net, Debbiec@ncleg.net, Larryh@ncleg.net,
Priceyh@ncleg.net, Georgeho@ncleg.net, verlai@ncleg.net;
Grierm@ncleg.net; Anniem@ncleg.net, Rogerw@ncleg.net
Judiciary I Committee:
Chairman Rep. Ross, Vice Chairman Rep. Goodwin, Vice Chairman Rep. Stam, Vice Chairman Rep. Stiller, Rep. M. Alexander, Rep. Blust, Rep. Bryant, Rep. Clary, Rep. Hall, Rep. Harrison, Rep. Holmes, Rep. Insko, Rep. Martin, Rep. Mobley, Rep. West
Subject: S 1263 - say no to IRV pilot
Please say no to allowing another Instant runoff voting pilot in S 1263 or any other bill.
1) The pilot in Cary was very small scale, yet flawed, and many of the real costs were absorbed by interested "volunteers". We do not know the real total costs.
2) The proposed pilot doesn't require safeguards recommended for IRV voting.
3) The costs of a statewide IRV, especially if there are several affected races are unknown but grossly underestimated and misrepresented by the proponents.
4) The pilot proposes several regressions of our 2005 law that established NC as the leader in honest voting. The most signficant regressions are uncertified software and lack of transparency and auditability.
5) IRV would harm the estimated 18% of NC voters with serious literacy difficulties.
Thank you.
More detailed information here
A switch to "instant runoff" voting could cost taxpayers an estimated $20.3 million in the first year.
Voter education could cost $2.9 million per year. See our press release.
Kentucky just repealed its provision to hold gubernatorial primary runoff elections in April 08.
"Instant Runoff Voting - What They Don't Tell You:
1) negatively impacts election integrity,
2) increases costs and labor for elections, audits and recounts, making them more onerus,
3) does not allow voters 2nd chance to elect their preferred candidate,
4) requires an informed and educated electorate,
5) NC's new voting machines are not compatible with IRV,
6) it does nothing about ballot access for third parties
Read our Blog: Learn more about the unintended consequences of and problems with Instant Runoff Voting and its impact on voters. Latest Blog entries:
There is no IRV software available for North Carolina Voting Machines. (ES&S M100s and iVotronics). In an email dated January 7, 2008 Keith Long, the voting systems project manager for the NC State Board of Elections - advises that "There are no provisions on ES&S equipment to tabulate IRV."
Further, there is no federally certified software to count IRV in the United States. This is a huge problem for IRV advocates who are promising huge cost savings and convenience.
Fair Vote Director, Rob Richie's statement at the April 24 EAC Roundtable Discussion , advised that something needs to be done to make voting systems compatible with IRV. He said: "for instant runoff voting, or preferential voting methods, it often bangs up against the fact that voting equipment isn't flexible enough to handle these voting methods.... It has real life impact. It's also creating havoc for Pierce County, Washington, a county of 800,000 people which have a big county executive race and they don't know if their system is going to be ready.
Learn more about the expired IRV pilot program run in North Carolina in 2007 here .
About us: The North Carolina Coalition for Verified Voting is a grassroots non-partisan organization fighting for clean and verified elections.The NC Voter Verified Coalition has consistently fought for increasing access, participation and ensuring the voter franchise. Contact Joyce McCloy, Coordinator, N.C. Coalition for Verifiable Voting -
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JOIN US IN SHAPING ELECTION REFORM
Inquiries from Media or Public: call Joyce McCloy, Founder of NCVV at 336-794-1240 or email joyce at ncvoter.net
A switch to "instant runoff" voting could cost taxpayers an estimated $20.3 million in the first year. Voter education could cost $2.9 million per year. See our press release.
NC has one of the highest undervote for President in the Country - why no voter education on how to mark a straight ticket for President? Why not get rid of the exception?
Scripps Howard News Service Both North Carolina and South Carolina historically suffer unusually high undervotes in presidential elections because, by state law, voters who mark the "straight-party-ticket voting" option must also vote separately for president. Every four years, tens of thousands of voters in both states apparently forget to do this
How much would IRV cost? At least $2.44 Million on voter education per election year: If done for the cost of a first class stamp (.42 cents) for each voter, with 5,810,420 registered voters in North Carolina, that would be $2.44 million at least. This will have to be repeated each time, and many may ignore the mailer. If done for the low ball unrealistic amount of 8.5 cents per registered voter, that amounts to approximately $500.000 or half a million dollars.
Thousands of votes missed in Tuesday tallies Jacksonville Daily News, NC May 9, 2008. Thousands of votes were omitted from election-night tallies, ...An estimated more than 4,000 votes were not counted when the Onslow County Board of Elections tabulated the results from Tuesday's election and one-stop voting.......9,943 more votes from the ballots were added.
Mecklenburg, Wake find vote flawsNews 14 Carolina, NC - May 8, 2008
In Wake County, early and absentee ballots were counted as part of the individual voters precincts and again as a whole. -- Vote tallies are changing in the state’s two largest counties, after certain ballots were counted twice in Mecklenburg and Wake counties.
NC Verified Voting Legislative Successes
SL 2005-323 Public Confidence in Elections Law - signed into law on August 26, 2005 - voter verified paper ballots.
SL 2006-192 NC Election audit language improved. See SECTION 7.(b) G.S. 163‑182.2(b) signed into law on August 3, 2006.
S.L. 2007-391 Eliminates the "No Match No Vote" policy in North Carolina that blocked thousands of eligible voters from registering to vote. Signed into law on 08/19/2007. See "Making sure it counts" in the Aug 29,07 issue of the Washington Daily News.
Wise words: "Every voting system (perhaps every system of any kind) is insecure. Making them more secure is a desirable secondary priority, but unless we focus everyone on ensuring both auditability and effective auditing, we're just going to create an impossible muddle." ~ Dr. David L. Dill, Founder of the Verified Voting Foundation .
NC recognized by The Brennan Center for Justice. In an Aug 1, 2007 press release about national election integrity the Brennan Center says: "Only one state, North Carolina, has collected and made public the most significant data from post-election audits for the purpose of improving future elections." See NCVoter's page with more about NC's audits
Recent
North Carolina voting news here
*Its not like we didn't warn you . We lobbied County Commissioners, Boards of Elections, County Managers, and asked you to lobby your political parties. We wrote the media.
Hand Counted Paper Ballots - What They Look Like Hand Counted Paper Ballots - an Informational Journal. There are many folks that wish Hand Counted Paper Ballots were a reality in the US....Many of these same folks have never seen a hand counted paper ballot, but they often will tell you about how Canada counts all of their ballots in about 3 hours....
FL: Sarasota County - 1st report - Mechanical Glitch Ignored In Now Contested Florida Congressional Race. First reporting of the ES&S "smoothing filter" bug memo (Legal team found warning memo at www.NCVoter.net )
FL: Sarasota County - Voting machine maker warned of 'issue' . Herald Tribune gets it!
John Washburn, a software tester in Germantown, Wisconsin writes how the "Smoothing Filter" defect could have caused the undervote observed in the FL CD-13 and other races in Florida.
NC: Printers Fail on Touch-screens - 9% Failure Rate in the Nov 2006 General Election: "The system meant to produce a paper backup of votes cast on Guilford County’s electronic voting machines failed in many cases during the election Nov. 7. .. "He (Gilbert)knew that there would be problems,"said Joyce McCloy,a voting advocate who has been critical of Gilbert on the paper record issue."He asked his county to buy these machines when he himself testified to the state that there would be problems with the paper backups.
Kissell concedes defeat
News 14 Carolina, NC - CHARLOTTE - With defeat appearing inevitable, Larry Kissell conceded Wednesday to GOP Rep. Robin Hayes in the state's 8th Congressional District, ending one of the nation's last unresolved races for a seat in the U.S. House. 5 of the remaining counties had not done a recount yet...... Kissell trailed Hayes by just 329 votes out of 121,523 cast following a machine recount last week..
• NC 08 Recount Seems Likely, Details and Deadlines, How You Can Help
• Oct 21 2006 NCVV Responds to NYT "New Laws and Machines May Spell Voting Woes"
• Oct 20 2006 Elections: Report On North Carolina's Audit of Primary
• How North Carolina's Elections Will Be Audited
• National: On Nov 7, Will Your Voting Machines Count Backwards?
-Sept 29, 2006 NCVV presents the Elections Lemon award to Maryland for continual flubs
June 22, 2006: Common Cause report designates North Carolina Elections at low risk. NC is also 1 of the 13 states in the entire country that requires hand to eye audits. Report says that the push to use direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines was misguided.
• INTERNET VOTING IN THE 08 PRIMARY AND DISFUNCTIONAL DNC VOTING RIGHTS COMMITTEE
• Poll Workers - Frontline Election Protection and Who Can Observe Voting?
• Protecting Voters - From Illegal Disenfranchisement Tactics
• Are You Registered to Vote? Deadline October 13
Lenoir-Touchscreens-Paper Ballots-Fate of 10th District GOP Primary
June 27, 2006: The Brennan Center Task Force on Voting System Security, just issued a report citing at least 120 security issues with voting machines made by the top 3 largest voting machine companies. The full Brennan report is here and executive summary here .
05/03/2006 First Time Rollout of Voting Machine Successful, Few Problems ** AP News -
*Wake rejects touch-screen voting* February 13 News and Observer"Why spend extra money for a dubious and experimental technology?" said Andrew Silver, 64, a Cary epidemiologist... Commissioner Phil Jeffreys, a retired postal worker, said he was not concerned about the difficult of hand-sorting an estimated 90,000 ballots after next fall's Election Day... "I worked in a post office for 30 years and it's not a lot (to sort)," he said.
12/22/05 Diebold withdraws from North Carolina's voting machine RFP! Diebold Says can't turn over all third party software...like their operating system (see below) and other requirements. Article
But they did escrow their operating system in Georgia...
Diebold list of operating system in escrow with state of Georgia:
12.22/2005 VoteTrustUSA:
In a surprising reversal, Diebold has notified the North Carolina State Board of Elections that they are withdrawing from the procurement process in the state. They also offered their assistance in "revising" the state's recently passed election laws to better suit their product. Article
20% Failure of Diebold TSX in California in July 2005 caused officials to say that: the testing performed during the federal qualification process is apparently inadequate to ensure that voting machines will be reliable enough for use in elections. " Included 2% loss of paper ballots. SOS Report
Previous headlines regarding Diebold and also the Certification process, including former Diebold employee's part here Diebold News
Why is the testing and review of source code so important? Voting Systems expert believes that "10 percent of systems are failing on Election Day." - 12/05/2005 article
Carteret County chooses optical scan and ballot marking devices for the disabled. story
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