Political Party Chair

Look them up here http://www.ncdp.org/counties or http://www.ncgop.org/getactive/join.asp and ask them for their help. They can influence their respective member(s) on the Board of Elections, each of whom are political appointees.

We must put pressure on each Countys Political chairmen to put pressure on their BOE members. Remember, the GOP candidates have had as many problems with voting in North Carolina as have Democrats and we had important GOP allies in the Legislature:

Now that the Public Confidence in Elections Act, S223 has passed, our county will prepare to choose a new voting system that must have a paper ballot backup. [1]

We ask you to strongly urge the County Boards of Elections Chair and members to follow the recommendations Computer scientists are recommending the optical scan solution as the best one, based on their accessibility, reliability, cost efectiveness, and auditability. Without your help, we may end up with more election problems in 2006 and 2008.

Optical scan systems are more accessible, affordable, and more easily audited. Our County could purchase optical scan units and "ballot marking" devices for the disabled for a little less than $12,0000 per precinct, all from existing federal funds. These machines will meet all federal and state requirements. [2] The other types of voting machines, called Direct Record Electronic, or DREs (touchscreen or pushbutton)cost at least 3 times more, and will not fully meet the disabled accessibility standards of the Help America Vote Act. [3]

"Ballot Marking Best for Accessible and Verifiable Voting - Voters Can Have the Best of Both Worlds." August 3rd, 2005

San Francisco, CA - The Verified Voting Foundation (VVF) today published its initial detailed evaluation of the disability access features of voting systems that provide a voter-verified paper record.

"Our research demonstrates that ballot marking devices -- used by disabled voters to mark paper ballots in precinct-count optical scan voting systems -- provide the most complete combination of accessibility, accuracy, and verifiability of any voting systems on the market today," said VVF Executive Director Will Doherty. "We urge election administrators to choose a voting system that best meets the right of disabled voters to cast votes privately and independently, as well ensuring the voting system records and counts every vote accurately and securely." [4]

Please advise if we can count on you in this important matter of protecting our votes.

Respectfully;

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The study findings and independent analysis indicate that the use of DRE (touchscreen) machines is highly problematic and the use of precinct-tabulated optical scan systems is vastly preferable if accessibility issues can be successfully addressed.

As the study findings summarized above indicate, use of DRE (touchscreen) machines was problematic in terms of deterring voters, voters reporting experiencing problems, long waits and, where machines were scarce, which was widespread, actual loss of votesi.e., votes cast but not counted.

Team experts have confirmed that DRE (touchscreen) systems are consistently shown to have higher residual vote rates than optical scan systems even though DRE systems are specifically designed to produce high valid vote rates.

Our team expert points out that current DRE (touchscreen) systems are extremely expensive to procure and maintainwhich makes it unlikely that sufficient numbers could ever be purchased to remedy the scarcity problems detected in the study.

While there is no reliable evidence of actual fraud in the use of these machines in Ohio in 2004, our expert advises that DRE (touchscreen) machines are not sufficiently safeguarded against fraud and are less usable for the broad population of voters than earlier simpler technologies; and that existing standards and practices for certification are insufficient to ensure the security requirements of DRE (touchscreen) systems.

A voter-verified paper trail or equivalent system would address the security of DRE (touchscreen) systems while preserving their attractive features such as enhanced accessibility for disabled voters.

Precinct based optical scan systems remain superior, however, with respect to ensuring that everyones vote is counted.

One attractive alternative is the use of a computer-assisted optical scan ballot marking device, which would enable voters who need the accessibility feature of DRE (touchscreen) systems to use a computer to actually mark the optical scan ballot. Other voters would use a standard marking pen.