Comments on: Resolution On Paper Ballots http://iowavoters.org/2008/01/02/resolution-on-paper-ballots/ for Open and Transparent Elections Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:20:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0 by: Jerry Depew http://iowavoters.org/2008/01/02/resolution-on-paper-ballots/#comment-18559 Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:08:02 +0000 http://iowavoters.org/2008/01/02/resolution-on-paper-ballots/#comment-18559 Resolution in support of changes to election administration WHEREAS, Iowa election officials strive to uphold the state’s reputation for fair and accurate elections, in an environment of limited choices and growing concerns about the reliability of electronic voting systems, and WHEREAS, the national testing process for electronic voting systems has been discovered to be severely deficient and burdened by conflict of interest, and WHEREAS, due to the complexity of computer voting systems, election officials have become increasingly reliant upon voting machine manufacturers to perform election functions, and WHEREAS, many of the world's most respected computer scientists contend that computer tabulation of votes must be verified by post-election hand counts of a random sample of paper ballots, and THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports a requirement for post-election audits—i.e., hand counts of paper ballots—of a sample size and selection process sufficient to ensure that the correct winners were designated for all statewide and federal races, and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports the expansion of the Iowa Board of Examiners of Voting Machines and Electronic Voting Systems to include experts competent in the evaluation of computer code, and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports the public administration of elections, and the creation of a transparent, bipartisan public body to support counties in the performance of administrative functions for which counties now depend on voting machine companies. Resolution in support of changes to election administration

WHEREAS, Iowa election officials strive to uphold the state’s reputation for fair and accurate elections, in an environment of limited choices and growing concerns about the reliability of electronic voting systems, and
WHEREAS, the national testing process for electronic voting systems has been discovered to be severely deficient and burdened by conflict of interest, and
WHEREAS, due to the complexity of computer voting systems, election officials have become increasingly reliant upon voting machine manufacturers to perform election functions, and
WHEREAS, many of the world’s most respected computer scientists contend that computer tabulation of votes must be verified by post-election hand counts of a random sample of paper ballots, and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports a requirement for post-election audits—i.e., hand counts of paper ballots—of a sample size and selection process sufficient to ensure that the correct winners were designated for all statewide and federal races, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports the expansion of the Iowa Board of Examiners of Voting Machines and Electronic Voting Systems to include experts competent in the evaluation of computer code, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports the public administration of elections, and the creation of a transparent, bipartisan public body to support counties in the performance of administrative functions for which counties now depend on voting machine companies.

]]> by: Jerry Depew http://iowavoters.org/2008/01/02/resolution-on-paper-ballots/#comment-18558 Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:04:40 +0000 http://iowavoters.org/2008/01/02/resolution-on-paper-ballots/#comment-18558 Resolution to support optically-scanned paper ballots WHEREAS, an accurate and verifiable tabulation of votes is essential to democracy, and WHEREAS, numerous analyses and reviews over the past two years [1] have shown that electronic voting systems are prone to error and vulnerable to tampering, and WHEREAS, in the 2006 election, 78 Iowa counties used direct-recording electronic voting machines (“touchscreens”) as either the sole voting system or as a supplemental voting system, and WHEREAS, direct-recording electronic voting machines do not allow the voter to see how their vote is recorded and do not allow for an independent recount, and WHEREAS, experience in other states has shown that adding printers to electronic voting machines in an attempt to produce a Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail fails to resolve either basic security issues or the difficulties of conducting recounts on this equipment, and WHEREAS, voter-marked paper ballots, counted by optical scanners or by hand, provide the most reliable record of voter intent, and WHEREAS, the Iowa Legislature in 2007 joined a growing number of state legislatures in mandating an eventual phaseout of direct-recording electronic voting machines, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports allocation of sufficient state funds for counties to replace all direct-recording electronic voting machines with optical scanners and ballot marking devices to serve voters with disabilities, in time for the November 2008 General Election; and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports federal legislation allocating funds to reimburse states for purchase of optical scanners and ballot marking devices. [1] References available at www.IowansForVotingIntegrity.org Resolution to support optically-scanned paper ballots
WHEREAS, an accurate and verifiable tabulation of votes is essential to democracy, and
WHEREAS, numerous analyses and reviews over the past two years [1] have shown that electronic voting systems are prone to error and vulnerable to tampering, and
WHEREAS, in the 2006 election, 78 Iowa counties used direct-recording electronic voting machines (“touchscreens”) as either the sole voting system or as a supplemental voting system, and
WHEREAS, direct-recording electronic voting machines do not allow the voter to see how their vote is recorded and do not allow for an independent recount, and
WHEREAS, experience in other states has shown that adding printers to electronic voting machines in an attempt to produce a Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail fails to resolve either basic security issues or the difficulties of conducting recounts on this equipment, and
WHEREAS, voter-marked paper ballots, counted by optical scanners or by hand, provide the most reliable record of voter intent, and
WHEREAS, the Iowa Legislature in 2007 joined a growing number of state legislatures in mandating an eventual phaseout of direct-recording electronic voting machines,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports allocation of sufficient state funds for counties to replace all direct-recording electronic voting machines with optical scanners and ballot marking devices to serve voters with disabilities, in time for the November 2008 General Election; and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports federal legislation allocating funds to reimburse states for purchase of optical scanners and ballot marking devices.

[1] References available at www.IowansForVotingIntegrity.org

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