'It's the Help America Vote Act, not the Help Diebold Profit Act,' Says Dem Nominee
State Senator Debra Bowen, Staunch Election Transparency Proponent, Issues Strong Statement on Congressional Initatives!
By Brad Friedman on 9/28/2006, 8:30am PT  

The Democratic nominee for Secretary of State in California issued a powerful statement in support of recent legislation filed by several Senators and Representatives in both the U.S. House and Senate calling for Emergency Paper Ballots at the polling place this November.

The 11th hour Congressional bills, filed on Tuesday and Wednesday, just days before both chambers adjourn for the Election Recess, will offer voters the right to vote on paper ballots this year and see those costs reimbursed by the Federal Government. The legislation, if passed, is estimated to cost approximately $10 million. It would amend the disastrous 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which has mandated some $3 billion to encourage States and Counties to "upgrade" to electronic voting systems.

Monumental failures in those systems, during primary elections across the country over the last several months, have sent thousands of voters away from the polls without being able to cast any vote at all. The situation could be far worse during the general election when voter turnout will be a great deal higher than it's been so far in the mid-year primaries.

"Remember, it's the 'Help America Vote Act,' not the 'Help Diebold Profit Act,'" said Bowen, in a stinging comment referring to one of America's largest manufacturers of inaccurate, untested, hackable elecronic voting machines. "It's why this low-tech option makes so much sense, especially in light of all of the problems electronic voting machines have had in primary elections this year, not just in California, but also in Texas, Illinois, and most recently Maryland."

The BRAD BLOG originally proposed the idea for Emergency Paper Ballots early last week. The low-tech, high common-sense notion has gained considerable steam since its inception on these pages. It has now been officially introduced as legislation in Congress by Senators Boxer, Dodd, Feingold and Kerry in the Senate, and by Representative Rush Holt and several co-sponsors in the U.S. House.

Bowen's Republican opponent, Sec. of State Bruce McPherson was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and has come under considerable fire for re-certifying Diebold systems in the state in light of severe warnings from his own team of scientific advisors about more than a dozen "serious vulnerabilities" in those particular voting systems.

An investigate report from BlackBoxVoting.org [PDF], a non-partisan E-voting watchdog organization, found that representative of Diebold's had actually drafted official documents on behalf of the California Secretary of State's office!

That same rep, Rob Pelletier, had previously been presenting disinformation in comments here at The BRAD BLOG under the name of "Wally O'Diebold" until he was found out.

Diebold voting systems were decertified in California by McPherson's predecessor, just prior to the 2004 election, when it was discovered the company had been installing uncertified software and systems in several counties across the state. They settled a qui tam (fraud) lawsuit with the state for $2.8 million later that year.

Though the legislation in the Congress so far has been sponsored by Democrats, the problem is a decidedly non-partisan issue. Maryland's Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich recently called for paper ballots to be used in his state this November after failures across the state disenfranchised thousands of voters during their September 12th primary. Maryland, along with Georgia, was Diebold's "showcase" state having installed their paperless electronic touch-screen systems as early as 2002 with the cooperation and ardent support of the Democratic MD Elections Director, Linda Lamone.

Citing the irony of the public outcry for a return to countable paper balloting, the failure of the U.S. Congress to take action on growing concerns, and the plunging confidence rate in electronic voting amongst the American electorate, Bowen said in her statement, "It's about time Congress provides counties with the incentive to allow their voters to cast a paper ballot at the polls on Election Day, a step that will help begin to restore voter confidence in the elections process and the results."

Bowen, in her capacity as chair of the CA State Senate Elections Commission, held hearings in Kern County, California after the state's marred June 6th primary, when voting systems failed to start up --- or sometimes even show up at the polls at all --- until hours after voting was supposed to have begun. The Kern County Registrar of Voters had, incredibly, given instructions that "back-up paper ballots were not to be used" on Election Day according to the State Senators statement.

"Kern County is the reason why I wish counties were required to provide this option to voters," Bowen remarked.

Citizens are asked to call upon Congress to pass the Emergency Paper Ballot legislation immediately. You may easily contact your Senators here, and your House Members here.

Debra Bowen's complete statement on Emergency Paper Ballots follows in full...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 26, 2006
CONTACT: Evan Goldberg, (916) 651-4028/(916) 215-5953

“WHAT’S OLD MAY BE NEW AGAIN”

ARE PAPER BALLOTS IN CALIFORNIA’S FUTURE?

BOWEN APPLAUDS BOXER-DODD EFFORT TO REIMBURSE COUNTIES WILLING TO LET VOTERS SKEPTICAL ABOUT ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES A CHANCE TO USE AN OLD FASHIONED PAPER BALLOT

SACRAMENTO – “This has the potential to take the Help America Vote Act full-circle by giving voters who don’t like or don’t trust electronic voting machines the option of using a paper ballot when they go to the polls in six weeks.”

That’s the reaction of Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach), the chairwoman of the California State Senate Elections, Reapportionment & Constitutional Amendments Committee today to a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate called “The Confidence in Voting Act of 2006.” Under the measure, introduced late this afternoon by U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut):

  • Counties that rely on electronic voting machines will be reimbursed out of federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds up to 75 cents per ballot if they choose to give voters the option of casting their vote on a paper ballot; and,
  • Counties that want to apply for this funding will have to post a notice at each polling place to let voters know they can request a paper ballot.

    • “If this becomes law, I expect to see every single county that’s eligible for this money lined up at the door, asking for a check so they can provide this paper ballot option to their voters,” said Bowen. “Remember, it’s the ‘Help America Vote Act,’ not the ‘Help Diebold Profit Act,’ and it’s why this low-tech option makes so much sense, especially in light of all of the problems electronic voting machines have had in primary elections this year, not just in California, but also in Texas, Illinois, and most recently Maryland.”

    “HAVA provided counties with the money and the incentive to saddle their voters with expensive electronic voting machines that fewer and fewer people have confidence in to accurately tally their votes,” continued Bowen. “It’s about time Congress provides counties with the incentive to allow their voters to cast a paper ballot at the polls on Election Day, a step that will help begin to restore voter confidence in the elections process and the results.”

    On July 31st, 2006, the Senate Select Committee on the Integrity of Elections chaired by Senator Bowen held a hearing in Kern County, where elections officials testified that as many as 500 voters were prevented from casting ballots in the June primary election due to electronic voting machine problems and instructions from the Registrar of Voters that the back-up paper ballots were not to be used.

    “Kern County is the reason why I wish counties were required to provide this option to voters,” continued Bowen. “However, if the Boxer-Dodd bill does become law, I look forward to seeing California’s registrars of voters take the lead in providing their voters with the paper ballot option since it won’t cost them a dime to do it.”

    The Senate may consider the measure sometime in the next four days.

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    Article Categories: Diebold/Premier, California, Election Reform, Election 2006, Paper Ballots Legislation