"Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland"
www.TrueVoteMD.org · 7711 Garland Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912 ·
301-270-6150
November 24, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Further Information Contact:
Kevin Zeese / Linda Schade 301-270-6150 or cell 703-981-3619
Montgomery County: The Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland applauded a decision announced by California Secretary of State, Kevin Shelly, that will require all electronic voting machines to have a voter verified paper trail for the purpose of random audits and recounts. The Campaign for Verifiable Voting noted that the decision in California will create a market for voter verified machines, reduce the price and make voting without voter verification unacceptable.
The Secretary of State noted in making his decision that he wanted to be sure that voters "must have the confidence that every vote cast is a vote counted." He added that requiring a voter verified paper audit trail will restore the confidence of the voters. The full press release can be seen at: http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/press_releases/2003/03_106.pdf.
California had halted certification of Diebold voting machines - the same manufacturer used in Maryland - when it was discovered that they had put in new software without the knowledge or certification of California election officials. This is a violation of federal law. There have been allegations the Diebold did the same thing in Georgia before the 2002 election.
Linda Schade, a Director of the Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland, asked: "Are the votes of Californians more valuable than the votes of Marylanders? How about the votes of Virginians where there are lawsuits underway to challenge questionable election results due to the failures of touch screen voting machines? We should have the same level of integrity in our voting system as the people of California and Virginia. Maryland needs to stop and rethink its purchase of any voting system that does not provide for a voter verified paper audit."
California makes up 10 percent of the nation's voters. Thus, the decision to require voter verification is likely to spur the market, reduce prices and get other states to move in this direction.
"Why are we putting in place machines that do not provide for an independent audit or recount capacity? It is bad enough to let our votes be counted by a private company and their secret software," charged Schade. "Maryland is risking electoral chaos by rushing toward a technology that is unable to perform; it has unacceptable failure rates, security risks and lacks the capacity for independent verification."