To the Editor:

 

As a citizen very concerned about the new electronic voting machines that will be used in Bucks County this November, I found the recent article about upcoming voter education efforts by county officials quite illuminating ("Voting machine program launched," July 27).  It seems the main thrust of this expensive program (“…could cost more than $100,000”) will be to “assuage voters’ fears regarding difficulties of the new machines,” and “to show everybody how easy these machines are to use,” according to David Sanko.   And this is necessary after the county commissioners picked the Danaher voting system primarily because they claimed it was the most like the old, easy-to-use lever machines?

Well, I would like to state unequivocally that this voter’s fears have absolutely nothing to do with how difficult it may be to use.  They are based on the vastly more alarming knowledge that votes cast on this new system are not voter-verified.  Without an independent, hard copy of my vote (such as a paper ballot) that could be used in a recount or audit, there is no possible way to back up election results.  If something goes awry, whether through computer or human error (intentional or accidental), any number of scenarios, already occurring around the nation, could play out:  the election thrown into disarray, or even more frightening, the results could just be wrong and we would have no way of knowing.

Members of the Coalition for Voting Integrity have spent over a year conducting their own voter education programs for officials and the public about pros and cons of the different voting systems (efforts funded primarily out of their own pockets).  The commissioners chose to disregard the compelling arguments against using a system that cannot be verified, and are now busy educating voters about an aspect that pales in significance compared to the much more important considerations of election integrity, voter confidence in the system, and cost to taxpayers.  CVI has also found some of the county’s “educational” material to be misleading or in error, especially concerning the (non)ability of conducting relevant audits. A true voter education program should allow citizens to have access to as many resources as possible; otherwise it’d be little more than a propaganda forum for the Danaher vendor and government officials.

I urge all of you, please, to ask questions, read about it, watch Lou Dobbs on CNN, visit the website (www.CoalitionforVotingIntegrity.org) for regional and national news. To say that this issue is vital for our democracy to survive is not an exaggeration.  It will be lost if our voice in governing ourselves, through the power of the vote, is compromised. 

 

Janis Hobbs-Pellechio

Doylestown Twp.