Legislation Would Allow Pennsylvania Voters to Vote on Paper in November and Avoid Compromised Machines

Contact information:

Mary Ann Gould

Coalition for Voting Integrity

votingintegrity@aol.com

(c) 215.588.8518

(h)215.357.5206

Doylestown - Acknowledging that Pennsylvania is a high risk state for a compromised election in November and for as long as voter-verified paper ballots are not used statewide, a bi-partisan group of state legislators and candidates will join the Coalition for Voting Integrity in announcing the introduction of HB 2910, the companion bill to SB1299. The press conference will take place today, Tuesday, September 12, at 2 p.m. in Harrisburg in the Capitol Rotunda.

Both bills, which comprise the Alternative Paper Ballot legislation, will allow Pennsylvania voters the option to bypass the unsecure and unverifiable, full-face Danaher touchscreen machines to vote with paper ballots this November.

The Coalition for Voting Integrity is hopeful that these bills will be the first priority of the returning legislature in light of the following facts:

The prestigious NYU Brennan Center for Justice recently released a report exposing full face DREs as the worst type of electronic voting machine with almost double the amount of lost votes, when compared to precinct-based optical scan machines and scrolling DREs.

Six high-vote Pennsylvania counties, comprising a significant percentage of the total vote in the Commonwealth, among them Philadelphia, Delaware, Bucks and Berks, are planning to vote on Danaher full-face DREs in November.

Our own federal government's Government Accountability Office GAO found that there are "significant concerns about the security and reliability of electronic voting systems" and that "concerns about electronic voting machines have been realized and have caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and miscount of votes."

Also recently released is this Zogby poll, which illuminates the general public's mistrust of voting systems that are not based on the use of voter-verified paper ballots. Zogby is reporting that 80% of the respondents said they want votes to be counted in front of observers representing the public, and that elections officials should not rely solely on the proprietary software that operates electronic voting machines that are presently being installed all over the United States.

The Coalition for Voting Integrity has worked tirelessly for more than a year under the guiding principle that the vote belongs to the American people and that citizens should be able to cast their votes in the most secure and accountable way possible. SB1299 and HB 2910 will allow Pennsylvania voters that opportunity in November and for as long as electronic voting machines that do not use voter-verified paper ballots are allowed to function in the Commonwealth.

As always, the Coalition for Voting Integrity plans to use today's press conference to encourage voters to go the polls in November with or without Alternative Paper Ballot legislation since the vulnerabilities of all electronic voting systems can best be observed with high voter turnout.

WHAT: Press conference to announce the introduction of HB 2910, companion legislation to SB1299, the Alternative Paper Ballot Bill
WHERE: Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg
WHEN: Tuesday, September 12 at 2 PM

Coalition for Voting Integrity