Voice of the Voters!

The Power and Responsibility of Democracy

Will Be Aired on WNJC 1360AM, Philadelphia's Renaissance Radio Station

Lowell Finley, noted election law attorney, to be first guest.

Doylestown - The Coalition for Voting Integrity is proud to announce the premier of a weekly radio show devoted to voting rights, election reform and voter-verified paper ballots. The show, to be hosted by Mary Ann Gould, co-founder of CVI, will be called Voice of the Voters! The Power and Responsibility of Democracy.

Although the show is planned to be based on an interview format with time for listener call-ins, it will not stop there. "This hour every week will let people hear from experts in the field of voting reform but it will also provide some entertainment built around voting issues that affect Pennsylvania as well as the rest of the country," said Ms. Gould. "We want people to be engaged in the struggle to make voter-verified paper ballots the nationwide standard and we want them to have some fun while doing it."

The Voice of the Voters' first three weeks are already booked with a series of experts in the field of voting reform:

10/18 - Lowell Finley (www.voteraction.org) of Berkeley, California. Mr. Finley has practiced election law for over 20 years and is one of the few attorneys in the nation with experience litigating electronic voting issues. Mr. Finley has won the most voting cases in US and is often interviewed by major networks, cable TV and major print outlets. Mr. Finley led New Mexico’s legal action which resulted in the discarding of Danaher voting machines, which were replaced with voter-verified optical scan machines. Danaher machines are used now in Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, Berks and two other PA counties. Mr. Finley also won an important voting rights case in Colorado. Access this site for more information on the lawsuits.

10/25  Daniel Lopresti received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1982 and his Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University in 1987.  After completing his doctorate, he joined the Computer Science Department at Brown University.  He went on to help found the Matsushita Information Technology Laboratory in Princeton, and later also served on the research staff at Bell Labs in Murray Hill.  In 2003, he joined the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Lehigh University where he conducts research examining basic algorithmic and systems-related questions in pattern recognition, bioinformatics, and computer security.

An expert in the areas of biometric security and cybersecurity with numerous publications and NSF-funded research, Dr. Lopresti turned his attention to e-voting about a year ago when it became clear to him there were many unresolved issues threatening the safe and trustworthy conduct of our elections. He has studied the numerous published reports detailing vulnerabilities in e-voting systems, as well as the official certification reports and videotapes of certification examinations for the equipment currently approved for use in Pennsylvania. Dr. Lopresti has traveled around the Commonwealth to meet with elected representatives and government officials in Harrisburg, as well as in Northampton, Lehigh, and Bucks Counties. He organized a public debate on the e-voting issue last spring, is co-author of a recently released survey of Pennsylvania voters on the e-voting issue, and has currently initiated several research projects on the e-voting topic working with students at Lehigh University. See more on e-voting at Professor Lopresti's website.

11/1 - Dr. Avi Rubin of Johns Hopkins. Dr. Rubin is one of the top voting security experts and leading critic of electronic voting security in the country. He is the author of Brave New Ballot, which tells the story of his role as a whistle-blower (including the toll it took on his career and family) and recounts his observations as an election judge in Baltimore County, which gave him a full picture of electronic voting in action. In the book he shows how easy it is to rig an election and describes the vulnerability of computerized systems to tampering, not only by insiders like poll workers but also by outsiders able to breach the system without detection.

In order to reach listeners concerned about electronic voting all over the state and country, The Voice of the Voters will be easily available to listeners over the Internet. Click here for instructions and listen live from your computer at http://www.wnjc1360.com/Live_Netcast/live_netcast.html. Call 856-227-1360 to ask the guests or the host a question or submit your question online in advance. Shows will also be archived at CVI's website.

WHAT: The 10/18 launch of CVI's weekly, one-hour radio show, The Voice of the Voters: the Power and Responsibility of Democracy with special guest Lowell Finley.

WHEN: Wednesday, 10/18, 8:00PM

WHERE: WNJC, 1360AM, Philadelphia's Renaissance Radio Station and everywhere on the Internet