Chester County Dems' Resolution

THE CHESTER COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

www.chescodems.org

37 South High Street, West Chester, PA 19382

610.692-5811; Fax: 610.692-8474

A. Wayne Burton, Chair; Michele O. Vaughn, Vice-Chair;

Sharon McLeod, Secretary; Kristin Hoover, Treasurer

RESOLUTION:

Whereas, numerous studies have documented failures and weaknesses of electronic voting systems, including the General Accountability Office report of September, 2005 [GAO-05-956], which cites “significant concerns about the security and reliability of electronic voting systems” that have resulted in inaccurate election results; and,

Whereas, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) mandates states to upgrade their existing punch card and lever machine systems to comply with stated requirements for manual audit capacity, accessibility for the disabled, and voter correction of voting selection before the ballot is cast, and to report by January 1, 2006, their selected voter system to meet the requirements of the act; and,

Whereas, federal standards and procedures for security and reliability have not been fully developed and the certification process for voting systems remains primarily in control of the voting machine vendors; and

Whereas, anticipated costs of Direct Recording Electronic systems are considerably higher than alternative compliant systems:

Therefore, Be It Resolved:

1. The Chester County Democratic Committee opposes the selection of any DRE voting system unless supplemented by checks and balances to ensure accurante voting results, including:

i) a voter-verifiable paper ballot that is produced outside the voting machine, easy to read, discreet (not part of a paper roll that can be associated with a voter by comparison to the voter list), and permanent (not thermal paper);

ii) a mandated manual audit, with a 5% - 15% random sample of precincts;

iii) open source software code: and

iv) certified computer audit capability, independent of the voting machine vendors, that is accountable to the County.

2. The Chester County Democratic Committee urges US Representatives Gerlach, Pitts, and Weldon to support the passage of HR 550, the “Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005”, which requires voter-verified paper ballots, provisions for mandatory manual audits to confirm that voting machines are working properly, increased security requirements, and which prohibits undisclosed software.

3. The Chester County Democratic Committee urges our state legislators to support passage of Pennsylvania legislation, HB 2000 and SB 977, which require a voter verified paper record of every vote and improve on HR 550’s 2% routine random manual audit provision by increasing the audit sample to 5% of the state’s precincts.

4. The Chester County Democratic Committee asks US Representatives Gerlach, Pitts, and Weldon to support the passage of HR 3163, “To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to delay for 24 months the deadlines by which States must comply with the election administration requirements of title III of such Act and for other purposes”.

5. The Chester County Democratic Committee recommends the County Commissioners conduct a review of alternative voting systems’ costs, using documentation from states who have already implemented HAVA-compliant systems and other available data that is independent of voting machine vendors. This review should include lease versus purchase options.

6. If a delay of the HAVA compliance deadline is not granted, the Chester County Democratic Committee advises the County Commissioners to take steps to control conversion costs by leasing rather than purchasing voting machine equipment, and, prior to entering into any contract, to obtain an objective expert evaluation, independent of the voting machine vendors, of the number of machines needed for each precinct.

7. The Chester County Democratic Committee asserts that the selection of voting systems that can assure the public of secure, accurate, and fair elections is sufficiently complex and critical that it requires oversight by a committee representing both major political parties. This bipartisan advisory committee would assist the County Board of Elections in determining whether the County should replace its punch card voting system with DRE’s or an alternative system. The advisory committee would help to ensure the integrity of the voting process by the establishment of standards and procedures to minimize security riskes of the new system.

8. A copy of this resolution be forwarded to all officials responsible for decisions that affect Chester County’s voting system conversion to comply with the HAVA, including Governor Rendell, Secretary of State Cortes, Senator Specter, Senator Santorum, US Represenatives Gerlach, Pitts, and Weldon, the Chester County State legislative members, the Chester County Commissioners, and the Director of Chester County Voter Services Department. This resolution supports and follows a resolution of the Chester County Democratic Committee regarding voter verified paper trail already forwarded to the Chester County Board of Commissioners, and also supports the Richard Winchester Minority Report of the Chester County Task Force on HAVA.

Unanimously passed by the Executive Committee of the Chester County Democratic Committee on Wednesday Dec. 7, 2005.

Attest: A. Wayne Burton, Chairperson