RESOLUTION NO. 2005-32
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF PLUMSTEAD TOWNSHIP
SUPPORTING THE IMMEDIATE PASSAGE OF THE VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER BALLOT AND RANDOM MANUAL AUDIT BILL PENDING IN THE PENNSYLVANIA
STATE LEGISTLATURE
WHEREAS, in 2002, the United States Government passed the Help
America Vote Act which was an effort on the part of the Federal Government to correct problems arising from the 2000 Presidential
Election;
WHEREAS, the Help America Vote Act (hereinafter referred to as
"HAVA") required that lever machines be replaced by January 1, 2006 because the machines do not produce a "manual audit capacity"
as required;
WHEREAS, the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania is presently testing and certifying voting systems for the purpose
of establishing a list of approved voting machines which may be purchased by County
Government;
WHEREAS, to date, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has only certified two (2) [now three (3)] machines, both [all] of which are direct recording
electronic machines;
WHEREAS, concerns have been raised that a verified paper audit
cannot be accomplished by using either [any] of the two (2) [three (3)] approved direct recording electronic machines;
WHEREAS, there is presently pending in the State Legislature
two (2) Voter-Verified Paper Records with Routine Audit Bills identified as House Bill 2000 and Senate Bill 977, which would
insure the integrity of the election system in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
WHEREAS, HB 2000 and SB 977 require that before an electronic
vote is cast into the computer system a voter-verified paper ballot can be reviewed by the voter to determine its accuracy;
WHEREAS, HB 2000 and SB 977 would also provide the voter with
the option to change his/her vote before it is officially counted;
WHEREAS, the residents of Plumstead
Township will be better served if their votes are represented in elections by paper
ballots which have the ability to be reviewed and confirmed by the voter before submission;
WHEREAS, pursuant to HB 2000 and SB 977, a voter's verified paper
record would then be available to be hand counted pursuant to an audit and the hand counts compared to the electronic tally
in order to insure the accuracy of the electronic tally;
WHEREAS, the residents of Plumstead
Township will then be assured that their votes will be accurately counted in elections;
and
WHEREAS, paper ballots also provide a permanent record of the
voter intent and would be available in the event of election day discrepancies and for the purpose of recounts.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of
Plumstead Township that it herein supports the Voter-Verified Paper Records with the Routine Audits Bill as set forth in House
Bill 2000 and Senate Bill 977; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors of Plumstead
Township recommends that the County of Bucks give consideration to the purchase of a Voter-Verified Paper Record Voting System
so as to provide the most accurate, reliable, tamper proof, cost effective and accessible voting system for Bucks County;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be
forwarded to the appropriate State and County officials.
ADOPTED, at a duly convened meeting of the Board of Supervisors
of Plumstead Township conducted on this 13th day of December, A.D., 2005.
PLUMSTEAD TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
By:
Frank P. Froio, Chair
By: Vincent Formica, Secretary/Treasurer
By: Housley Carr, member
By: Stacey Mulholland, member
Attest: Elizabeth A. Sunday
