The resolution to be discussed would have the legislature insisting the NYState Board of Elections provide counties with a PB/OS option.
While the public is not allowed to speak at the committee meetings, we are welcome to observe.
The press will be there.
Here’s the text of the resolution:
RESOLUTION NO.
RE: URGE NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF ELECTION TO ENSURE A CHOICE OF PAPER BALLOT OPTICAL SCAN VOTING MACHINES FOR DUTCHESS COUNTY
Legislators GOLDBERG, BUNNELL, FETTES, HIGGINS, JETER-JACKSON, KELLER-COFFEY, KNAPP, MACAVERY, MCCABE, NASH, RAY, and TYNER offers the following and moves its adoption:
WHEREAS, the two main types of voting machine technologies currently available for implementing the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) compliance of our elections are optical scanning of paper ballots (PB//OS) and touch screen direct recording electronic (DRE), and
WHEREAS, the New York State Board of Elections is accepting voting systems for certification testing, and
WHEREAS, the New York State Board of Elections has not yet mandated that the optical scanners be offered for certification testing, and
WHEREAS, the vendor of voting systems may decide to offer only DRE systems for certification testing thus eliminating a reliable and cost-effective option from consideration, and
WHEREAS, the County Election Commissioners and the citizens of Dutchess County expect to have a choice of technologies from which to choose rather than a choice limited by vendors’ fiscal imperatives, now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the New York State Board of Elections needs to include a certified optical scanner/paper ballot option for counties, and, be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to
Governor George E. Pataki, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Senators Stephen M. Saland and Vincent Leibell, State Senate Democratic Leader
David A. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assemblymen Thomas Kirwan, Joel M. Miller, Patrick R. Manning, Willis H. Stephens Jr., and Kevin Cahill, Commissioner Neil W. Kelleher, Commissioner Evelyn J. Aquila, Commissioner
Helena Moses Donohue, Commissioner Doug Kellner, the Board of Elections Co-Executive Director Peter Kosinski, Board of Elections Co-Executive Director Stanley Zalen, and Dutchess County Election Commissioners David Gamache and Fran Knapp.
STATE OF NEW YORK
ss:
COUNTY OF DUTCHESS
This is to certify that I, the undersigned Clerk of the Legislature of the County of Dutchess have compared the foregoing resolution with the original resolution now on file in the office of said clerk, and which was adopted by said Legislature on the th day of , 2006, and that the same is a true and correct transcript of said original resolution and of the whole thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of said Legislature this th day of , 2006.
PATRICIA J. HOHMANN, CLERK OF THE LEGISLATURE