EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Lillie Coney
Organization : | National Committee for Voting Integrity
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
Section Comments
Section : | 6.8
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Comment : | Volume 1, Section 6.8 Requirements for Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail [(VVPAT)] (Optional), begs the question, why was this particular topic labeled as “Optional”? Further, why was the sentence “VVPAT is not mandatory” included. There are 24 states, which have VVPAT laws, and 13 with proposed legislation. Independent voting by all voters regardless of physical condition, language of origin, literacy, or mental capacity and voter verifiable elections are not incompatible objectives. Today there is no voting technology that will eliminate the need for paper’s use in elections. For this reason, systems that produce paper ballots and/or VVPAT must be accessible by those who are language minorities or shoulder the challenge of disabilities. Voter verification should be unassisted verification of votes cast and recorded prior to the voter leaving the voting station. It is our belief that meaningful access to verification of physical ballots and VVPAT by members of the language minority and disabled communities is not an impossible task. [Statements submitted at EAC public hearing, August 23, 2005, Denver]