EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | David Holtzman
Organization : | Holtzman Law
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
General Comments
Comment : | B. Election Assistance Matters In case you view your role in proposing or adopting the WSGs as clarifying and making concrete suggestions for compliance with parts of HAVA -- even though the law you cite as authority for the proposed WSGs does not appear to require you to do that -- please allow me to offer two comments relevant to that. 1. Votes Must Be Physically Verifiable. A voting system that does not allow judicial examination of physical evidence to verify vote counts would violate and disrespect the United States Constitution. You should not approve, or appear to approve, such a system. Some of the testimony at your Pasadena hearing suggested that you were on the verge of doing so. Official records such as tangible, visible, touchable ballots are required for government accountability and are fundamental to the First Amendment right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." A wrongly decided election is the most grievous of grievances. Surely the Constitution's framers had tangible, visible, touchable ballots in mind when they wrote of electors choosing representatives, and of ballots cast by presidential electors. In addition, to be effective, constitutional rights of due process and to vote require tangible, visible, touchable ballots. The right of equal protection (for voters, for candidates and for groups with interests at stake in an election) requires that all voters have such ballots if some do.