EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Ron Crane
Organization : | N/A
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
General Comments
Comment : | 1. The Guidelines treat voting system performance almost purely as a technical problem, ignoring the vital issue of transparency. They deprive the citizenry of its essential role in the counting of votes, and they imply that we should accept voting systems merely because "experts" (mainly the test labs) are required to inspect them. No healthy republic can require its citizens to exhibit this level of trust, particularly with respect to voting systems and procedures, which control the exercise of citizens' very ability peaceably to choose their governments. Citizens have the right - and the obligation - to supervise directly every aspect of the voting process, from the presentation of ballot choices, through the casting of ballots, to their collection and counting, to the computation and reporting of totals. The Guidelines must discuss and reflect these rights and obligations. As California's Brown Act notes1: The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.