Maryland!):
Hello friends of verifiable elections,
As you probably know, Maryland was supposed to get a new voting system
before this fall's elections that would provide a voter-verifiable paper
ballot that could be used for recounts or audits to ensure that votes
are counted accurately and that election results are correct.
But even though the law says the new system is supposed to be in place
in time for the 2010 elections -- and despite the fact that the State
Board of Elections has had 3 years to make this happen -- SBE has used
about every excuse in the book to derail this change.
Every year they try a different ploy, and this year's excuse is the
budget. Now we all know that both the state's and counties' budgets are
strained to the breaking point this year. But we also know that the new
optical scan voting system will be far cheaper to operate than our
current, labor-intensive touch-screen voting system.
The SBE presented cost estimates to the governor that inflated the cost
of an op-scan system while vastly understating the costs of operating
the existing voting equipment. In this tight budget year, the governor
could not find the money to meet the SBE's projected costs for the new
system. (For more details, see this Gazette article:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/03122010/policol175947_32553.php
Now that it's too late to buy the new voting system, the SBE is
requesting the true amount they need to conduct the 2010 elections with
the existing equipment -- and it's about double what they claimed it
would cost! In fact, it's about the same amount it would cost for a
truly conscientious elections administrator to buy and implement an
optical scan voting system.
Are you fed up with the SBE's fuzzy math? Isn't it time to get some true
estimates of the real costs of moving forward with a new voting system?
Please call these delegates immediately:
* Del. Clagett (Chair, Public Safety & Administration subcommittee,
which oversees the SBE's budget) 1-800-492-7122 Ext. 3436
* DeBoy (Vice-chair, Public Safety & Administration subcommittee)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3328
* Del. Conway (Chair, House Appropriations Committee)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3407
Ask them to have the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) conduct an
independent review of voting system costs -- both the costs of
continuing to operate the current voting system and of buying and
implementing a new one. The reason for the independent review is that
the SBE's cost projections have been unreliable -- they said the
operating costs would be about $4 million for the current system but
instead they are asking for $8.4 million for FY10 & FY11 -- in addition
to the $2 million they have already grabbed that was allocated last year
to buy the new voting system.
Please call immediately as soon as you read this -- budget decisions are
being made right now! You'll be speaking with an aide who will take the
message, so please be polite and clear about what you are asking for.
Please email me and let me know what kinds of responses you get. And
please spread the word to everyone you know -- every phone call is
important!
Thank you for everything you do to protect Maryland's elections!
Rebecca Wilson
SAVEourVotes.org
SAVE our Votes is a nonpartisan grassroots organization working for
Secure, Accessible, Verifiable Elections in Maryland.
No comments:
Post a Comment