The fight against the worst of the electronic voting machines may be nearing a turning point. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seems poised to recommend decertification of the direct record electronic (DRE)voting machines. NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration that "promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life." This probably means that their recommendation is non-binding, but would go a long way to convincing people like my city councilman, David Yassky, who has yet to sign on to City Council resolution 131, that they had better oppose DRE machines if they want to ensure a fair vote.

From Internetnews.com:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is recommending that the 2007 version of the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG) decertify direct record electronic (DRE) machines.

DREs are currently used by more than 30 percent of jurisdictions across the U.S. and are the exclusive voting technology in Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland and South Carolina.

According to an NIST paper to be discussed at a meeting of election regulators at NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., on Dec. 4 and 5, DRE vote totals cannot be audited because the machines are not software independent.

In other words, there is no means of verifying vote tallies other than by relying on the software that tabulated the results to begin with.

The machines currently in use are "more vulnerable to undetected programming errors or malicious code," according to the paper.

The NIST paper also noted that, "potentially, a single programmer could 'rig' a major election."

It recommends "requiring SI [software independent] voting systems in VVSG 2007."

Nice to know that the NIST is coming to the same conclusions I have been pushing for months now. This also emphasizes that this is NOT a partisan issue since, in addition to progressive Democrats, conservative Republicans and now the independent NIST are speaking out against DRE machines. Add to that the blatant problem in FL-13 where there is an 18,000 vote undercount with no way to verify the will of the voter and I think it is about time to stop the rush to DREs.

Contact your City Council member to tell them about this and urge their support of resolution 131. You may also want to contact:

Chair of the Governmental Operations Committee, Simcha Felder
(718) 853-2704 or felder@council.nyc.ny.us

Speaker of the City Council Christine Quinn
(212) 788-7210 or quinn@council.nyc.ny.us

And by the way, where the hell is our do-nothing, waste-of-space Public Advocate, "What's-her-name" in all this. Given that our city is considering voting technology that is opposed by most tech-savvy experts, you'd think she'd be speaking out about it!

And, while we are at it, let's remember that there are other ways in which voting has been manipulated, blocked and otherwise interfered with. We need honest Secretaries of State in each and every state. No more Blackwells and Harrises who will block recounts and refuse to comply with court orders. Support the Secretary of State project to help ensure fair elections.

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