"The New York Independence Party has a tradition of choosing its presidential nominee at the last possible moment. In 2000, it chose John Hagelin on September 24. In 2004, it chose Ralph Nader on September 26.
State chair Frank MacKay says this tradition will continue this year. The most likely date for the party to choose its presidential candidate is September 21, a Sunday.
New York state is able to cope with late decisions because it uses mechanical voting machines. One advantage of mechanical voting machines is that they can be easily and quickly set up. Elections officials don’t need to print entire ballots; they merely must print up narrow strips of paper which are inserted into the right slots on the face of the machines. However, New York will be giving up its mechanical voting machines after the November 2008 election, since the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) outlawed them."
Michael H. Drucker
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ERROR: "New York will be giving up its mechanical voting machines after the November 2008 election, since the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) outlawed them."
CORRECTION: HAVA did not outlaw lever voting machines.
As State Board of Elections Commissioner Doug Kellner testified:
"The federal Help America Vote Act, 42 USC §§15301 et seq., will require substantial changes in election administration for the 2006 elections. In particular, 42 USC § 15481, sets minimum standards for voting machines. Our lever machines satisfy all but one of those standards, that there be at least one machine at each poll site that is 'accessible for individuals with disabilities, including non-visual accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters."
NY ignored all the reports of computerized voting system failures and enacted ERMA in 2005 (amended in 2007) wherein it voluntarily decided to replace reliable lever voting machines with systems run on undetectably mutable software.
For more info, see http://re-mediaetc.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the update. I read some of the blog entries. My only observation is doesn't the optical form become the verified form to count and compare to the machine count, and if there is a discrepency the ballot form would override the machine count?
After reading the 2002 Act, it makes it almost mandatory to replace the lever machines if you want the HAVA money.
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