Reply #11: Here's the Voter Action update that just arrived in email [View All]

[eleny]

Voter Action is the organization that is sponsoring the lawsuit.

"Colorado Voting Machine Lawsuit Update
September 21, 2006
Dear Friends,

Today is the second day of the Voter Action-sponsored trial for the Colorado voters' lawsuit to halt the use of electronic voting in that state. Voter action Co-director Lowell Finley is on-site in Colorado, and is cautiously optimistic about the proceedings so far.

Regardless of the outcome of this case, one thing is clear; a light is shining on the lack of checks and balances in the voting systems that we rely on for our most basic democratic right- the right to vote and have that vote counted as cast.

Computer security expert and professor Doug Jones appeared yesterday as an expert witness for the voter plaintiffs and delivered thorough testimony on the inadequacies and high security risks of the electronic voting systems approved by the state.

The state voting machine expert , John Gardner, also took the stand yesterday. A previous deposition of Mr. Gardner taken in the case revealed that he has no technical expertise with electronic voting systems, but relied on the vendors to provide the systems’ certification requirements.

The lawsuit in Colorado also exemplifies the inadequacies of the federal certification process, and that the “federal testing” touted by the Secretary of State’s office is actually conducted by private labs whose customers are the vendors that manufacture the machines.

Today, testimony is being heard from plaintiff’s experts Noel Runyan, a disability access technology engineer with over 30 years professional experience and Professor Dan Wallach from Rice University. Below please find today's article on the trial from the Rocky Mountain News.

Thank you for your support, and we will provide another update by the end of the week.

Sincerely,
Holly Jacobson
Co-director, Voter Action www.voteraction.org"