Ballot Marking Best for Accessible and Verifiable Voting

Verified Voting Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Contact:

Will Doherty
Executive Director
Verified Voting Foundation
press [at] verifiedvoting.org
+1 415 487-2255 (office), +1 415 425-3936 (cell)

David Dixon
President
Handicapped Adults of Volusia County
seemor [at] bellsouth.net
+1 386 760-3180

Shawn Casey O'Brien
Co-Host and Co-Producer
KPFK's Disability Awareness Show "Access Unlimited"
irishsob [at] verizon.net
+1 310 365-1983 (cell)


Ballot Marking Best for Accessible and Verifiable Voting

Voters Can Have the Best of Both Worlds

San Francisco, CA - The Verified Voting Foundation (VVF)
today published its initial detailed evaluation of the
disability access features of voting systems that provide
a voter-verified paper record.

"Our research demonstrates that ballot marking devices --
used by disabled voters to mark paper ballots in
precinct-count optical scan voting systems -- provide
the most complete combination of accessibility, accuracy,
and verifiability of any voting systems on the market
today," said VVF Executive Director Will Doherty. "We urge
election administrators to choose a voting system that best
meets the right of disabled voters to cast votes privately
and independently, as well ensuring the voting system
records and counts every vote accurately and securely."

"I want to know that my vote counts," stated David Dixon,
President of the Handicapped Adults of Volusia County
(HAVOC) and a member of the Florida Fair Elections
Coalition. Dixon, who is blind and a passionate proponent of
verified voting, opposes a lawsuit from the National
Federation of the Blind that would prevent the use of ballot
marking devices in his home county of Volusia, Florida.

Recently, disabled voting rights advocates and supporters of
a voter-verified paper ballot have come together to urge the
Election Assistance Commission and state election
administrators to require voting systems that are both
verifiable and accessible to all voters.

Former Executive Director of the Unique People's Voting
Project, Shawn Casey O'Brien, called this meeting of the
minds "a great break-through for all parties concerned."

"No one wants votes counted fully, fairly, and accurately,
more than disabled citizens do," added O'Brien, who headed
a voter registration effort that registered over 100,000
disabled voters. "The nation will feel the real political
power of the disability vote now that we have proven that
accessibility and the security of our voting systems are
completely compatible."

Today, 24 states have requirements for voter-verified paper
records and, with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) mandates,
all polling places must soon offer accessible voting
systems.

For this release:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6254

Disability access of current verifiable voting technology:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/accesscharts

ACB resolution on verifiable and accessible voting:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/acb

NAPAS statement protesting punitive lawsuits against
AutoMARK ballot-marking device:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/napas

NFB lawsuit against ballot marking in Volusia County:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/litigation#florida

Additional resources on accessible voting technology:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/access

Map showing which states have VVPR requirements:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org

Latest details on verified voting legislation:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/legis

E-voting malfunctions in the 2004 nationwide election:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=5302
and
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=5331


PRESSLIST: Media professionals are invited to subscribe
to the Verified Voting presslist at
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/presslist


About the Verified Voting Foundation:

The Verified Voting Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization championing reliable and publicly verifiable
elections. Founded by Stanford University Computer Science
Professor David Dill, the organization supports a
requirement for voter-verified paper ballots for all
voting technology, including electronic voting machines,
to allow voters to inspect individual permanent records of
their ballots and election officials to conduct meaningful
recounts and audits. The organization's website is at
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/

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