Re: S-8 Board of Supervisors Meeting of July 27, 2004
July 26, 2004
Dear Members of the Board,
The League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula have, throughout our history, advocated for voter rights. The LWVUS advocated for the passage of HAVA, and we look forward to the time when Monterey County is fully compliant with the Act.
While we heartily endorse the move to the use of an optical scan system as our voting system in Monterey County, we ask that you include the following in your approval of the request from the Registrar of Voters:
- That this new system be installed and tested at least two months before the election in November of 2004;
- That procedures which address the security and validity of the count be fully
specified at least two months before the election and that the public has an
opportunity to review and comment on the procedures
- That funds be guaranteed to train a sufficient number of poll workers to avoid
complications on election day and that training sessions should be scheduled
one month before the election and training should occur in the two weeks before the election;
- Because the system is a new voting system for the county, procedures should be developed, tested, and reviewed several months prior to the election to allow for a trouble free election.
Given that previous litigation has made Montery County a concern to the Federal Government under the Voting Rights Act, we ask that you strongly consider including the above recommendations as conditions of your approval.
Sincerely yours,
Beverly G. Bean, VMD
President, League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula
