A CONVENTION DELEGATE'S REPORT
When I read the LWVUS position supporting the implementation of voting systems and procedures that are "secure, accurate, recountable, and accessible" and that those four criteria "are not code words for voter-verified paper trails or any other type of technology," I was shocked.
I firmly believe in requiring a voter-verified hard copy with whatever type of voting machinery is used. Then I had the opportunity to argue for my position at the 2005 LWVC Convention in Garden Grove. This was my first convention, and Friday night I was thrilled to find a caucus dealing with voter-verified paper trails. We met several times on Saturday and submitted our resolution to the committee for acceptance that night. During four meetings of the caucus the resolution went though various changes, all dealing with a paper trail, but with various ways of trying to achieve it nationwide.
The final resolution requested that the LWVC Board write a letter to the LWVUS President and Board asking that the LWVUS join with the Common Cause coalition to work for the passage of H.R. 550 and S.B. 330 (two bills requiring paper trails) prior to June 9th, and to remain active thereafter in order to support legislation requiring voter-verified paper ballots.
Four out of five resolutions submitted to the committee were sent to the convention floor Sunday morning. We had copies of our resolution and reasons for it on the delegate tables for the plenary session. I was aware of some of the discussions at the 2004 LWVUS convention regarding this issue. I thought there would be some opposition based on the national position, but was stunned that a rough count of the standing vote was 1/3 for the resolution, 2/3 against. I am glad California is one state that requires a paper trail for its voting machines starting in 2006.
At the Convention Banquet on Saturday, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson stated he would uphold the law requiring 2006 elections to have paper trails. A rundown of the numbers he provided included:
- 1/3 of the votes cast are absentee.
- Since the initiative process began there have been 1400 initiatives. Only 1/4 qualified with enough signatures. Of those, the voters passed only 1/3.
- There have been only four special elections in California, including the 2003 recall election.
- The breakdown of voting machines used by counties is 36 optical scanners, 12 punch cards (without chads), and 10 touch screen.
The days were busy and there was not enough time to do and see everything, as is the case with most conventions. It was an interesting and fun experience.
--Convention Delegate
