Position Statement

First draft, Nov 3 2003. Second draft, Nov 20 2003.

Citizens for Verifiable Voting

a Boulder County non-partisan organization concerned with preservation of our democracy, insist that Boulder County immediately stop its process of selecting and purchasing new electronic voting machines.

We demand that the county only use a transparent, honest, verifiable and accurate voting system that protects and ensures the sanctity, privacy and integrity of every person's vote, the most important act of citizenship in a democracy.

We find that none of the systems under consideration by Boulder County can meet our concerns, none provide for a secure and verifiable paper ballot with meaningful recountability, and therefore none give us confidence in the results.

Furthermore, since technical standards for election systems have not yet been developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as required under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), it is premature, fiscally irresponsible, and imprudent for Boulder County to select any new voting system at this time.

We are very concerned with the vulnerability of all electronic systems for fraud, irretrievable data loss, and disenfranchisement in vote recording and counting. We do recognize that some elements of electronic devices may be needed to allow citizens with disabilities to generate verifiable paper ballots, in compliance with HAVA and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Specifically, we call on Boulder County officials, our state and national elected officials, and our fellow citizens to:

• Insist on the use of paper ballots as the single, official record of the vote;
• Allow no secret software in any voting machines or vote counting machines;
• Recognize that accuracy is the most important aspect in the elections, not speed of completing the counts; and
• Support HR 2239, and other election reform laws at the local, state, and national level that encompass and resolve all of the above concerns.

Prepared this day of November 3, 2003 by Citizens for Verifiable Voting, a Boulder County based non-partisan group of citizens dedicated to protecting the principles of our democracy.