ARTICLE ON JOINT COMM. ON VOTING MACHINES AND WHY I FEEL IT SHOULD BE SOONER

Below is an article posted on the Northwestern's website this afternoon. A story that will be in Tuesday's paper. My take on this information is while this meeting will give the public a chance to express thier views on the subject it gives the committees very little time to come with a resolution to resolve the issue-- resolutions should be in County Clerk's office the Monday or Tuesday before the County Board meets.

The committees should meet at least a week before to come up with a solution if it the wish to purchase the voting machones in a block for the whole county.


Mike Norton -Cty. Board Supervisor District 20


Posted May 22, 2006County board readies June 14 forum on touch-screen voting

BY ALEX HUMMEL of The Northwestern
Elections and technology committees of Winnebago County’s Board of Supervisors will meet June 14 meeting to separate fact from fiction on the controversial purchase of touch-screen voting machines.Last week, the county board rejected the $294,000 federal-grant-assisted purchase of 49 Diebold Elections Systems touch-screen voting machines. One machine would have been placed in each of the county’s urban and rural polling places to comply with the Help American Vote Act.The act is intended to improve accessibility to the election process to disabled Americans. Winnebago County, like several others around Wisconsin, already uses older Diebold technology to gather and transmit vote results on election day. So, the Diebold touch-screen machines were seen as the lone compatible choice.But national concerns about the Diebold machines’ security and ability to produce a reliable paper record authenticating a voter’s ballot led to county board questions and, ultimately, rejection of the grant.“If we use this, we’re investing in technology that will fail,” Supervisor Jef Hall, of Oshkosh, said Monday during a meeting of the county board’s Legislative Committee. “It has been proven again and again.”The public forum of the Judiciary and Information Systems committees may include input from the Wisconsin State Elections Board and Diebold Election Systems, although all participants have not yet been booked. The June 14 meeting will be held at the James P. Coughlin Center, 625 E. County Trunk Y. It’s tentatively scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

The county board hopes its two committees will come to some consensus that night on whether to pursue the Diebold technology or pick one of three other touch-screen machines the Elections Board has approved for local polling places. They’ll forward their decision to the full county board.Later in June, the county board will have to act. Otherwise it will be up to local towns, cities and villages to pick which HAVA-compliant voting technology they want to have. As in the past, the towns have, with the county’s lead, used the same system to ensure faster, smoother vote-gathering countywide.

Read Tuesday's Northwestern for more on this story.
Alex Humme: (920) 426-6669 or ahummel@thenorthwestern.com.

WEB PAGE FROM STATE ELECTIONS BOARD DISCUSSING APPROVED VOTING EQUIPMENT FOR THE STATE OF WI

Voting Equipment

Voting Equipment Approval Process
The Wisconsin State Elections Board has promulgated a set of administrative rules to establish the process for the approval of electronic voting equipment in Wisconsin. Before the State Elections Board will begin the process the vendor must sign a written agreement to pay the related costs of the approval process.
When applying for approval in Wisconsin the vendor must submit a copy of a report from an independent testing authority approved by the National Association of State Election Directors that the equipment has been qualified to meet the current 2002 standards established by the Election Assistance Commission.
Voting equipment and materials are reviewed by Elections Board staff and an advisory panel of local election officials. The vendor must set up and demonstrate a series of mock elections; a spring nonpartisan election with a Presidential Preference vote, a September partisan primary election and two November general elections, one that includes a presidential ballot and one that includes a ballot for statewide partisan offices including Governor. There will also be a separate demonstration for members of the public, including persons with disabilities and legislators.
After the Elections Board staff and the advisory panel have reviewed the test results and examined the equipment, the system is demonstrated at an Elections Board meeting. The Elections Board review consists of a demonstration and a review of the evaluation made by the advisory panel and the Elections Board staff. The Elections Board makes the final determination on the approval of the voting system at a public meeting.
Several Vendors have expressed interest in selling voting equipment in Wisconsin. The lists below detail all vendors with approved or pending complete applications for approval. A more detailed status report regarding voting equipment can be found here.
Accessible Voting Equipment Funding:
Section 301(3) of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requires that every voting system used in a federal election:
be accessible for individuals with disabilites, including nonvisual accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that provided the same for accesss and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters....through the use of at least one direct recording electronic voting system or other voting system equipped for individuals with disabilites at each polling place.
In order to comply with this requirement, $18,000,000 in HAVA funds has been allocated for the purchase of one accessible voting system per polling place. This memo explains how municipalities can access these funds. The Accessible Voting Equipment Funding Application should be used by municipalities that apply for funding.
Approved Voting Equipment:
Diebold Election System:
System assigned National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) system ID # N-1-06-22-22-001:
TSX DRE Touch Screen and AccuView Printer Module, version 4.6.3 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment)
AccuVote-OS (model D) Optical Scan, version 1.96.6 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment);
Global Elections Management System (GEMS) software, version 1.18.24 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment).
The State Elections Board approved this equipment, along with a series of security recommendations, at the March 22, 2006 meeting.

Election System & Software:
Unity Election Management Suite, version 2.4.3 (click here to see a demonstration of this software), approved under NASED # N-1-02-21-21-002.
AutoMARK ballot marker version 1.0 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment), approved under NASED # N-1-16-22-22-001.
This equipment was approved by the Elections Board January 18, 2006
System assigned NASED # N-2-02-22-22-005:
Unity Election Management Suite, version 3.0.1.0; AutoMARK ballot marker, version 1.2; iVotronic DRE with Real Time Audit Log, version 9.1.4.0; and, Model 100/150/550/650 optical scan equipment, version 2.1.2.0 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment).
AutoMARK ballot marker version 1.1.2258 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment). Approval contingent of assignment of NASED system ID number.
This equipment was approved by the Elections Board April 26, 2006

Populex: Populex Digital Paper Ballot Voting System, version 2.3 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment). Approval contingent of receipt of final Independent Testing Agency reports and assignment of NASED system ID number.
The State Elections Board approved this equipment at the May 17, 2006 meeting.


Sequoia Voting Systems: System assigned NASED system ID # N-1-07-22-22-002:
Optech Insight optical scan ballot reader, version. APXK2.10/HPX K1.42 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment);
AVC Edge with VeriVote Printer DRE system, version 5.024 (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment);
WinEDS 3.1.012 management software.
The State Elections Board approved this equipment at the March 22, 2006 meeting.

Vote-PAD: Voting-on-Paper Assistive Device (click here to see a demonstration of this equipment)
This non-electronic system equipment was approved for use in municipalities that hand-count paper ballots by the Elections Board on January 18, 2006.


Other equipment may be considered by the Elections Board at future meetings.

The State Elections Board has received an application from:
Voting Technologies International: VotWare System 5: Touch Screen DRE Voting System version 5.0.4.1, 5.0.4.1G, Votware Software version 5.0.4.1D Ballot Builder, 5.0.4.1G Election Management System - pending

Voting Equipment in use in Wisconsin
Voting Equipment by County
Map by County
Voting Equipment by Municipality
Map by Municipality