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MD PASSES PAPER BALLOT BILL! |
PRESS RELEASE: April 9, 2007
Contact: Shazia N. Anwar - Office: 301-270-6150
'A Victory for
Democracy'
Annapolis, Maryland. In
the closing hours of the 2007 legislative session, a four year effort
to require paper ballots for Maryland's voting system passed the House
and the Senate unanimously. The bill, SB 392/HB18, requires a
voter-verified paper trail to be implemented in 2010.
"This is a victory for democracy in Maryland. Thousands of voters who
worked to make this a reality are celebrating tonight," said Shazia
Anwar, Director of TrueVoteMD.org the election watchdog group that
spearheaded efforts for a paper ballot. "We crossed a major hurdle
tonight, now we have to make sure the bill is fully implemented."
Last week it looked like there was no chance a bill would pass in 2007,
but consistent citizen pressure -- emails, phone calls and voter visits
-- let the Senate leadership know this was an issue of utmost
importance to Maryland voters. "We're very pleased elected officials in
both houses decided this was the year to put in place a voter verified
paper record that could be used for independent audits and meaningful
recounts" said Anwar.
"TrueVoteMD.org was founded four years ago in order to create elections
that voters in Maryland could trust," said Linda Schade, founder of
TrueVoteMD. "I'm pleased that we've made significant progress tonight."
The final bill ensures that any new voting system certified for use
must include a voter verified paper record. The bill requires an
optically scannable paper ballot marked by hand or with the help of a
ballot marking device. The final bill also ensures that disabled voters
will continue to be able to vote independently and privately. The bill
is expected to save Maryland taxpayer money as studies have shown that
operating costs for optical scanning equipment are 30% to 40% lower
than the cost of Maryland's current touchscreen machines.
The final step for enactment of the bill into law is the signature of
Governor Martin O'Malley. O'Malley has expressed support for a
voter verified paper ballot during his gubernatorial campaign. A
poll conducted by the State Board of Election last year found that 69%
of Maryland voters supported a paper trail.
Maryland was one of the first states to use electronic voting machines
and is one of the last to require a voter verified paper ballot.
Twenty-seven states require either a voter verified paper ballot or a
paper ballot based system and seven other states do not use electronic
voting machines. Over 30 states use optical scan systems
nationally, which will result in over 50% of US voters using them in
2008.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
*22 states require voting machines to produce a VVPAT * (AK, AZ, AR,
CA, CO, CT, HI, ID, IL, ME, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, UT, WA, WV,
WI)
*5 states require paper-based ballot systems* (MI, MN, NH, NM, VT)
*Of the 22 states that require voting machines to produce a VVPAT, 17
use electronic voting machines in at least one jurisdiction * (AK, AZ,
AR, CA, CO, HI, IL, MO, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, UT, WA, WV, WI)
*while 5 do not use any electronic voting machines * (CT, ID, ME, MT,
OR).
*15 states and the District of Columbia use electronic voting machines
in at least one jurisdiction and do not require VVPATs * (DE, DC, FL,
GA, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WY)
*7 states do not use any electronic voting machines and do not have any
regulations requiring VVPATs * (AL, MA*, NE, ND, OK, RI, SD)
Notes: Mississippi, does not require VVPATs but in the 77 counties that
received electronic voting machines in 2005, the machines produce a
VVPAT.
Massachusetts is in the process of selecting an accessible voting
system.
[Source: VoteTrustUSA.org]
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