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Status of Paper Ballots in Maryland |
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July 19, 2007
In April 2007, Maryland's Governor O'Malley signed a paper trail bill into law. This represented an inspiring victory after four years of citizen struggle for election integrity and accountability from our democratic infrastructure.
WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE:
Call Governor O'Malley and Ask, "How do you plan to pay to implement the new paper ballot system?"
The first task to at hand is to make sure that Governor O'Malley puts funding to implement a new statewide optical scan voting system for our state. Counties are also fiscally responsible for half of that cost. However, optical scan systems are dramatically more cost effective than the current paperless electronic Diebold system that it will be an immediate savings. If op-scanned systems are leased as they typically are, it will be fairly straightforward to include this cost in current State Board of Elections and county budgets. Still, please do call Governor O'Malley and ask if HOW he plans to pay for implementaiton fo the new paper ballot voting system.
We must also continue to organize for AUDIT LANGUAGE which got left out of the 2007 bill. Paper ballots are of little use if your state election administrator doesn't want to count them. This is the legislative issue for 2008. Stay Tuned or better, Get Involved. |
