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Illinois Ballot Integrity Project website.
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The presidential election of 2000 highlighted problems with punch-card
balloting systems. "Hanging chad" became a part of the American
lexicon.
What the
discussion
ignored was
that
the Florida counties involved in the controvery |
had
been using old, poorly designed and inadequately maintained punch card
systems that were long outmoded.
Hoping
to solve the problem in future elections, in 2002, Congress passed the
Help America Vote Act (HAVA). HAVA provided
approximately $3.9 billinon in Federal funding to
accomplish two main objectives:
- Replace
allegedly poor punch card systems
- Provide
greater accessibility for disabled voters and allow
them to vote
privately and independently.
State
and local election officials saw HAVA as the cure for all their
problems. Finally, the funds to upgrade to computerized voting systems
were available without having to increase taxes on their constituents
to pay for the new machines. Voting machine companies eyed the nearly
$4 billion dollar pot, and the rush was on.
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But is the cure worse than the disease? Despite fifteen years of
equipment refinement, reports of malfunctions and suspicious vote
counts involving computerized voting systems continue tosurface.
Electronic voting
machines have proven to be insecure, unreliable and inaccurate. |
Disturbing
revelations have been published by computer experts who have inspected
the software used in two top-selling electronic voting systems and
similar concerns have been raised about others.
Elsewhere on this site we'll explore problems with electronic voting
systems in greater detail.
In
October 2005, the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report
that was highly critical of
electronic voting machines.his report received
widespread bipartisan support
among members of Congress, but very little mention in the mainstream
press. Here's what Representative Henry A.Waxman said:
"The
GAO report indicates that we need to get serious and act quickly to
improve the security of electronic voting machines. The report makes
clear that there is a lack of transparency and accountability in
electronic voting systems - from the day that contracts are signed with
manufacturers to the counting of electronic votes on Election Day.
State and local officials are spending a great deal of money on
machines without concrete proof that they are secure and reliable.
American voters deserve better."
The
Illinois Ballot
Integrity Project strongly
supports Representative Waxman's comments.
Fair,
honest and transparent elections are fundamental to our democracy. We
now face two critical questions:
- What
problems plague computerized voting systems, and how pervasive are
these problems?
- What
solutions are available now and what's the potential for improvement?
The
objective of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project is to promote this
discussion, raising the level of awareness among members of the public,
legislators, election officials and the media.
For our Statement
of Purpose and Mission Statement, click here.
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Pending
Legislation
and Rulings |
Washington:
Update
on
the Supreme Court's
review of the constitutionality
of imposing limits on campaign
contributions by corporations.
Illinois:
HB
1323 The Illinois Ballot
Integrity Act
HB
1324 The Illinois Clean
Elections Act
Planning
for Redistricting
Reports from hearings
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| Next
IBIP Meeting |
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IBIP meets
on the second Wednesday of each month.
Our next meeting will
be on
Wednesday, February 10,
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm,
at
the Sulzer
Regional Library,
4455 N.
Lincoln Ave., Chicago.
(For map,
click here.)
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