Thu
Jun 18 2009
11:42 am

23 Democrats joined 50 Republicans in the Tennessee House to vote against voter verifiable paper ballots, which had already been approved by the legislature and signed into law last year. 20 Democrats (and no Republicans) stood strong for verifiable elections in Tennessee. The Senate is scheduled to vote today.

The vote on HB614 (an 'aye' vote is a vote against paper ballots):

continued...

Representatives voting aye were: Barker (D), Bass (D), Bell (R), Bone (D), Borchert (D), Brooks H (R), Brooks K (R), Campfield (R), Carr (R), Casada (R), Cobb C (D), Cobb J (R), Cobb T (D), Coley (R), Curtiss (D), Dean (R), Dennis (R), Dunn (R), Eldridge (R), Evans (R), Faulkner (R), Ferguson (D), Floyd (R), Ford (R), Fraley (D), Hackworth (D), Halford (R), Harmon (D), Harrison (R), Harwell (R), Hawk (R), Haynes (R), Hensley (R), Hill (R), Johnson C (R), Johnson P (R), Jones U (D), Kelsey (R), Kernell (D), Litz (D), Lollar (R), Lundberg (R), Lynn (R), Maggart (R), Matheny (R), Matlock (R), McCord (R), McCormick (R), McDaniel (R), McDonald (D), McManus (R), Montgomery (R), Moore (D), Mumpower (R), Niceley (R), Ramsey (R), Rich (R), Roach (R), Rowland (R), Sargent (R), Shaw (D), Shepard (D), Shipley (R), Swafford (R), Tidwell (D), Tindell (D), Todd (R), Watson (R), Weaver (R), West (D), Winningham (D), Yokley (D), Mr. Speaker Williams (R) -- 73.

Representatives voting no were: Brown (D), Camper (D), Coleman (D), Cooper (D), DeBerry L (D), Favors (D), Fincher (D), Fitzhugh (D), Gilmore (D), Hardaway (D), Jones S (D), Naifeh (D), Odom (D), Pitts (D), Richardson (D), Sontany (D), Stewart (D), Towns (D), Turner M (D), Windle (D) -- 20.

Representatives present and not voting were: Miller (D) -- 1.

PREVIOUSLY:

Republican attack on free and fair elections in Tennessee
(Looks like it's not just Republicans.)

Tennessee Republicans do not want voter verifiable voting in 2010

TACIR report on Tennessee elections and voting systems

Verifiable voting: It's the law! Maybe.

gonzone's picture

friends

Friends of Stalin.

As he famously said "It's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the votes."

Why on earth would anyone want verifiable voting?

Republicommies!!

"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"

R. Neal's picture

Press Release: Voting Groups

Press Release:

Voting Groups Denounce House Action on Voting Machine Bill
Debate Misses the Mark

A coalition of civic groups denounced voting machine legislation passed last night by the full House of Representatives. Gathering to Save Our Democracy, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, along with VerifiedVoting.org, Voter Action, and Voters Unite.org called for the Senate to reject HB 614. A companion bill, Senate Bill 872, also awaits floor action in the Senate. HB 614 would delay the implementation of paper records verified by the voter from the 2010 general election to the 2012 general election. It would also replace a hand counted audit of computer vote tallies with an "audit" that would involve using the counties' inventory of ballot scanners. These scanners would nearly always have the same software, and come from the same voting machine company, as the scanners used to tally initial results.

Arguments made during the Wednesday night debate focused on the 2005 voluntary federal standards, which Tennessee law now requires for all voting equipment. Rep. Gary Moore spoke of the need to wait for paper ballot scanners compliant with the 2005 voluntary guidelines.

"Waiting for newer ballot scanners is like waiting to put a roof on your house until fancier shingles come along, when all the while there are perfectly good materials to keep the rain out," VerifiedVoting.org president Pamela Smith said.

"The argument ignores the TACIR recommendations back in 2008, and ignores the findings of other major state reviews of voting systems in Kentucky, Ohio, Connecticut, and California," she said. "States that have taken a serious look at voting system security are not saying, 'Let's wait for new paper ballot scanners.' Current paper ballot scanners have proven themselves time and again in live elections, so in the last two years states like Kentucky, Florida, California, and Iowa are moving to better systems that are available now," she said. Existing optical scan systems have proven highly accurate, she added. A study of the recount of the 2008 Minnesota US Senate election showed paper ballot scanners to be 99.99% accurate.1

Removing the requirement for a hand counted audit flies against the recommendations of many computer scientists. "HB 614's new "audit" scheme would be an ineffective way of detecting software error. It would take less time and be just as effective to make election officials do a brief incantation and certify the election," Smith said.

"Last year, over 50 counties in Kentucky switched to paper ballot scanners. Kentucky is ahead of Tennessee in trustworthy voting," said Ellen Theisen, Director of VotersUnite.org.

On Monday, a group of computer scientists sent lawmakers a letter explaining the need for a hand count to check electronic vote tallies. Over half the states have conducted a hand-count sample to verify electronic vote tallies, or plan to do so in future elections. Hand-counted audits also were also recommended by the 2008 report of the Tennessee Advisory Commission in Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR).2

HB 614 amends the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (TVCA). The Voter Confidence Act was enacted in 2008 after TACIR recommended that the state adopt voting technology with a reliable, independent paper record of every vote, and that election officials use those records to conduct routine hand-counted audits of electronic vote tallies. When the law takes effect, all votes in Tennessee elections will be cast on paper ballots read by electronic scanners.

The state has sufficient federal funds on hand to pay for the law’s shift to better equipment. All but two counties in Tennessee now use purely electronic voting machines with no paper trail. In recent years, paperless electronic voting systems have been strongly criticized by leading computer scientists. The TACIR report noted that if Tennessee's electronic voting machines store votes incorrectly because of malfunction or fraud, recounts are “useless.” 3

"Delaying the implementation of the Voter Confidence Act until 2012 (if it is even implemented then) does nothing whatsoever to protect and honor our franchise," said Bernie Ellis of Gathering to Save Our Democracy. "It's hard to fathom the legislature doing the exact right thing just last year, and now trying to do the wrong thing. It makes no sense at all. Voters deserve better," said Smith.

1 “Optical scan voting extremely accurate in Minnesota.” (link...)

2 “Trust But Verify,” the 2008 TACIR Staff Report, pages 67-69 (pages 71-73 of the pdf), (link...)

3 TACIR report, page 17 (page 21 of the pdf)

JustWondrin's picture

It's time to get rid of

It's time to get rid of these Republicans masquerading as Democrats. I wrote, e-mailed, and talked up Dems the last few years to get Dem majorities and a Dem president, only to have them getting all wussy and siding with Republicans against the very people that voted them in.
Verifiable voting is the one thing that would keep elections honest. This is an outrage that these Democrats would vote against it. Kick the bastards out!!!

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