Is Iowa Making Any Headway in Regaining Voters' Right To Vote?by Tom Poe, Charles City, Iowa
As everyone knows by now, voters across the country and here in Iowa have literally lost their right to vote. Today, with proprietary electronic voting systems ruling the way voters express their voices in elections, their voices are lost in the whir of computers that record those votes using a secret vote count.
There are some who think North Carolina has the strictest election laws in the country [1]. That's not really saying much, since their requirement that electronic voting systems vendors place their source code in escrow with the state is meaningless, if that step is supposed to provide reassurance that a secret vote count has not taken place. The full impact of just how fruitless such a requirement is will be felt the day the courts inevitably rule that proprietary vendors of electronic voting systems do not have to reveal their source code to satisfactory "public scrutiny." That's assuming anyone, anywhere could get such an issue before the court in the first place.
The voters of Iowa (that includes me) need to become aware of the fact that we have lost our right to vote. I sent an email to Iowa's Secretary of State/Registrar of Voters recently. The Registrar asked the Deputy to respond, and I received a courteous reply, as well as a follow-up phone call. I have included the email exchange below [2]. There is a solution, and that solution can be demonstrated by visiting the Australian web site that explains how they conduct their elections with electronic voting systems [3].
My original email:
Mr. Culver:
If you haven't already, please have your secretary request a copy of the Government Accounting Office report on electronic voting, and, after making the appropriate adjustments here in Iowa, publish a statement to reassure all voters in Iowa, that they will have their right to vote reinstated, immediately.
I suspect it will be a trivial matter to sue the companies that you have chosen (unwisely) to do business with, in order to recompense the taxpayers of Iowa.
I also recommend you arm yourself with knowledge about the electronic voting systems used in Australia. The systems are available freely by downloading from the Internet, modifying to suit our needs, and guaranteeing us all the right to vote by securing public scrutiny. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume you knew nothing about the Australian option prior to this email. However, as of this date, you no longer will be accorded such discretion.
Among the recommendations/findings of the GAO:
"Expeditiously establish documented policies, criteria, and procedures for certifying voting systems that will be in effect until the national laboratory accreditation program for voting systems becomes fully operational, and define tasks and time frames for achieving the full operational capability of the national voting system certification program." http://www.eastbaymedia.com/tgdc-march/
Technical Guidelines Development Committee Meeting of March, 2005.
All Iowans will be looking forward to your published statement within the next thirty days. Having suffered the loss of Iowan Voters' right to vote since at least the 2000 elections, thirty days is a very generous timeframe. Please respect the office you hold, and mitigate the harm you've caused.
Respectfully,
Tom Poe
Charles City, Iowa 50616
[1] http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_11.php#004171
[2] John D. Hedgecoth
Deputy Secretary of State for Operations
Office of the Secretary of State
First Floor, Lucas Building
321 E. 12th St.
Des Moines, IA 50319
515-242-5071 (voice)
515-242-5953 (fax)
jhedgecoth@sos.state.ia.us
[3] http://www.elections.act.gov.au/Elecvote.html
The response:
-----Original Message-----
From: Hedgecoth, John [SOS]
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 3:19 PM
To: 'tompoe@studioforrecording.com'
Subject: Re: electronic voting machines
Tom:
I wish to respond to your inquiry with our office of Nov. 7, which is set out below.
As you doubtless are aware, our office is in the latter stages of implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which requires upgrades in voting systems. You also are aware that county auditors are in the process of selecting new voting equipment. In some cases, auditors have selected touch-screen systems. Our office maintains compliance with HAVA when it comes to the certification process for new voting equipment and has produced guidelines similar to those referenced in the GAO report you reference. We have consistently advocated for a voter verified paper trail in Iowa and do not intend to change that position. The people of Iowa need to be certain their votes count.
You raise an issue surrounding independent verification of votes, which apparently involves some type of open-source software. We have made use of the vendors who have completed both the federal and state certification process. We have no other legal option, now or in the future. I would appreciate any further information you have to share on this issue.
I find your deadline for some sort of public statement confusing. The office is in compliance with HAVA.
John D. Hedgecoth
Deputy Secretary of State for Operations
Office of the Secretary of State
First Floor, Lucas Building
321 E. 12th St.
Des Moines, IA 50319
515-242-5071 (voice)
515-242-5953 (fax)
jhedgecoth@sos.state.ia.us
This article was written for Blog for Iowa by Tom Poe of Charles City.