Last Minute Comments
By Sam Garchik

Zogby now has Clinton at 24, Obama at 31, and Edwards at 27. Richardson is 4th at 7. The real story is on the Republican side, where Ron Paul has as much support (10 pts), as John McCain. A McCain loss to Ron Paul? Paul might also beat Thompson, who now stands at 11. Ron Paul 3rd in Iowa would be brutal to both McCain and Thompson. Huckabee now has 31 to Romney's 25. We'll know how this all winds up tomorrow, at any rate..

Also, over 1700 people have voted in the BFIA caucus poll. I'd be surprised if Gravel gets anywhere near 25%, but Obama's numbers may be accurate. Who can tell?

Now, with the big show in mind, and for those of you who are caucus wonks, here are some resolutions that have been sent my way. Keep them in mind if you chose to stick around after the preference groups. The real party work begins then.

IVI Resolution to support optically-scanned paper ballots

WHEREAS, an accurate and verifiable tabulation of votes is essential to democracy, and
WHEREAS, numerous analyses and reviews over the past two years [1] have shown that electronic voting systems are prone to error and vulnerable to tampering, and
WHEREAS, in the 2006 election, 78 Iowa counties used direct-recording electronic voting machines (“touchscreens”) as either the sole voting system or as a supplemental voting system, and
WHEREAS, direct-recording electronic voting machines do not allow the voter to see how their vote is recorded and do not allow for an independent recount, and
WHEREAS, experience in other states has shown that adding printers to electronic voting machines in an attempt to produce a Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) fails to resolve either basic security issues or the difficulties of conducting recounts on this equipment, and
WHEREAS, voter-marked paper ballots, counted by optical scanners or by hand, provide the most reliable record of voter intent, and
WHEREAS, in 2007 the Iowa Legislature mandated that direct-recording electronic voting machines not be used without VVPAT printers, and
WHEREAS, in 2007 the Iowa Legislature joined a growing number of state legislatures in mandating an eventual phaseout of direct-recording electronic voting machines,
WHEREAS, unless adequate state funding is forthcoming, the phaseout of direct-recording electronic machines may take an unacceptably long time to accomplish;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports allocation of sufficient state funds for counties to replace all direct-recording electronic voting machines with optical scanners and ballot marking devices to serve voters with disabilities, in time for the November 2008 General Election; and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports federal legislation allocating funds to reimburse states for purchase of optical scanners and ballot marking devices.
[1] References available at www.IowansForVotingIntegrity.org
 
Resolution in support of changes to election administration
 
WHEREAS, Iowa election officials strive to uphold the state’s reputation for fair and accurate elections, in an environment of limited choices and growing concerns about the reliability of electronic voting systems, and
WHEREAS, the national testing process for electronic voting systems has been discovered to be severely deficient and burdened by conflict of interest, and
WHEREAS, due to the complexity of computer voting systems, election officials have become increasingly reliant upon voting machine manufacturers to perform election functions, and
WHEREAS, many of the world's most respected computer scientists contend that computer tabulation of votes must be verified by post-election hand counts of a random sample of paper ballots, and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports a requirement for post-election audits—i.e., hand counts of paper ballots—of a sample size and selection process sufficient to ensure that the correct winners were designated for all statewide and federal races, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports the expansion of the Iowa Board of Examiners of Voting Machines and Electronic Voting Systems to include experts competent in the evaluation of computer code, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa [Democratic/Republican] Party supports the public administration of elections, and the creation of a transparent, bipartisan public body to support counties in the performance of administrative functions for which counties now depend on voting machine companies.