\"Franklin Lambert\" \<hotandfrosty@yahoo.com\>

12/08/2008 01:01 PM

To

HAVAinfo@eac.gov

cc

\"Valerie Lane\" \<savelections@gmail.com\>

Subject

Electronic Software Dependent Voting Systems

To: Election Assistance Commission

Subject: Comments regarding the approval of all electronic software
dependent voting systems.

Dear members of the Commission,

As a member of SAVElections Monterey County, my concern with electronic
vote tabulation, and I\'ve seen enough evidence on how the final tally
can be altered, is to refrain from using these systems ( including
optically-scanned paper ballots)  and return to \"the old-fashioned\"
method, which is reliable, open, and has worked well from the founding
of our nation up until computerization of the voting process began, and
that is \"hand-counted\" paper ballots, counted by the poll workers
themselves.

I have a written statement on file which was submitted to the Monterey
County Election Office and have testified in person before them about my
actual experience as a poll worker while living in Santa Cruz County in
the mid-90\'s. I\'ll go over it briefly for you.

When the polls closed, the Precinct captain (we were all volunteers)
locked the door and each one of us had a tally sheet and recorded the
votes from our ballot box. Everything was counted, and the numbers
tallied. The precinct captain would give my ballots (minus the tally
sheet) to another poll worker to count and I would be given someone
else\'s to count. If the tally sheets had differing numbers, another
person would count them, but in essence, made sure the count was
accurate and not even off by one vote! It worked fine, we counted one or
two stacks twice, if I remember correctly, and when we were all in
agreement as to the accuracy of the count, the captain entered the
results on the Official Tally Sheet, placing it the box which was sealed
and signed by him, and one copy posted on the wall.

This is a \"real\" paper trail, verifiable if a recount was/is necessary
and on file. And provable!

Please consider what I have offered and withdraw from electronic voting
systems.

Respectfully,

Franklin O. Lambert

P.O. Box 1525

Marina, Ca. 93933-1525

\(831\) 384-9122

\"Dan Stanton\" \<soccercrna@yahoo.com\>

12/05/2008 03:30 PM

Please respond to

soccercrna@yahoo.com

To

HAVAinfo@eac.gov

cc

Subject

Software dependant vote counting systems- not trustworthy!

Dear EAC:

If you are serious about election reform, the first thing to do is get
rid of all voting technology that requires computer software. Vote
counting systems that utilize computer software will never be fully
transparent and trustworthy. The Netherlands discarded all their
computerized voting systems 2 years ago due to security and accuracy
concerns. Hand counting of paper ballots is the only trustworthy system
of vote counting. Elections officials should never have been permitted
to purchase vote counting systems using propriety software from private
election system companies. If US elections officials insist on using
these machines, complete and thorough audits of voter verified paper
ballots should be mandatory election night in each precincts after each
and every election to check for accuracy.

Danny Stanton

287 Cherrystone Dr. S.

Gahanna, OH 43230-2180

614-478-6048

soccercrna@yahoo.com

\"Katherine Forrest\" \<kforrest@commonwealinstitute.org\>

12/05/2008 04:51 PM

Please respond to

\"Katherine Forrest\" \<kforrest@commonwealinstitute.org\>

To

HAVAinfo@eac.gov

cc

Subject

To EAC: voting system recommendations

Dear EAC members,

As a citizen working to improve the integrity of our nation\'s voting
system, these are changes I would like to see put into place promptly:

1\. Repeal HAVA.

2\. Eliminate all direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines.
Voter-verifiable paper trails or ballots produced by DREs are
insufficient protection, due to users\' demonstrated inability to
recognize errors on the paper documents. Paper or similarly durable
material should be used for ballots and ballot retention should be
required by law.

3\. Require random audits of all elections, with statistically
appropriate sample sizes to detect errors and with randomization to be
done after the close of polls.

4\. Require counting and public posting of all votes at each polling
place prior to transmission of the totals to the central tabulating
facility, as a means of checking the accuracy of the central tabulation
process.

5\. Extend the time allowed for certification of election results to 60
days following national elections, so that if recounts are needed,
election officials will not be unduly pressured to call the results
before final results are known.

6\. Create a national exit poll to help ensure the integrity of the
vote, with all the data and programs in the public domain.

7\. Make Election Day a national holiday, and preferably a three-day
event.

8\. Do not encourage vote-by-mail or Internet voting schemes, as these
are potentially vulnerable to fraud.

9\. Create simple, uniform, national standards for voter registration
and voting. These should include automatic registration at age 18 or at
the time that new citizens are sworn in, with an easy mechanism for
changing one\'s address in event of a move, and a verifiable means of
eliminating people from the voting rolls in event of their death or
deportation; temporary suspension should occur if a person is convicted
and imprisoned for felony.

10\. Prohibit disenfranchisement of previous felons once they have
served their terms and completed parole; a single standard should apply
to all states.

11\. Create a new office in the Executive branch whose specific task is
to create and oversee an efficient, equitable voting system. Make this
position subject to bipartisan congressional oversight to avoid its
politicization.

12\. Make election fraud and voter suppression (including caging,
harrassment, threats, deceit about polling place locations and dates,
etc.) felonies, with substantial penalties and resources to investigate
and prosecute offenders.

13\. Make it illegal for a Secretary of State to play any role in any
political party or in any individual\'s campaign for national office.
Hopefully, similar laws will be adopted by the states with regard to all
election officials\' involvement in state and local offices and ballot
measure contests.

14\. Bring full transparency and citizen oversight to our election
process. Private companies should not be allowed to claim proprietary
rights to any aspect of our public voting system or its oversight
mechanisms.

15\. Require open-source software on any electronic devices used in the
election process, such as optical scan readers or central tabulation
equipment.

16\. Permit international observers to witness election processes in the
United States and publicize their findings. Our country has a long way
to go before it can claim to be a model for democratic elections.

Sincerely yours,

Katherine Forrest, MD

President and Co-Founder

Commonweal Institute

325 Sharon Park Drive, Suite 332

Menlo Park, CA 94025

650-854-9796

www.commonwealinstitute.org

kforrest@commonwealinstitute.org