Free of any public oversight
No public official or independent body has reviewed the proprietary code on these machines.
Free of any independent record of the vote The “paper trail” is not an independent record of voters’ intentions. It can be tampered with.
Free of any way to catch ballot tampering With no record of voters’ intentions that is independent of the software code, there is nothing to independently verify the accuracy of electronically generated totals. A candidate who recently experienced a re-count in Missouri found that the tallies from DREs could not be truly verified with the paper trails under current rules for recounts. Missouri is a close swing state where a recount may be needed in November.
So if you want your vote to count for your candidate or issue, ask for a paper ballot at the polls, which will be counted by an optical scanner. (If voting absentee in St. Louis County, apply for an absentee ballot to be sent to your home; if voting at St. Louis County Election office, you’ll be forced to vote on a “DRE.”)
If you want to assure election results that can be verified and re-counted, call Secretary of State Robin Carnahan at 1-800-669-8683, and ask her to withdraw her authorization of the use of DREs in the November election, except for disabled voters who choose to use them.
[for more information, contact Ginger Harris, gingerharris@charter.net or 314-503-1320]