New York: "We're going to have to sit down with the Department of Justice"

[Bill Bored]

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=546081

State to miss federal deadline
Voting machine certification takes more time than expected;
federal funds could be at risk

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Tuesday, December 19, 2006

ALBANY -- New York state will miss a court-agreed deadline to have new voting machines in place, members of the state Board of Elections acknowledged Monday.

"We're going to have to sit down with the Department of Justice," said board spokesman Lee Daghlian. The federal agency in March sued the state for being the slowest in the nation to approve and buy new voting machines under the Help America Vote Act.

-snip-

"We're finding out it takes a lot longer to do than anybody thought," Daghlian said of the testing and certification process.

Uh yeah, if you don't "test" them by using them to rig actual elections!
:rofl:

It's also unclear whether the latest setback will further jeopardize federal money the state was to get to help modernize its voting systems. New York was slated to receive at least $200 million, but the Justice Dept. may seek to cut that by $50 million for the missed deadlines so far.

Hey, it's a small price to pay for democracy! (Only 4,000 bucks per precinct!)
:patriot:

[Contrite]

1. Wonder what Spitzer will do about this?

Will he check the "economic validity" of the machines, just like the "Freedom Tower"?

How about it, Eliot?

[Bill Bored]

4. Nothing in HAVA requires lever machines to be replaced.

If Spitzer has any brains (or law clerks working for him) all he has to do is read the definition of "Voting System" in Section 301. b. of HAVA and TELL IT TO THE JUDGE!

BTW, next year, it will be Mario Cuomo's son Andrew who will have to defend us against Abu Gonzales.

[Wilms]

2. Let me guess.

The trains were late. Right?

:rofl:

[Bill Bored]

3. If you ask me, I think it's more of a "democratic underground!" nt

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. New Yorkers have alot to be proud of

may have been "slow" to enact HAVA requirements, but
you disenfranchised far fewer people that HAVA "compliant" states.

You guys may talk faster, but this slow move was a righteous move.

Well done, so glad for you guys.

Amazingly, NY is in the top ten for the most HAVA money,
and it must be a tantalizing morsel for the evil vendors.

Hey, how about refusing the HAVA money, and we can use what you didn't
to replace the paperless touchscreens with optical scan in GA, SC, MD,
VA, FL, etc?

[Amaryllis]

6. YOur last suggestion is brilliant.

[Bill Bored]

7. You can have our HAVA money as soon as we buy some more ballot markers.

What would really be nice is if the next Holt bill only required the VVPAT for "electronic" voting systems. After all, the point of it is to prevent computer fraud right? We could see a real rush on lever machines if that happened! I wonder how much it would cost to build one today? I bet there could be an improved version that would prevent the not-so-big "99" problem. (We can dream, can't we?)