SMART Legislation is the partner project for SMART Elections
We have an emergency here in New York. We are fighting off voting machines that voting experts say will change our entire way of voting, undermine confidence, contribute to long lines and vastly increase costs for already strained local budgets. These voting machines are known as hybrid and universal-use voting machines. They are in the process of being approved by the State Board of Elections.
Learn more about hybrid and universal-use voting machines.
We are on the cusp of passing a groundbreaking bill through the New York legislature that will prevent this disastrous development (A1115C / S309B) It guarantees hand-marked paper ballots and stand-alone ballot-marking devices in all polling places. This is the setup recommended by security experts and preferred by voters. The bill updates New York election security requirements, that have not been updated since 2008. It protects taxpayers by allowing current voting machines to continue to be used and maintained.
Seventy experts, good government groups, and civil rights group leaders are sending two letters to elected officials saying they support the bill. They are asking both the legislature and the governor to quickly pass and sign this bill.
Is misleading & inappropriate lobbying killing the bill?
Although the bill is on the NY Senate calendar and moving forward there, it seems to be stalled in the NY Assembly, due to heavy and misleading lobbying by a firm named Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP. The lobbying firm was hired by a voting machine vendor, to aggressively oppose the bill. Academics have called the lobbying memo, “irresponsible and misleading” and “disingenuous.” Can lobbying firms lie with no consequences? Join us Tuesday May 24th at 4pm PT/7pm ET for an forum to learn how lobbying and corruption are impacting our ability to improve voting technology.
In the Assembly, the bill has 56 co-sponsors, including an overwhelming majority of the votes needed to pass the Election Law Committee (12 out of 15 members of the Election Law Committee are co-sponsors on the bill.) The bill can and must pass this session, to protect New York voters from voting machines that voting rights advocates say have caused chaos and litigation in other states.
What Can I Do?
Please contact the NY Assembly and ask them to pass A1115C today.
Call NY Speaker Carl Heastie: 518-455-3791
Call NY Assembly Member & Chair of the Election Law Committee Latrice Walker: 518-455-4466 or 718.342.1256
Say, “Time is running out. Pass A1115C today.”
The legislative session ends June 2nd.
Find Your NY Assembly Member Here.
Find Your NY State Senator Here.
What Does the A1115C/S309B Do?
The bill will establish some of the best election security protocols in the nation.
It will:
- Ban “bad” voting machines that experts say have the ability to “add, delete, or change votes on individual ballots” after the voter verifies the ballot. Security experts call this design “ a disaster.”
- Ensure that voters have the right to mark a ballot by hand, or use a ballot-marking device that does not have the physical ability to change the vote on a paper ballot.
- Ensure that voters can truly verify their choices by preventing the use of barcodes to count votes on ballots.
- Mandate the use of durable paper for all ballots.
- Protect us from voting systems that research and experience shows can contribute to long lines.
- Protect NY budgets from some of the most expensive voting machines on the market.
- Counties are allowed to continue to use, maintain & replace their current voting machines, so taxpayer dollars will not be wasted.
- It will contribute to a smoother, more secure voting experience and increase public confidence while saving taxpayers money. Win-win!!
Smart Legislation 