This urgent action alert is from our hero and champion of fair elections, Bo LIpari:
The NYS Board of Elections will commence testing of computerized voting
machines (DREs) this week, even though these DREs still have no voter
verified paper ballot as required by New York law. This is outrageous. It is
meaningless to test a partial system, and the Board is disregarding its
publicly announced process of finalizing of voting system standards after a
45 day public comment period.
That the Board is beginning to test incomplete systems bodes poorly for the
need for a robust, thorough and transparent set of machine certification
tests fully available for public review.
The NYS Board of Elections has consistently misrepresented the voting
machine selection process to the public, and continues to operate in near
secrecy despite a tremendous outcry from citizens for full visibility and
transparency. This is unacceptable. It is indefensible to cut corners and be
secretive and unaccountable when our democracy is at stake.
Take Action Today! Call, email, write and fax:
1) Tell the NYS Board of Elections that they need to stop the certification
testing of machines which don't meet New York State Election Law
requirements, and that the public wants full visibility and disclosure of
the machine testing and certification process.
2) Call your New York State Legislators and tell them they must convene
oversight hearings on the Board of Election's secretive actions.
Let the Board and your Legislators know that these are our elections, and we
demand the highest standards of testing and a certification process that is
thorough, robust, and fully open to the public.
You'll find contact information for the NYS Board and Legislators below, and
more materials on our website:
www.nyvv.org
Please take action today.
- Bo Lipari
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Contact info for the Board of Elections:
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NYS Board of Elections, Executive Unit
40 Steuben Street
Albany, NY 12207-2108
Phone 518-474-8100
Fax: 518-486-4068
The only published email address for the NYS Board of Elections is:
info@elections.state.ny.us
Please address your contacts with the State Board to:
Peter Kosinski, Co-Executive Director
Stanley Zalen, Co-Executive Director
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How to Find For Your State Legislators:
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Remember, your local legislators are back in their home offices right now.
Contact them at their local offices rather than their Albany offices, it
will have more impact.
Find your local state legislators using the New York State BOE map at:
http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/boe/main.asp
On the right half of the screen are fields where you can specify what you're
looking for.
To use them map, first select either "State Senate Districts" or "State
Assembly Districts":
1) Enter either your district number or your address in the provided fields.
2) After filling in your choices click the "Submit Search" button.
Once you've found out your legislators, you can then find their contact
information here:
NYS Assembly Directory:
http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
NYS Senate Directory:
http://senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/senators?OpenForm
