Did you know the touchscreen (DREs) were this big ?

Where will we store these devices? (click image for full-size)

Full-face touchscreen devices (DREs) must be kept in climate controlled warehouses. Unauthorized access to the DREs must be maintained. Specifications:(Storage Position): almost four feet long, two and one half feet deep and three and a third feet high. Full size image here

• Does the County Board of Elections have such a facility now?
• Will our County (like Cayuga County) be auctioning off equipment to make room for them?
• Will our County (like Cayuga County) be using part of the County jail to make store them?

By contrast, optical scanners can be stacked up in storage, requiring far less space. Shown here are dozens of scanners stacked in a case that doubles as ballot storage during the election.

Counties will be required to manually enter hundreds of votes into each and every machine before every election to verify their proper functioning. How large a staff must be hired to accomplish this?

Performing the Logic and Accuracy (L&A) testing of the software on a Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system is between two and three times more costly than the L&A testing of a paper ballot – optically scanned (PBOS) voting system for the same election.

By contrast, a scanner can easily and quickly be qualified for an election via a test deck of ballots. This can be accomplished with current staffing. The county already has experience with a central scanner which it tests using a "test deck".

Hardware Obsolescence
The lifetime of the voting equipment must also be considered. If 50% or more of DREs must be replaced within 5 years, this is a huge cost to counties that will not be covered by HAVA funds.

DREs have not been used long enough to know their anticipated lifetime, but no touch screen device is warranted for more than 5 years, due to the high failure rate of touch screens. Also, the DREs with voter verified paper ballots are untested and their useful lifespan is still unknown. Take the example of Georgia's $54 million purchase of electronic voting machines in 2002; it was hailed as a pioneering move that put the state on the cutting edge of elections technology. But just four years later, the machines could be headed for the same fate as their outmoded predecessors.

Software upgardes
Alleghany County, PA must pay about $140,000 a year for ownership of and upgrades to the software of Allegheny County's new iVotronic voting machines. Note this story of obsolete voting computers in New Jersey. In one Florida county “The original contract included more than 400 days' worth of project-manager support -- but those days were gone by the end of the first year...” Actually, these are the lucky counties; the unlucky counties see their voting machine vendors file for bankruptcy.

Battery replacement
The system's batteries last five to seven years with proper storage and recharging regimens, but as little as a year without. They cost $147 each. Neglecting to keep the DRE batteries charged between elections cost Arapahoe County, Colorado over $100,000 in battery replacements just before a recent election.

In contrast, optical scanners are proven hardware. Scanners have been used for 20 years in many precincts around the United States and have proven to be very robust and long lasting. See this survey

What will it cost to Transport all of them?

Moving the large, heavy, full face DREs is going to take a lot of time, and require a lot of space. Since DREs are quite sensitive, very heavy, and must be handled carefully, it is unlikely that election workers will be able to move the DREs to and from polling places during elections. Professional movers will need to be hired, a huge hidden expense. The weight of a single DREs is approximately 225 pounds.

In contrast, optical ballot scanners are smaller and lighter. In states currently using optically scanned (PBOS) voting, election workers move the scanners. They weigh 19-39 pounds and take up less than 4 cubic feet per device. Also fewer scaners are required - only one per polling site. Expect to get 2 or 3 DREs per lever machine.

Four Case Studies:

1. A blistering attacks on touchscreen DREs for their unreliability was made by Republican Governor Ehrlich of Maryland for the "1000% increases in maintenance cost estimates" since contracts were signed.
2. Here is a story about sky rocketing election costs in a small Texas town
3. Rising costs are a concern nationwide. After a messy primary election, a state-wide Voting costs inquiry opens in West Virginia.
4. A newspaper in Ohio correctly points out a fact we have been talking about for quite sometime now: the cost of elections is going to markedly rise for school, water, fire and other districts who hold small elections for bonds, initiatives and levies. The same will be true for small town elections when they are not held on the same day as county and state elections. In other words those small elections will be driven to be held with the larger elections which will increase the size of our ballots and the complexity of those elections.

Medium-Sized County Purchase costs

Ongoing maintenance costs

Bottom Line: Studies show that PBOS voting is more economical both in initial purchase costs and in longer-term maintenance and replacement costs.

Voter Confidence

Overall voter confidence for DRE machine systems is significantly lower than for PBOS. The five public hearings in Dutchess county showed that the overwhelming majority want PBOS. This is also borne out in statewide public testimony where almost all 2,000 submittals in 2005-2006 were pro-PBOS.

National opinion is mirrored in a suspicion of touchscreen voting. For example, in California, a Humboldt County group is planning a parallel election to check June 6 results! The Election Integrity News, which now has 15,000 subscribers. Also, a Google search for "dre hack" found 591,000 references as compared to a seearch for "pbos hack" that yielded 143 results.

Accuracy: Studies show that PBOS has lower residual votes than DRE voting systems.

Senior citizens' acceptance is lower for DRE systems. A Sun-Sentinel article showed there were 8 times as many undervotes on DRE equipment (1.09%) as there were on optical scan paper ballots (0.12%). A little simple math suggests that the elderly leave blank votes on e-voting machines about 30 times more often than they do on paper ballots.

Minorities' acceptance: According to a study released by the Florida ACLU in 2002, African-American voters were disproportionately disenfranchised by Miami-Dade County's chaotic September 10th election on ES&S iVotronic touch-screen voting machines.

PBOS accomodates voters with many disabilities by including a ballot marker for the handicapped community. Comparative studies in August 2005 showed that the AutoMARK ballot marker provided complete accessibility for more kinds of disabilities than DREs. Blind voters, in particular,enjoy independence with PBOS and ballot markers; the sight-impaired cannot verify their votes on touchscreen DREs because the paper trail cannot be submitted for an audio review.

Bottom Line: An easy-to-use and to maintain voting system will increase voter participation. Counting paper ballots with scanners is the best choice for New York voters and pollworkers.