By Tom Grace - Cooperstown News Bureau
7/29/06
PHOENIX MILLS — Otsego County’s elections commissioners and deputy commissioners joined the debate over voting machines at a public meeting Friday afternoon at The Meadows Office Complex in Middlefield.
Within a few months, all counties in the state will be forced to buy voting machines and two choices will be available — optical scanners and direct recording electronic machines.
The meeting Friday afternoon and another one scheduled for Friday night were held so that elections officials could estimate public sentiment about the pending decision.
They also offered their own opinions before about 40 people at the early session.
Republican Elections Commissioner Charlotte Koniuto, Deputy Republican Elections Commissioner Sheila Ross and Deputy Democratic Elections Commissioner Lucinda Jarvis all said they favor DREs for their ease of use.
Hank Nicols, the county’s Democratic Elections Commissioner, said he favors optical scanners because he believes people find them more trustworthy.
The difference of opinion between Nicols and Koniuto is significant because if they cannot agree, they will not be able to select machines for the county. The decision would then be made by state elections officials.
The choice has been thrust upon the county as a result of the federal Help America Vote Act, which Congress passed to try to rectify problems that developed in the presidential election of 2000.
There was sharp disagreement among those in the audience. Members of the League of Women Voters, including Ellen Tillapaugh, president of the League of Women Voters of the Cooperstown Area, and Katherine Stuligross, her counterpart in Oneonta, urged the commissioners to choose optical scanners, which have been in use for many years.
DREs, which look like large screen televisions, rely on under-tested computer technology and have been found to be unreliable in other states, Tillapaugh said.
On the other hand, Christine Zachmeyer, executive director of the Catskill Center for Independence, wrote a letter to the commissioners, urging them to buy the Sequoia Voting Machines’ DRE. She wrote that it best accommodates the widest range of people with disabilities.
Helen Benlisa, who works for the Catskill Center as the Project HAVA coordinator, touted the Sequoia DRE as the best machine for use by disabled people.
After Zachmeyer’s letter was read, Nicols noted that Adrian Kuzminski of Fly Creek also had sent a letter to the commissioners, quoting news sources who say that some groups purporting to represent the disabled are being paid surreptitiously to lobby for DREs.
Nicols prefaced his remarks by saying he was certain the allegation did not apply to the Catskill Center for Independence.
Joe Richardson, of Morris, asked the commissions to purchase scanners, as they will cost the county less in the long run.
Johnnie Nemec of Middlefield asked them to purchase DREs, saying they will be easier to use and encourage voting.
The price of the machines is not certain yet. Ross said the county will have $460,000 in state and federal money to buy voting machines, which should about cover the cost of the purchase.
After the meeting, Otsego County Rep. James Powers, R-Butternuts, said he went to the meeting with an open mind and left convinced the county should buy optical scanners because they probably will be more reliable.
Advocate for disabled says group didn’t take voting-machine money
By Tom Grace - Cooperstown News Bureau
8/2/06
Chris Zachmeyer, executive director of the Catskill Center For Independence, said Tuesday that voting-machine manufacturers have tried to contribute money to her organization, which has given testimony on which voting machines Otsego County should buy.
However, she said she has not given in.
"It’s happened a couple of times," said Zachmeyer, who declined to identify the manufacturers.
"I told them, ’I’d love to take your money, but I can’t,"’ Zachmeyer said. "Those were my words exactly, and I would love to take their money because they’ve got deep pockets and we’re a small agency.
"But to what end?" Zachmeyer asked. "We would lose any credibility that we ever had, and no amount of money is worth it.
"We exist totally on our credibility," she said. "If people don’t trust what we have to say, we might as well lock our doors and go home."
The Catskill Center provides services to individuals with disabilities who reside in Delaware, Otsego, or Schoharie county and provides information, training and other disability-related assistance to family members, employers, landlords, government and other agencies, according to its website.
Zachmeyer said the offers "have only happened a couple of times to me, but you have to realize there are hundreds of millions of dollars at stake just in New York state. ... I’m sure there have been a lot of back-door deals made or a lot of back-door deals offered."
The issue of manufacturers using their money to influence agencies arose at a public hearing held by the Otsego County Board of Elections on Friday. For that hearing, Zachmeyer wrote a letter asking the county’s elections commissioners to consider buying direct recording electronic machines made by Sequoia Voting Machines.
After Zachmeyer’s letter was read, Hank Nicols, the county’s Democratic elections commissioner, said the BOE had received a letter from Adrian Kuzminski, of Fly Creek, saying that some agencies purporting to represent disabled people have been paid surreptitiously to lobby for DREs.
Nicols, who has said he prefers optical scanners to DREs, prefaced his remarks by saying he was sure the Catskill Center was beyond reproach.
Kuzminski said Tuesday that he sent the letter because he is distressed at the prospect that the county will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for voting machines that may not be as trustworthy as lever machines.
In his letter, he excerpted an interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on http://www.bradblog.com that appeared July 18. Kennedy said that one voting-machine manufacturer had given $1 million to an organization that purports to represent blind people, and in exchange, the organization gave testimony favoring the manufacturers’ machine.
Zachmeyer said she had heard of the connection between the manufacturer and the organization, but the alleged bribing occurred about four years ago.
She said it was unfortunate that the issue was raised just after her recommendation was read to the commissioners, and the center is interested only in finding the best voting machines for people with disabilities.