This video is published on Why Tuesday? as well as OffTheBus.
Recently I interviewed Princeton computer scientist Edward Felten about malfunctions of touchscreen voting machines in New Jersey on Feb. 5th. PAVotes.com says these same machines will be used on Tuesday in Montgomery and Northhampton counties.
Despite a judge subpoenaing the Sequoia AVC Advantage touchscreen machine in New Jersey for testing after Sequoia refused to allow Felten to test the machines, at last night's ABC Democratic presidential debate, trouble with this particular touchscreen voting machine wasn't an issue on the minds of local pols.
Here's the big question: When the integrity of the vote is at stake, shouldn't voting machine malfunctions in one state be brought to the attention of another state that uses the same machines?
UPDATE: I spoke to Pennsylvania Department of State Director of Communications Leslie Amorós about our look into the trouble with the Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machine in New Jersey, and how the same machines will be used on Tuesday in Pennsylvania. In response, she sent me the following statement:
From: [Leslie Amorós]
Subject: RE: Edward Felten Interview
Date: April 17, 2008 6:04:10 PM EDT
To: [Jacob Soboroff]
Thank you for sending me the link.
As we discussed earlier, two of 67 counties in PA uses the Sequoia Advantage, and one of the counties has used the system since 1996. Since the 2006 implementation of using voting systems that met Help America Vote Act requirements, Pennsylvania successfully has conducted 4 elections.
The PA Department of State is committed to holding fair, accurate and accessible elections. To keep informed, the Department of State consistently monitors various news, studies and literature regarding elections.
In Pennsylvania, electronic voting systems must undergo a statutorily required testing process. The system must be tested by a federal independent testing authority. Then, unlike some states that only require the federal testing, Pennsylvania law requires a second tier of testing. The state testing is conducted by two independent testing examiners. After successful results of both testing processes in Pennsylvania, the Secretary of the Commonwealth certifies the system for use in PA. Counties then select the system that they will use from the list of certified systems.
Keep in mind that holding successful elections is a result of many factors, not just the voting systems. Poll worker training and numerous security measures are implemented to ensure an efficient election. For example, before voting systems are used by voters, the county conducts logic and accuracy tests to ensure that each of the voting the systems are tallying votes correctly.
The link referred to in the e-mail is my video-chat with Princeton computer scientist Edward Felten.
Why Tuesday? is an effort to make America's democracy stronger through increased voter participation; we work to make election reform an issue that our politicians cannot afford to avoid. Read more campaign coverage from OffTheBus by clicking here.