Monday in Sacramento. It's great that they are having these hearings so
the public has a chance to be heard. However, putting out a press
release on a Wed. before Thanksgiving for a hearing the following Monday
seems to not give the public the time to be informed. The release is not
yet on the SOS website and won't be now until Friday unless, as is true
in many government agencies, everyone is off on Friday.
Also odd is that this system is used only in Los Angeles County. Anyone
who is affected by this system and who wants to be heard must travel
from LA to Sacramento on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nicole Winger
November 21, 2007
Kate Folmar
(916) 653-6575
MEDIA ADVISORY
Secretary of State’s Office to Hold Public Hearing on
Top-to-Bottom Review of ES&S InkaVote Plus Voting System
WHAT: The Secretary of State’s Office will conduct a public
hearing to examine whether the Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S)
InkaVote Plus voting system should be recertified after a top-to-bottom
review of the system. The InkaVote Plus system is used solely in Los
Angeles County to provide voters with disabilities a way to cast ballots
privately and independently.
InkaVote Plus was not part of Secretary Bowen’s
original top-to-bottom review conducted earlier this year. Despite its
intention to continue operating the InkaVote Plus system in Los Angeles
County, ES&S failed to provide the information, equipment, and money in
a timely fashion as required by law in order to conduct a top-to-bottom
review of the system, so Secretary Bowen decertified the InkaVote Plus.
ES&S finally submitted the complete system for review in early October
and testing began soon thereafter.
Secretary Bowen designed the top-to-bottom review to ensure that
California voters are being asked to cast their ballots on machines that
are secure, accurate, reliable, and accessible. State law requires that
all voting systems used in California be certified by the Secretary of
State, and that the Secretary conduct periodic reviews of those voting
systems to determine whether they are defective, obsolete, or otherwise
unacceptable.
For more information about the top-to-bottom review and other voting
system certifications, go to
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vsr.htm.
WHEN: Monday, November 26, 2007
10:00 a.m.
WHERE: Secretary of State Building
Auditorium
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