Published: November 08, 2009 10:56 pm      

Elections chief disputes claims by SAVEourVotes representative

CUMBERLAND — A member of a grass-roots organization claiming to fight for secure, accessible and verifiable elections results is at odds with comments made by Kitty Davis, administrator for the Allegany County Board of Elections.

Holly Taggart Joseph, of Columbia-based SAVEourVotes, said there are too many advantages to switching from a touch-screen voting system to the planned optical scan ballot, a system for which the Maryland General Assembly has approved funding.

“Most important, voters can be more assured that their vote will be counted as they cast it,” Joseph said in an e-mail to the Times-News. “What’s amazing is that people can get away with saying something is ‘too expensive.’ The cost of losing votes — or even electing the wrong person, as was probably done in a Florida congressional race (in 2006) — has to be great.”

Joseph also said waiting time “probably” would decrease at polling places. Another advantage, she said, is that “if the elections are close, they cannot be re-counted in the current system.”

“I’d say the real story is why election officials are fighting the switch to the new op-scan system,” Joseph said. “The sad part is that we have a state Board of Elections which is at (best) resigned — but not philosophically aligned — with implementing the system that was voted in by the legislature. It will be interesting to follow to see if something that was legislatively mandated does not happen.”

Davis disagreed on nearly every point Joseph made. The local and state elections boards, she said, are “neutral.” Board members are simply waiting for instruction by either the Maryland Board of Public Works or new legislation that would give elections officials across the state a new direction. The delay, Davis said, is not because of any personal opinion on the issue.

The recently passed legislation, Davis said, “will go through ... unless it is legislatively mandated that we not do it. We will do what state legislators tell us we will do.”

Davis also disagreed that a new optical scan system would be a cost-savings, adding that estimates have not included the price of a large supply of high-grade paper required. And waiting times could very well be increased for voters, she said. Allegany County’s population is an aging one, and Davis said there are concerns with how well older residents can accurately manipulate the optical scan ballot.

“To say it’s quicker, I’m not seeing it,” Davis said.

As for re-counts, Davis said Allegany County already successfully completed a recount in 2002 when Delegate LeRoy Myers edged former House Speaker Cas Taylor by 0.7 percent — a difference of only 76 votes.

Joseph said it’s important to have a voting system that assures voters an accurate, reliable system is in place prior to going to the polls. And it just might be less expensive than retaining — and maintaining — the current machines. A fact sheet by SAVEourVotes shows “it would probably cost more to conduct the 2010 elections with the (current) system than with a new op-scan system.”

Earlier estimates “were riddled with errors and omissions,” the fact sheet reads.

For more information, log on to www.saveourvotes.org.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.