FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: CLMP, 923-4646

CLMP Supports VotePad Technology

The Civil Liberties Monitoring Project has sent a letter to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors supporting the purchase of VotePad technology to assist disabled voters in compliance with the Help Americans Vote Act. The letter states, "VotePad is a simple assistive system that is less expensive to purchase, store and maintain than touch-screen machines, which are only certified conditionally at this point. VotePad would require no maintenance contract and no regular maintenance, which would represent a substantial savings over electronic equipment."

In addition, CLMP strongly supports ongoing County efforts with the continued aim of making the voting process as transparent as possible with a solid, verifiable paper trail. "Open-source voting is one option to consider, as is the all-paper ballot," said CLMP's letter, adding, "Humboldt can help lead the way among California counties in guaranteeing an absolutely trustworthy election process." The letter commended Humboldt county clerk Carolyn Crnich for her efforts.

Dianna Smith, a VotePad representative, made a well-received presentation of their system at the Humboldt County Election Advisory Committee on March 2 and also presented VotePad to Tri-County Independent Living in Eureka and the Secretary of State in Sacramento.

Yolo County recently adopted VotePad after "an enormous amount of research," said Yolo Clerk-Recorder Freddie Oakley, adding "it provides the most useful features for persons with a wide variety of disabilities of any assistive device we've seen." Speaking of electronic touch-screen equipment, Oakley told KXTV News, "I don't want to spend $2.5 million of the taxpayers' money to buy a system that in five years will be ready for the junkyard."

The issue is scheduled to be heard before the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on March 21.

CIVIL LIBERTIES MONITORING PROJECT POB 544 REDWAY, CA 95560 707-923-4646