NY Forum: Election Reform and New York Voting Machines

Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)

Esmeralda Simmons, Director of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College

Do you know whether your vote will count on November 4, 2008?

More than six years after the fiasco in Florida in the 2000 presidential race, the nightmare continues—as evidenced by 18,000 lost votes in Sarasota, Florida. Momentum is building for voting that is verifiable, auditable, and accessible. We must act now so every vote cast on November 4, 2008 will count.

On April 12, People For the American Way joined with Moveon.org, NYPIRG, VoteTrustUSA, Common Cause and others for the Vote 2008: Symposium on New York Voting Machines and Election Reform. More than 100 people came out for the event held at Cardozo Law School.

The forum examined the role of voting technology in elections, present and future as well as the importance of ensuring accessibility to these machines for voters with disabilities and minority language voters.

Moderated by PFAW Northeast Executive Director, Andrew Stengel, the panel consisted of Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) (pictured, left), principal sponsor of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 811); Douglas Kellner, Co-Chair of the New York State Board of Elections; Esmeralda Simmons (pictured, right), Director of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College; and Dean Logan, Deputy Registrar of Los Angels County, California.

The forum was co-sponsored by the Voter Enfranchisement Project, Citizen Union Foundation, New York Democratic Lawyers Council, Women’s City Club, Cardozo Law School Democrats, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Impact, Columbia Law School.

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NY Forum: Election Reform and New York Voting Machines

Read more about our series of forums on election reform: