RESOLUTION ON VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER TRAILS

WHEREAS, a voter-verified paper audit trail is the only known way to guarantee that a voter's vote has been both recorded and counted correctly by an electronic voting machine (such as a touch screen); and

WHEREAS, the disabled community has legitimate concerns that improper implementation of a voter-verified paper audit trail could deny a vision-impaired voter the same opportunity for access and participation, including privacy and independence, to an electronic voting machine as for other voters, as is guaranteed by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA); and

WHEREAS, the technology exists today to build and electronic voting machine that incorporates a voter-verified paper trail that is accessible to vision-impaired voters;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Santa Clara County Democratic Party goes on record demanding that all electronic voting equipment used in public elections must incorporate an accessible voter-verified paper audit trail as soon as practical, but in no case any later than the November 2004 general election; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution shall be forwarded to the County's state and federal representatives, to the California Secretary of State's office, and to the California Democratic Party.

Proposed by Steve Chessin

Adopted by SCCDCC, Sept. 4, 2003.