ELECTRONIC VOTING: THE PROMISE AND THE PITFALLS

 

NEW YORK COUNTY

LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATION

14 Vesey Street, NYC 10007

NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT: Anita Aboulafia

(212) 267-6646, ext. 225 (phone) (212) 406-9252 (fax) aaboulafia@nvcla.org

 

ELECTRONIC VOTING: THE PROMISE AND THE PITFALLS

 

September 13, 2004 – NEW YORK, NY – The New York County Lawyers’ Association’s (NYCLA) Committee on Election Law is sponsoring a free public forum, “Electronic Voting: The Promise and the Pitfalls,” on Monday, September 20, from 6:00 – 9:00 PM that will take place at the NYCLA Home of Law, 14 Vesey Street. Panelists are Adam Cohen, author of the New York Times’ continuing series of articles and editorials on electronic voting and voting franchise problems; Peter J. Johnson, Jr., Chair, NYS Task Force on Voter Modernization; Douglas A. Kellner, Commissioner, Board of Elections in the City of New York; Senator Thomas P. Morahan, Chair, NYS Senate Election Law Committee; and Assemblyman Keith Wright, Chair, NYS Assembly Election Law Committee. The forum will provide an overview of the national experience with electronic voting, particularly the difference between states with non-verifiable electronic systems and states which have opted for verifiable (including paper trail) systems.

 

Forum participants will also discuss the implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which was passed in 2002 in response to the problems of vote counting in the 2000 presidential election. Described as the country’s broadest voting reform effort of the past generation, HAVA impacts every part of the voting process, from voting machines to provisional ballots, from voter registration to poll worker training. How has the law’s identification requirements (for both voters and voter list “update” or “purge” activity) affected the rights of citizens to exercise their franchise? What has New York learned from problems in other states? Is there room for improvement in both the national and state implementation of the law?

 

The New York County Lawyers’ Association was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Since its inception, NYCLA has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

 

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