ROBERTS/CHIVUKULA BILL EXTENDING DEADLINE FOR VOTER-VERIFIED BALLOTS CLEARS ASSEMBLY

ROBERTS/CHIVUKULA BILL EXTENDING DEADLINE
FOR VOTER-VERIFIED BALLOTS CLEARS ASSEMBLY
Measure Would Give State Until June 2008 Primary to Retrofit Electronic Machines

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., and Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula sponsored to give state officials until the June 3, 2008 primary elections to ensure that electronic voting machines statewide would meet the requirement for providing voter-verifiable paper records of votes cast passed today in the General Assembly.

A 2005 state law required all electronic voting machines to provide a paper record for each vote cast - to be inspected and verified by the voter and preserved in case a recount is necessary - as of January 1, 2008.  However, an examination of the state's voting machines and available printing technology conducted last summer deemed that goal unattainable.  The measure (S-2949/A-4585) would move the compliance deadline to the state's June primary election.

"It is prudent to grant the state and counties additional time to ensure the job of protecting the rights and voices of New Jersey's voters is done right the first time," said Roberts (D-Camden).  "This change in date in no way changes the overarching goal of providing voters with the greatest assurance that their votes are accurately recorded and counted."

The legislation stems from a July 2007 New Jersey Institute of Technology examination of the three electronic voting machine models currently in use to determine if the retrofitting of those machines with ballot-printing technology complied with the law's standards.  Based on numerous deficiencies cited by that study, the State Voting Machine Examination Committee recommended that none of the machines be certified.  In September, state Attorney General Anne Milgram asked legislative leaders to postpone the January 1 deadline.

The bill also would grant the Attorney General a waiver of the paper-trail requirement if technology compatible with a given voting machine is not commercially available.

"New Jersey voters deserve nothing less than a full guarantee that the integrity of their vote will never be diminished or cast into doubt," said Chivukula (D-Somerset).  "Taking the extra time necessary to ensure that the technology works as advertised is a small price to pay to protect the democratic process."

The Assembly passed the measure 79-1.  It now heads to the Governor, who may sign it or veto it.

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