NYVV Submits Voting Machine Estimate To State Board of Elections

Related Links:

NYVV’s Submission to the New York State Board of Elections:
http://www.nyvv.org/newdoc/VotingMachineNumbersForNYS.pdf

NYVV’s Analysis – New Voting Systems for NY, Long Lines and High Cost
http://www.nyvv.org/doc/voterlines.pdf

If New York State adopts new voting machines a critical question that must be correctly answered is – how many voters can be served by each voting machine?

If insufficient numbers of voting machines are available to cope with voter turnout during the peak voting times of the early morning and evening, voters will be condemned to waiting hours in long lines, causing many voters who are unable to wait to leave without voting.

A study commissioned by the State Board of Elections and carried out by the American Institute of Research (AIR) unfortunately does not address this critical question. The State Board has called for public comment on the AIR study and proposals for determining an adequate number of voting systems.

New Yorkers for Verified Voting has submitted a proposal to the New York State Board estimating the number of new voting machines that will be required in New York's polling places. Based on an NYVV analysis using computer simulations and the mathematics of queuing theory, our calculations indicates that 1 DRE can handle, at a maximum, only 200 registered voters. By comparison, a single precinct based ballot scanner, with sufficient numbers of inexpensive marking booths, can serve up to 4000 registered voters.

Since the full face ballot DREs available to New York State cost more than $8,000 each while marking booths for a scanner system cost less than $200, the acquisition cost for DRE systems will be much greater than for scanners if long lines at the polls and voter disenfranchisement are to be avoided.