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BUNCOMBE COUNTY - background on County Commissioners fight to repeal the Public Confidence in Elections Act
see also our message to Board of Elections Members here
see also our message to County Commissioners here
Buncombe County Commissioners have made it plain and clear that they want to have S 223 hauled back to the legislature and they are willing to use their pull to do so. That is why they are hand counting the primary and buying touchscreens only for the disabled. They intend to buy all touchscreen machines once they get this "mess of a law changed."
If the law is amended it will allow weak companies with bad voting machines and bad business practices to put our elections at risk again. You will still have a toilet paper ballot on the touchscreens.
You don't want voting machines from the companies that couldn't meet our model voting system standards.
Some people claim that the ES&S was given a monopoly, when the fact was that out of 5 vendors, 3 were certified, and 2 dropped out voluntarily, leaving only ES&S who was willing to meet the tough new law. Read more about the selection process
NC Voting Machine Politics - Was Selection Fair?
The touchscreen machines use what we call a "toilet paper" ballot, thermal paper on a reel. Read why we don't recommend touchscreen machines that use this ballot on a reel:
Read about the violation of public hearing laws breeched by County Commissioners, while they consulted
the NC Association of County Commissioners, the group pushing for repeal of Public Confidence in Elections Law:
Read how the Buncombe County Commissioners express their displeasure with the law, and how they want to hold off buying voting machines until the law is changed so that other vendors will be able to sell equipment. The BOE presented a unanimous recommendation of all touchscreen voting.
On January 20, 2006, Commissioner David Young said that, by going with paper ballots in May, we can allow the General Assembly time to fix this law and give us more options for November. Citizen Times (They mean they can scare politicians with the idea of thousands of ballots being hand counted and results being turned in late). See:
Here is an explanation of what we would have to give up so that companies with bad voting machines and bad business practices could sell their goods in North Carolina:
Read about Buncombe Commissioners' Mis-Step Over Voting Machine Law
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The County Commissioners made several misleading statements in their letter to Governor Easley to request a delay of implementing SL 2005-323, the Public Confidence in Elections Act. In their letter, they request a special session to delay implementation of the law. They complain of not enough time, money, choice of voting machine companies, and they question whether the remaining vendor can deliver on time. They evidentally have not done their due dilligence. Freedom of information request linked on this blog: | Buncombe Commissioners Mis-Step Over Voting Machine Law
Buncombe County was working with or following the lead of the NC Association of County Commissioners:
Additional Information
County commissioners do have a say, especially in the case where appropriations are asked for, like in Buncombe.
The County Commissioners of Buncombe are choosing hand counted paper with touchscreens in the May primary. This is to create a perceived "crisis" so that the County Commissioners can get the General Assembly to change the law. It won't work. Too many citizens worked too hard to get this law passed, and they won't stand for someone to knock it down. Commissioners seem to want to lower the bar so that more voting machine companies can sell their machines in North Carolina. I say the voting machine companies should meet our standards, not the other way around.
County Commissioners have some duties in voting machine selection, and in Chatham County for instance, the County Commissioners did not approve the Board of Elections choice of all touchscreens, and asked them to submit a new proposal, which was optical scan voting systems & the ballot marking device, and touchscreens for early voting only. Their BOE came back with the compromise resolution, saving the county thousands of dollars and improving voter confidence.
SECTION 3. Effective August 1, 2005, G.S. 163-165.8 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-165.8. Voting systems: powers and duties of board of county commissioners.
The board of county commissioners, with the approval of the county board of elections, may adopt and purchase or lease acquire only a voting system of a type, make, and model approved certified by the State Board of Elections for use in some or all voting places in the county at some or all elections.
The board of county commissioners may decline to adopt and purchase or lease acquire any voting system recommended by the county board of elections but may not adopt and purchase or lease acquire any voting system that has not been approved by the county board of elections. Article 8 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes does not apply to the purchase of a voting system certified by the State Board of Elections."
SECTION 4. Effective August 1, 2005, G.S. 163-165.9 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-165.9. Voting systems: powers and duties of county board of elections.
(a) Before approving the adoption and purchase or lease acquisition of any voting system by the board of county commissioners, the county board of elections shall do all of the following:
(1) Obtain a current financial statement from the proposed vendor or lessor of the voting system and send copies of the statement to the county attorney and the chief county financial officer.Recommend to the board of county commissioners which type of voting system should be acquired by the county.
Text of the bill: http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2005/Bills/Senate/HTML/S223v7.html
Please read the letter and 5 year cost analysis that Justin Moore prepared for Buncombe County.
Buncombe County 5 year cost projection, includes costs of warranty and support http://www.cs.duke.edu/~justin/voting/costs/BUNCOMBE.html (shows costs of all components and warranties, everything)
Downloadable letter to Buncombe County BOE and BOC that explains cost savings up front and over time http://www.cs.duke.edu/~justin/voting/costs/BUNCOMBE.pdf
Per county cost comparison by technology http://www.cs.duke.edu/~justin/voting/costs/index.html
Cost assumptions http://www.cs.duke.edu/~justin/voting/costs/assumptions.html
Each county is eligible for up to $12,000 per precinct plus $1.00 per registered voter up to $100K limit. This is enough money to pay for new optical scan/ballot marking systems for each county. Counties that want the more expensive touchscreen or direct record machines will have to pay the difference (2 to 3 times more) from their own budget | 
