Coalition Statement

Legislature Approves Verifiable Voting Bill

Public Interest Groups lead effort to get Op-Scan Voting System

Annapolis, MD – In the final day of the 2007 session, the House of Delegates, which had unanimously passed its own voter-verified paper record bill last month, today agreed to a modified version of the bill passed by the Senate last Friday. The final bill incorporates important safeguards for voters with disabilities and calls for a transition to paper ballots and optical scan technology by 2010.

After the bill was pronounced ‘dead’ at the end of March, the MD-EIC engaged the legislature in a course of cooperation and compromise that enabled all stakeholders to sign on and complete a process that had been attempted unsuccessfully in several previous legislative sessions.

“The Senate leadership was instrumental in making this happen this year,” according to John Schneider, MD-EIC spokesperson. “This completes the work that the House began two years ago to provide a voter-verified record of the vote.”

Advocates in Maryland have been attempting to ban paperless voting in Maryland since it was first introduced in four counties in 2002, charging that there is no way to do a meaningful recount or audit with the current system. Most states are turning to optical scan technology for this reason. Nineteen of Maryland’s 24 counties used optical scan before being required to switch.

“Finally Maryland will stop sinking taxpayer dollars into a voting system that is unable to provide a paper record for meaningful recounts,” said Gus Lewis, a Board member of coalition partner Common Cause-MD. “We are very pleased with this outcome.”

“Election Integrity advocates have been united around the need for a rapid transition to voter-verified paper ballots and OpScan technology for Maryland elections,” says Gina Angiola, Board Member of Democracy for Maryland, an MD-EIC partner organization. “This bill is an exciting step in the right direction.”