(B) is not inconsistent with the requirements of the laws described in section 906; and
(C) meets the requirements of section 301.
It is only the NYS legislature that stands in the way of New Yorkers and a secure, observable, fair, reliable, honest election.
It is the responsibility of each citizen in a democracy to do what is necessary to preserve our sovereignty. I will be commencing litigation against our legislature because their irresponsibility is clearly unconstitutional. The constitutional right to vote has been understood historically as far more than the right to simply cast a vote. It is the right to cast a meaningful vote which includes the right to know that vote was received and fairly counted. It is the right to cast a vote in the most secure, protected manner way we know how to provide which includes all the safeguards we have enjoyed these many years. The legislature has no right to force us to remove our existing lever system, with no finding that it is not functioning, and replace it with one that has been shown to be highly insecure, extremely costly and unable to do that which any democratic electoral system must do– securely, promptly and reliably count our votes in a way we can be assured is accurate.
I encourage all of you reading this – regular citizens, election workers, election commissioners – to join me in preventing the state of New York from proceeding with this thoughtless and unconstitutional plan. Unlike the rest of the country we have not abandoned our current system of voting. It is my position that we remain on our lever machines while we investigate the issues the state legislature failed to do. I recognize that places a burden on the counties, but citizens must turn to their local governments when their state government fails them. Dutchess County should be congratulated for setting an example, having just approved the creation of a task force comprised of county legislators and citizens to study the relevant issues to protect the ballots of our citizens. The task force, consistent with the requirements of the electoral system as we have known it and as provided in the Constitution, will be equally bi-partisan.
In the meantime I will pursue litigation to challenge the state legislation and hope that our judicial system will rise to the occasion. Courts never like to find statutes unconstitutional, but this is our system of checks and balances and when a legislature behaves as carelessly as to permit the removal of our safeguarded electoral system, only to force its replacement with a highly vulnerable system, then it is to the courts we must turn.
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