LWV-SC Positions

League of Women Voters^®
of the Clemson Area

State League Positions for 2007-2009. State League Position Papers. Voting Machines Used in South Carolina.

State League Positions for 2007-2009

The LWV reaches positions only after careful study. Positions must be adopted and approved at State Convention. LINK TO POSITIONS
For a condensed statement of these positions LINK

State League Position Papers

The State League has prepared a few Position Papers that give more detail about some positions than in found in the Positions for 2007-2009. To access the State League web page listing positions click here

LWVSC Position Paper on Electronic Voting Systems

Voting Machines Used in South Carolina

Materials develped by the LWV of South Carolina.   LINK.
Drawing of components of the iVotronic voting machine   LINK
Elections Systems and Software (ES&S) supplies all voting machines used in South Carolina. The voting process includes casting votes on touch-screen machines (iVotronics), collection of votes at the county level on computers (Unity), and reading of mail-in absentee votes on optical scan readers (models M100 and M650). The Pickens County system incudes all of these components.
On December 7, 2007, a report was received by the Ohio Secretary of State which evaluated all voting machines used in Ohio. The ES&S machines were among those evaluated. The report states, "Our analysis suggests that the ES&S Unity EMS, iVotronic DRE and M100 optical scan systems lack the fundamental technical controls necessary to guarantee a trustworthy election under operational conditions."
EVEREST: Evaluation and Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standards & Testing
In June 2006, the League of Women Voters Convention adopted a position supporting voter-verified paper ballots, verified while the voter is still in the process of voting. These paper ballots should be the official record of the voter's intent. Routine audits of the paper ballots in randomly selected precincts should be conducted in every election.
More about the Ohio Report.   LINK,
An article, Can you count on voting machines?, appearing January 6, 2008, in the New York Times, presents some of the high lights in the history of voting machines. At the end of the article, possible problems posed by iVotronics in Pennsylvania are discussed.
Closer to home, an article in the January 6, 2008, Greenville News, Ohio bans voting machines used here, was also picked up by AP. Another article, South Carolina officials see no problems with touch-screen voting machines appeared in the January 13, 2008, Anderson Independent-Mail.

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