URGENT: North Carolina is Certifying Unsafe Election Systems!!!

The Urgency

North Carolina Board of Elections is considering certifying the Barcode Paper Ballot Back-up systems on August 23, 2019. These systems are NOT SECURE! Even if you currently use #HandMarkedPaperBallots, if these Barcode Paper Ballot machines are certified, your county could switch to them. This is urgent for everyone in North Carolina.

This post explains the problems with these voting systems and what you can do about it. We have until August 23 to convince our State to BAN Barcode Paper Ballots and only use Hand Marked Paper Ballots.

Mueller and our Intelligence Agencies have told us Russia is messing with our election right now. They intend to attack us again. In fact, they expect other countries like China and Iran to follow suit.

North Carolina is a swing state, so it will most certainly be a heavy target for malfeasance. We must be able to prove that the outcome of our election is what the voters actually intended. We must preserve the integrity of our elections.

Barcode Paper Ballot Back-up Systems

Let me explain how they work and why they aren't secure.

Issue 1: The touch screen may flip the vote.

I enter my vote on a touch screen and the machine interprets my touch as a vote. The touch screens are notorious for incorrectly interpreting the vote. We know this from other states. This could be caused by human error, miscalibration, or malfeasance.

• You might have intended to vote for Trump, but your selection is picked up as a vote for Warren.
• You might have intended to vote for Warren, but your selection is picked up as a vote for Trump.

This is called flipping the vote.

Issue 2: Humans can't read barcodes and the barcode is the vote.

A receipt is created that shows who you voted for as a barcode. However:

• Humans can't read barcodes. So, you can't tell if the barcode accurately represents who you intended to vote for.
• The barcode is what is counted as your vote.

Issue 3: Many voters will not check the printed candidate name, even if the system prints it out. 

Some barcode paper ballots also print out the name of the candidate for the voter to verify. However:

• Voters don't check the receipt after every selection, and sometimes the voter has 6 to 15 vote selections to make. Often voters don't check until they are done voting. At that point they may have forgotten who they intended to vote for.
• Many voters don't check the receipt at all. 
• Some voters have a hard time reading the fine print of the receipt.

Issue 4: Even if there is a printed name, the barcodes may not match the candidates' printed name and we, the voters, would never know that.

Even if the receipt does print the candidate names, and even if the voter does check the receipt every time, the barcode may not be the correct barcode for the name. This could be caused by miscalibration or malfeasance. Because humans can't read barcodes you would never know.

• My ballot could say Trump, but the barcode could read "Warren"
• My ballot could say Warren, but the barcode could read "Trump"

The barcode is what gets counted as your vote.

Issue 5: There is no true original record of who we, the voters, intended to vote for, for auditing purposes. 

The receipt with the barcode is now the "paper back-up" used for audit. You can see that this record may be incorrect. It may not represent what you actually intended.

• There is no real original record of what the voter actually intended as their vote, for audits.
• The paper ballot used for audit may contain errors.

Hand-Marked Paper Ballot

Let me explain why they are better. In that system there is an oval next to the names of the candidates, such as Trump and Warren.

• You fill in the oval next to the name of the candidate you want with a marker. 
• Your mark is what is read in the scanner. 
• Your mark is what is counted.
• Your mark is what is audited. 
• We always have your original mark to go back to.

Hand Marked Paper Ballots are way more secure.

North Carolina Board of Election Loyalty

I listened to the last board meeting and they seemed to weigh concerns of inconvenience for the vendors as important as security for the voters.

I don't know about you, but I found this outrageous. The board should not concern themselves with vendor inconvenience at all. They should be solely focused on the needs of the voters and our right to democracy which demands secure voting systems.

What You Can Do

Please write the NC State Election Board and ask them to BAN all Barcode Paper Ballot Back-up Systems entirely and request that they only certify Hand Marked Paper Ballot Systems for North Carolina.

Email: elections.sboe@ncsbe.gov

You can use this text or something similar:
**********
Dear Board Members,

As a North Carolina Citizen I submit the following comment about the certification of Barcode Paper Ballot Back-up Systems under consideration.

Firstly, please do not consider vendor convenience in your decision making. Your sole loyalty should be to North Carolina Citizens and your sole objective should be to provide us with the most secure system possible with an original record of our intended vote for auditing purposes.

With that in mind, I respectfully request that you ban all barcode paper ballot back-up voting systems as they have the following inherent problems:

• Issue 1: The touch screen may flip the vote.
• Issue 2: Humans can't read barcodes and the barcode is the vote.
• Issue 3: Many voters will not check the printed candidate name, even if the system prints it out.
• Issue 4: Even if there is a printed name, the barcodes may not match the candidates' printed name and we, the voters, would never know that.
• Issue 5: There is no true original record of who we, the voters, intended to vote for, for auditing purposes.

Instead, please only certify voting systems with Hand-Marked Paper Ballots where the voters true intended vote, as marked by their hand, is used for counting the vote and for auditing purposes.

Hand-Marked Paper Ballots are the Gold Standard for election security and Citizens of North Carolina deserve it. It is the only method that will ensure our will is represented.
**********

The Time To Act Is Now

Fellow North Carolina Citizens,

Regardless of party, we should all care about the integrity of our election system.

Please do send the email. We must act now. The final decision will be August 23.

If you belong to any group of concerned citizens, please bring this post to their attention, especially local political groups. Encourage the entire group to act. Share this post widely.

Comments and likes are welcome, but they will NOT secure your vote. Only your action now can do that. However, I would adore comments noting what real action you took or intend to take.

Please stand up with your fellow North Carolinians and protect the vote for all.

I hope this post was helpful in explaining the situation and thank you for doing your civic duty.

Lisanne Lombardo