Tuesday, May 17, 2005
The SECRETary of State's E-Voting Exams
Oh, that Mary Denny is a sly one. Before her HB 2465 left the House, the Aubrey Republican added a small section to the bill that would ensure that the state's electronic voting machines are certified behind closed doors. The Secretary of State's office certifies all e-voting systems used in Texas. State examiners poke and prod each system in closed-door sessions that the Secretary of State's office argues are exempt from the Open Meetings Act.
The ACLU of Texas sued last year to gain access to the examinations of e-voting systems, arguing that--imagine this?--the integrity of voting systems are in the public interest. The ACLU won the first round in court. Denny's trying to undo that. She slipped a retroactive provision into HB 2465 (after the bill was first heard in committee) stating that all e-voting examinations--past, present and future--are closed to the public.
The altered bill then passed the House on the local and consent calendar (for supposedly uncontroversial bills). The Senate State Affairs Committee passed HB 2465 this afternoon, and placed it on the Senate local and uncontested calendar. Someone slap us. Unless a Senator objects, and knocks the bill on to the regular calendar, HB 2465 will sail through the upper chamber and likely into state code. That would scuttle the ACLU suit and ensure that the certifications of our touch-screen voting systems will happen mostly out of public view.
The ACLU of Texas sued last year to gain access to the examinations of e-voting systems, arguing that--imagine this?--the integrity of voting systems are in the public interest. The ACLU won the first round in court. Denny's trying to undo that. She slipped a retroactive provision into HB 2465 (after the bill was first heard in committee) stating that all e-voting examinations--past, present and future--are closed to the public.
The altered bill then passed the House on the local and consent calendar (for supposedly uncontroversial bills). The Senate State Affairs Committee passed HB 2465 this afternoon, and placed it on the Senate local and uncontested calendar. Someone slap us. Unless a Senator objects, and knocks the bill on to the regular calendar, HB 2465 will sail through the upper chamber and likely into state code. That would scuttle the ACLU suit and ensure that the certifications of our touch-screen voting systems will happen mostly out of public view.
