BREAKING: Verified Voting Senate hearing, unpublicized, untelevised, convenes

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Tuesday June 21, 2005 · 7:02 AM PDT

2005/06/21 · 07:02

I have seen NOTHING on this, but here I am sitting in the room. The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is about to convene a hearing on "the issue of voter verification in the federal elections process." It will only be on Senate Television, and I don't see anything about a Webcast.
Update [2005-6-21 11:29:49 by DC Pol Sci]: You want to know the *real* kicker? *Dodd* is against a voter-verified paper audit trail. Why? Well, he wrote what became HAVA, and he says that it's not necessary; that HAVA itself requires enough accountability. Guess ol' Chris is committed to our being in the minority for the foreseeable future...

Here is the witness list:
Panel 1:
Senator John Ensign (R-NV)

Panel 2:
Mr. James C. Dickson
Vice President for Government Affairs
American Association of People with Disabilities
Washington, DC

Professor David L. Dill
Department of Computer Science
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

Ms. Conny McCormack
Registrar Recorder, County Clerk
Los Angeles County
Norwalk, CA

Professor Ted Selker
MIT Media Lab
Caltech/MIT Voter Technology Project
Cambridge, MA

Here is the link to the hearing notice:
http://rules.senate.gov/hearings/2005/062105_hearing.htm

Here is a summary of what I've been able to learn:

Ensign will testify FOR a paper trail.
Selker will testify that paper trails are just as subject to hacking as "audio" trails, which just tell the voter how s/he voted.
Dill will testify FOR a paper trail.
McCormack will testify AGAINST a paper trail.

Here's the kicker. The room is full of the visually and hearing impaired. Dickson, from the American Association of People with Disabilities, will testify AGAINST verified voting. Why? He claims that any attempt to "tamper" with the provisions of the Help America Vote Act will hurt the disabled. From his testimony: "The disability and civil rights communities oppose opening up HAVA for any amendments."

WHICH civil rights community?!? Certainly not the ones who advocate every vote counting....

Showtime. I've got to get to work. Trent Lott is about to bang the gavel. Dayton and Dodd are here from our side. Update [2005-6-21 13:49:11 by DC Pol Sci]: Pictures, as promised...