Last week the Guilford County commissioners passed a resolution opposing federal legislation that would require voter-verified paper ballots.

Our elected officials are way behind the curve on this one. Unfortunately, they were steered wrong by their own expert, Elections Director George Gilbert, who has been arguing against paper trails for years.

According emails forwarded to EdCone.com (you can read them after the jump), Gilbert cited a group called The Election Center as he urged people to lobby against the paper-trail bill. The New York Times reported in 2004: "The Election Center takes money from Diebold and other machine companies, though it will not say how much. At the center's national conference last month, the companies underwrote meals and a dinner cruise."

More here on The Election Center.

UPDATE: Gilbert tells me his objections are not to verification, but to the specifics of HR 811. He has no problem with industry involvement in the elections group, and says he's never seen it yield favor or influence policy. He makes his case in his public testimony, which he was Kind enough to send along (Word docs).

Below, emails forwarded to EdCone.com that show Guiford County elections director George Gilbert urging people to lobby congress and commissioners against the verified-voting act. The emails cite the work of The Election Center, a group that has been reported to receive funding from the voting-machine industry, which opposes scrutiny of electronic voting machines and the imposition of verifiable paper ballots.

Subject: FW: Member Alert: URGENT - ACTION NEEDED NOW
Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:25:56 -0400
From: "George Gilbert"
To: "Directors. Boe (E-mail)"

Plain Text Attachment [ Scan and Save to Computer ]

Attached are copies of the Election Center alert on HR 811,the NACO statement sent earlier and my fax to our Representatives.
Apparently time is of the essence with Members being asked today
by the leadership to indicate their position on the bill.

Your message doesn't need to be elaborate....it just needs to be delivered.
Please FAX or e-mail me any communication you send to or receive
from your member(s) so that I can keep NACO and the Election Center
appraised of what we have communicated to whom. It is important for
them to know what is going on. Thanks.

George Gilbert Director of Elections
Guilford County Board of Elections
PO Box 3427Greensboro, NC 27402
336-641-3836 O336-337-3951 M
ggilber@co.guilford.nc.us

-----Original Message-----From: hcaperton@electioncenter.org
[mailto:hcaperton@electioncenter.org]
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 1:48 AM
To: hcaperton@electioncenter.org

Subject: Member Alert: URGENT - ACTION NEEDED NOW Members:
Please find attached an urgent member alert with talking points for HR 811.
We need to act now in order to make sure that our opinions on the legislation
are heard.

Congressmen have to tell the Congressional leadership how they are
going to voteon the legislation by 4 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Sept. 4,
so please contact your Congressional offices by no later than 1:00 PM
EASTERN time ifyou want to have an impact on the bill.

We have also included a flyer that NAco
(the National Association of Counties)has sent out with a few concerns
that need to be voiced regarding the bill.

Please ACT NOW and contact your Congressmen as soon as possible!

Thank you,Heidi Caperton
Member Services Coordinator |
Election Center, Inc.National Association of Election Officials
Phone 281.293.0101 | Fax 281.293.0453 |
www.electioncenter.org12543 Westella |
Suite 100 | Houston , TX 77077-3929 |
hcaperton@electioncenter.org

Subject: FW: H.R. 811 - Moment of Truth Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 09:19:50 -0400
From: "George Gilbert"

To: "Directors. Boe (E-mail)"

Please send the attached, with your and/or your Board's endorsement, to your Representative(s) today. FAX is probably best at this point

George Gilbert
Director of Elections
Guilford County Board of Elections
PO Box 3427
Greensboro, NC 27402
336-641-3836 O
336-337-3951 M
ggilber@co.guilford.nc.us

-----Original Message-----
From: Alysoun McLaughlin [mailto:AMclaughlin@naco.org]
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 6:29 PM
To: electionpolicy@lists.naco.org
Subject: H.R. 811 - Moment of Truth

County election officials:

Fire up the phone lines and fax machines again! H.R. 811 is coming up for a final vote in the House of Representatives. Your member of Congress has been asked to let leadership know how they intend to vote by Tuesday at 4 p.m.

H.R. 811 is officially scheduled to come up for a vote between Wednesday and Friday; we understand that based on responses to Tuesday's deadline, decisions will be made about whether to allow any amendments on Wednesday afternoon, with debate and a vote on final passage slated for Thursday or Friday.

I have attached a flyer that NACo will be distributing to House offices next week urging a "NO" vote. This battle is still very uphill; even members of Congress who understand our concerns are inclined to vote for a bill for which they have received thousands of letters, e-mails and faxes from voters affiliated with MoveOn.Org, Common Cause, People for the American Way, and other organizations that have represented this legislation to their membership as "fixing" problems in our voting system.

Below is a "Dear Colleague" letter sent today by a bipartisan pair of H.R. 811 cosponsors who are interested in amending the legislation to address some of our concerns. They are still working on their list of amendments and are eager to hear from other members of Congress who are interested in improving the legislation.

Given the short timeframe, please do the following on Tuesday morning, September 4:

1) Call your member of Congress and ask how they intend to vote on H.R. 811;

2) Insist on an answer. Tell them that you know the Democratic leadership has sent out a ?whip notice? asking for a reply by 4 p.m.

3) If they intend to vote against H.R. 811, thank them and let me know!

4) If you cannot persuade your member of Congress to vote against H.R. 811, insist that they contact Representatives Moore and Petri and work with them on amendments to address your most pressing or specific concerns (Democrats will want to call Moore?s office, Republicans will want to contact Petri).

If you do not have an existing relationship with your member of Congress or their staff, you can find their contact information at http://capwiz.com/naco/dbq/officials/. After entering your ZIP code, click on "info" for each member to get their telephone number and list of key staff.

If you have time to do so, please also put it in writing and fax your comments to their office. The pro-H.R. 811 advocacy groups are drowning their offices in paper; it helps for us to do so as well.

Keep up the good work! Let's get this bill pulled again.

Alysoun McLaughlin
Associate Legislative Director for Finance and
Intergovernmental Affairs
202-942-4254 - direct
240-472-4214 - cell

amclaughlin@naco.org
National Association of Counties
"The Voice of America 's Counties"

P.S. Under the latest version which is posted online at http://www.electioncenter.org/electionresources/legislation/2007/ManagersFloorAmendmentForHoltBill7-27-07.pdf ):

Counties without a voter-verified paper trail will have to adopt one for 2008, and even counties that use a paper-ballot marking device (such as the AutoMARK) will have to replace their equipment with yet-to-be-developed equipment that allows for hands-free visual inspection and casting of the paper ballot by 2012.

There is no longer a requirement for "archival quality paper", but reel-to-reel paper is only permissible through 2012 and the paper printout will still be the official ballot.

You will have to provide parallel voting systems in every polling place - along with deploying the new electronic equipment, you must offer pre-printed paper ballots to every voter. This also applies for early voting and vote centers.

There is no longer a requirement for state audit boards to take possession of the ballots, but the state would still be appointing an outside auditor to conduct a pre-certification hand audit of up to 10 percent of precincts. Optical ballot scanners would still be banned from use in any recount.

The bill acknowledges that the cost would be upwards of $1 billion - but makes no promise that funds will ever be provided.

All of the intentionally vaguely worded requirements of the bill are still enforceable by private action in federal court.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments

[Roch101]

Gilbert holds a committee position for the Election Center.

Questions:

Is Gilbert financially compensated by the Election Center?

Has Gilbert taken any trips or received any gifts paid for by the Election Center?

[DrFrankLives]

Gilbert should resign.

[DrFrankLives]

Why is the head of the Department of Elections in Guilford County using his official title and email to lobby against legislation on behalf of a private group?

[Bubba]

Tell us, Ed:

After reading Gilbert's testimony, do you still stand by what you wrote: "Our elected officials are way behind the curve on this one. Unfortunately, they were steered wrong by their own expert...."?

[Ed Cone]

I was familiar with the substance of Gilbert's testimony before I wrote the post.

The perfect is the enemy of the good. This bill isn't perfect, but it's better than the status quo Gilbert's been defending for far too long.

More here.

[Bubba]

If Gilbert is right when he said this:

"A paper mandate carries with it many subtle and potent disincentives to direct electronic voting. In doing so, it harms accessibility ... dramatically complicates early voting and voting centers …. And, most importantly, undermines the development of alternatives compatible with the broader goals of election reform."

....then the bill needs to be changed.

[NCVoter]

The federal legislation is a version of NC's law which would extend protection to all 50 states.

Gilbert objects to paper, always has and continues.

The election center is funded by voting machine companies.

Disabled accessibility groups have been involved in the writing of this federal law. But Gilbert has been at odds with the disabled before, when he ignored Dottie Neely, social worker for the blind in Guilford County, who opposed the touchscreens. Neely urged that Guilford instead get optical scanners and the electronic ballot marking devices that she found easier to use, and that gave her a real paper ballot.

[NCVoter]

Looks like more than votes are disappearing.

This is the story, the link to the quick guide Gilbert used for talking points - has mysteriously disappeared.

http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/44889-1.html

This is the only info I can find at this point.

http://www.eac.gov/News/press/docs/08-15-07-eac-issues-voting-system-certification-guide/?searchterm=Quick%20Start%20Management%20Guide%20for%20Voting%20System%20Certification

So, the digital record is gone, is there a paper backup for Gilbert's "quick guide"?

[PennsylvaniaVoter]

It is a shame that a group of our public officials is working so hard to make their own jobs easier (by not having to change voting systems if HR 811 fails) at the expense of our democracy.

[DrFrankLives]

We have voter verified paper in Wake County, and we have a hugely successful early voting program. Gilbert is full of it.

[NCVoter]

Gilbert is crying crocadile tears about disabiled accessibility. Ask Dottie Neely, Social Worker for the Blind, who is blind herself, and who spoke to Guilford County Commissioners asking them to oppose touch-screens and support the optical scan with electronic ballot marking devices:

"Gilbert staunchly defended the accuracy and reliability of touch screen voting machines and questioned the paper backup requirement. One solution for HAVA compliance submitted by Gilbert involves replacing all of the county's machines with newer models that record votes on a paper reel. The cost of the overhaul might run as high as $9 million in Gilbert's estimation.

Neely expressed concerns over the reliability of the reel machines and the confidentiality of votes recorded in sequential order on the paper record. She has used a variety of machines aimed at providing access for the disabled and settled on the Automark machine as the user-friendliest model. Unlike Gilbert' preferred model, the Automark relies on the old technology of optical scan ballots."

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6075

[David Allen]

Gilbert has a good reputation with both parties for fairness, but on the issue of e-voting he comes unglued.

After he failed to stop the NC Joint Select Committee on e-Voting from approving a bill with STRICT requirements on vendors and a ban on paperless voting, he walked up to me and accused me of claiming things that I knew to be "absolutely untrue" (in my case, this would be that paperless voting was unreliable and that the software/hardware security was hopelessly compromised).

I stand by my views now, as then.

I have serious problems with a public official using his office to work AGAINST the public good, especially in trying to reverse NC's law which was passed with UNANIMOUS support in the NCGA.

Gilbert and the three members of the Guilford BoE have absolute faith in paperless voting. I haven't seen such misplaced bravado since the Titanic.