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Overview
New York’s Election Reform and Modernization Act (ERMA) mandates abandonment of our current voting system and replacement with an electronic vote-counting system that violates the state’s constitutional protections. Concerned citizens, legislators, election officials and groups, NY State counties, cities, and towns are joining together across party lines to advocate for continued use of secure, transparent, and cost effective lever voting machines — a system that inspires confidence in its integrity.
Over 20 counties have urged the State to repeal ERMA.
The State has taken no action to repeal.
What can you do about it?
Join us.
The Election Transparency Coalition is currently preparing to take the State to court to have ERMA declared unconstitutional. Volunteers and funds are needed NOW.
Watch the video.
Excerpts of a lively panel discussion featuring ETC co-founder counsel Andrea Novick, New York State Election Commissioner Douglas Kellner, and author Mark Crispin Miller illustrate the constitutional basis for our lawsuit. See our litigation page for more detail.
About the Video
Using the words of New York’s highest court and State Election Commissioner Kellner, who currently defends the new state law computerizing our elections, this video demonstrates how NY’s new election law will violate the inalienable right to self-government. If NY’s new electoral system is not held to the constitutional standards of this State then voting from here on out will be nothing more than “a useless formality.”
The video was filmed at perhaps the only public forum where both sides of the issue were presented. Following the forum, the host organization, VID, passed a resolution (view .pdf) supporting continued use of lever voting systems.
How You Can Help
You can help us gather the resources to mount this crucial constitutional case: Click here to donate. To volunteer, contact us. Volunteers need not be in the state of NY.
County Support
Why advocate to keep New York’s lever system?
By 1926, every New York county had implemented lever machines for voting. New Yorkers had had enough of local Boss Tweeds running our towns and counties. Both Republicans and Democrats, even in New York City, were convinced that the new lever machines had curbed the election fraud running rampant in the paper ballot system. New York State now had secure, transparent elections that voters could trust.
New Yorkers have confidence in lever machines.
NY’s lever system is still working, secure, affordable, transparent, and when coupled with a ballot marking device in each polling place, complies with federal law.
However, there’s now a state law that will force counties to spend millions every year for a software based system that eviscerates New York State’s constitutional provisions for transparent elections and by its nature is vulnerable to errors and manipulation.
To stop this change, the law must be repealed or challenged in court.
Local governments — cities, towns, counties — are advocating to keep our lever voting system by passing resolutions requesting that the NYS legislature take action. Community organizations are joining in as well. And the list grows daily.
This site exists to document the widespread and growing support for the lever voting system and to provide resources for counties, cities, towns, as well as organizations and individuals that want to add their voice to this effort.
