Thread by @MarilynRMarks1

1/ Open Letter to incoming GA SOS @VoteBradRaff and SAFE Commission:
Please explain how the new barcode voting system you want is meant to work and to be fair to all voters. You said that the system must produce results that can be recounted and audited. That's good. ✅

2/ The ballots must be a true record of how the voter voted and the votes he/she cast in order to recount or audit them. ✅ If I'm a GA voter, your favored system takes my touchscreen votes and turns them into barcodes that I can't read. ⁉️❓

3/ I'm supposed to cast my official vote as a barcode that I can't read, and I don't know who I'm voting for?⁉️ You say, "Don't worry, the machine also prints out a human readable text of the candidate name that links to the number coded in the barcode. It looks like this."

4/ YOU: "Then you review the text on the card to verify that everything you voted for is printed on the card accurately before you put it in the scanner. That is how the ballots are 'voter-verified' so that the cards can be trusted in a recount or audit."

5/ So, I must remember the 16 races that were on my ballot, who I voted for, and what all the 11 ballot questions were so that my ballot is "verified" and is qualified for recounting or audit? 😡 What?? I don't have a photographic memory!

6/ And I'm supposed to stand at the voting machine with a line of voters behind me, waiting while I try to remember whether there were 5 Const. Amendments or 6? Or whether there was another county commissioner race not printed on my card?

7/ You: "But voters must verify their cards so that officials can be sure that the machines and barcodes have not been hacked or mis-programmed. Ballot cards must be "voter-verified" for the system to be reliable and trustworthy."

8/ But I can't do that! My memory is not perfect. I can't memorize my long ballot. I will fail this brainteaser test on Election Day standing at the touchscreen machine. I am going to be embarrassed there. I will have to admit that I can't do what is required of me. 😕😩

9/ What do I do then? Do I get out of line and tell the manager that I can't pass the test and verify my ballot? Do I cast it in a special ballot box for voters who cannot verify their ballots? What happens to those unverified ballots in a recount or audit? Does my ballot count?

10/ Why are you making it the voters' job to test the machines to see if they are working right and haven't been mis-programmed? Why must I have a perfect memory to cast an accountable ballot? This is an unfair burden on the voter! As bad as a literacy test!

11/ It is the voter's job to show his ID, and mark his ballot, and cast it in a secure box. That's all!! Why are you making this so hard? How many people will be able to pass the test? What happens to the rest of us?

12/ How will you know whether voters actually "verify" their ballots as required? What if most people cannot or do not verify the cards? That is what research shows happens in real elections with these cards. People don't even try to verify.

13/ So the election becomes un-auditable. Meaningful recounts cannot be conducted. The electronic ballots will be counted even with faulty programming because no one can know what the voter intended. Hey, that sounds just like the system we have now! But more $$ for the vendor!😡

14/ Why do you want to spend $130+ million for complex, electronic voting system that most voters cannot successfully use, when you can buy the "gold standard" of hand marked paper ballots for $30 million with far less ongoing maintenance? 💸💸💸

15/ If I can't pass the test of memorizing and verifying my ballot to test the machine, must I vote by mail, with all its problems and unfair rejections? Why do you think this is a fair voting system? Can each of you memorize your ballots? Would you do it in public to prove it?

16/ Don't call this a "voter-verified paper trail." It's not---not for normal voters like me. It's only "voter verified" IF the voter can memorize their ballot and then actually reviews it. Only then can you audit those ballots. What do you do with the rest of the ballots?

17/ SAFE Commission and @VoteBradRaff, it's time that you tell us what you are trying to do here by spending huge $$ on complex un-auditable technology, when a superior simple solution is available for a fraction of the price.

18/ Please re-read the information we have sent you with the science and evidence that barcode balloting is no improvement on the electronic voting system GA has now. conta.cc/2RR2TDb

19/ There's no rush to send General Assembly recommendations for new legislation. The "gold standard"--hand marked paper ballots and optical scans is already authorized in GA law. Yes, post election audit language is needed promptly, but considerably more study is required.

20/ Please slow down, and consider what the VOTERS (not the vendors) want and need, and make an informed decision after you spend considerable time hearing from experts in voting systems, audits, cybersecurity, election admin., and IT management.

21/ There is no rush---GA has an adequate Diebold system for hand marked paper ballots scanned by optical scanners. It can be used for a few years while a transition to a more modern scanning system is made. In the meantime adopt simple post-election audits of the paper ballots.

22/ Also, please reorganize your format to stop the false claims and deceitful arguments and presentations that are being made by staff and Cathy Cox. It's really unacceptable for this important public policy decision. We will force accountability on this process and decision.

23/ Please use your upcoming meetings to reorganize your efforts to plan for a more meaningful evaluation of Georgia's voting system needs rather than rushing to the legislature with ill-considered anti-democratic schemes to keep a black box voting system.

24/ Voters have suffered too long with unreliable electronic voting. Don't repeat all the same mistakes by recommending touchscreen barcode machines.

Thanks for reading and considering the voters' needs.