The good-government group Common Cause NY is discouraging New York counties from buying a touch screen voting machine that would allow voters to mark their ballot electronically instead of the traditional paper ballots.
Last week, the state Board of Elections voted to certify the machine, known as ExpressVote XL.
Several county elections commissioners have already stated they have no interest in purchasing the machines, including New York City and Ulster, Onondaga and Chautauqua counties.
“Common Cause/NY applauds New York City, Ulster, Onondaga and Chautauqua counties for prioritizing tax dollars and election security over below standard, expensive machines,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY, in a statement Thursday. “We encourage all counties to follow their excellent example by not purchasing the ExpressVote XL. Paper ballots marked by the voter, which New York currently uses, are the election security gold standard, and it’s entirely unnecessary to fix a problem that doesn’t exist especially ahead of the 2024 presidential election year when election security remains a fraught topic. Lawmakers must pass legislation that bans hybrid machines like the ExpressVote XL going forward.”
The Let NY Vote coalition and national groups wrote two letters to the the state Board of Elections also demanding they reject the certification of the ExpressVote XL.
Cybersecurity election experts have panned the touch-screen technology, and some states that had switched to touch screen have now switched back to voter-marked paper ballots.
Common Cause is also concerned that the ExpressVote XL uses Windows 10, which may become less secure as Microsoft is planning to end software updates for the operating system in two years.
Jennifer Wilson, the deputy director of public information for the New York State Board of Elections, told Capital Tonight last week the ExpressVote XL does allow voters to review their selections and verify that their votes were recorded accurately before submitting their ballots.
