Today, the Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder?s Office filed a Request for Reconsideration with the Secretary of State regarding the decertification of Jefferson County?s voting equipment.  This filing echoes similar appeals filed by Mesa County and the voting system vendor, Election Systems and Software, Inc. (ES&S).

?Since we were prohibited from participating in the testing process, we are still only getting small glimpses into what that looked like, however, under state law, we have to proceed with this appeal with what limited information we have been allowed to access so far,? said County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson.

The appeal contends that the inability of the State?s testing board to complete testing due to inexperience on the part of its members and a breakdown of communication with the voting system manufacturer does not justify a decision to decertify ballot counting equipment.  It has since been reported that the state successfully completed testing on this equipment.

In addition, the appeal questions claims by the Department of State that a magnet can disable the electronic voting equipment.  Despite repeated efforts to recreate these tests, Jefferson County elections officials have been unable to duplicate the reported findings of the testing board.

Jefferson County has used the ES&S equipment since 2002.  Public pre-election tests and post-election audits are conducted on the equipment for each election.  The County also follows detailed procedures regarding the use and security of the voting equipment to ensure accuracy, transparency and verifiability. 

The State?s testing did not take any of any of these processes and procedures into account.

Anderson stressed the urgency of this situation and the impact it will have on Jefferson County voters by saying, ?With less than six months before we are to have Primary Election ballots in-hand, the State has told us to throw out our equipment and start over from scratch.  That is not an option at this point, and I feel it would be irresponsible and may result in the disenfranchisement of Jefferson County?s voters to do so.?

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