SENATE ANNOUNCES $25 MILLION PLAN TO IMPROVE VOTING TECHNOLOGY

Friday, March 9, 2001

Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno today announced that the Senate will recommend that $25 million be included in the state budget to establish a matching grant program to help local governments improve voting technology.

"People were voting for George Bush for President on the same machines that were being used to elect Dwight Eisenhower," Senator Bruno said. "The machines are old, outdated and unreliable. This investment is a pilot program that could be matched by federal funds to bring new voting technologies to communities in New York State."

"The Senate Task Force on Voter Participation has done an extensive amount of work looking into the problems with our election process," Senator Nicholas Spano (R-C, Westchester), Chairman of the Task Force, said. "Fixing and maintaining voting machines is the primary problem cited by the local officials on the front lines on election day."

"The $25 million the Senate is proposing could be combined with federal funds for new voting technology," Senator Serphin Maltese (R-C, Queens), Chairman of the Senate Elections Committee said. "In this day and age people shouldn't be punching holes in cards or relying on outdated voting machines to decide who will represent them in government. Congress is considering several proposals to give the states additional money that would complement the Senate program."

The Senate Task Force has met with many local elections officials, including local elections officials from Broome, Tioga and Chenango counties yesterday in Binghamton. The Task Force event included a demonstration of new voting technologies. The panel has held public hearings in New York and Albany. The next Task Force public hearing will be March 22, 2001 in Syracuse.

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