R-07-07
RESOLUTION NO. R-07-07
REQUEST GOVERNOR TO DELAY IlVIPLElVIENTATION OF SB 840 AND HB 2707
'VVI-IEFt..EAS~ in 2002 the Help America Vote Act mandated that all lever voting
machines be replaced V\t'ith anyone of three voting machines approved by the State Board of
Elections;
'VVI-IE:REAS, the City of Fairfax selected the same machine as dozens of other
localities in the CommoTIV'\I"ealth;
'VVHER.EAS" the City of Fairfax replaced all of its .oRE voting machines VV'ith nevv
machines at great cost" trained the City" s elections personnel,. and spent many hours
acclimating its voters to the ne"V\T machines;
VVIIEREAS, a Bill embodying SB 840 and HB 2707 is before the Oovemor, and said
Bill '\..V"cH.11d require the City of Fairfax to SV\.Titch to an optical scan voting machine vvhen
replacing individual machines as they fail, and said Bill requires nn implementation date of
July I, 2007;
V\l'HEREAS, in the opinion of the City Electoral Board, Federal Electoral Lavv could
possibly prohibit the City from using tvv-o types of machines simultaneously, since one type
vvould supply a "paper trail" and one type vv-ould not. Thus the effect of the Bill could require
replacing all voting machines in the City at local expense upon the failure of a single current
machine;
"VVHEFt.EAS, said Bill provides no funding for its mandated implementation;
'VVHEREAS, the City Electoral Board chose the current machines and believes them
to be more reliable than the machines the City vvould be forced to purchase by said Bill;
""HERE-AS, repeated replacement of voting machines in such a short period of time
undermines public confidence in the electoral process and jeopardizes the proficiency of
elections officials;
'VVHEREAS, the Virginia Electoral Board Association (VEBA), during its early
:M:arch convention, voted unanimously to petition the Govemor to stay the aforesaid Bill;
NOVV TIIEREFORE, I, Robert F. Lederer, :M:ayor of the City of Fairfax, Virginia,
and on behalf of the City of Fairfax Council this 13th day of :M:arch 2007, hereby respectfully
requests that the Govemor delay implementation of aforesaid Bill to July 1, 2008 to allovv
"me foe r~hee con.;"oe..'on onhe 8;U', mm'fi~::=:;\.k~~
On behalf of the Council
of the City of Fairfax, Virginia
----
ATTEST:
~~~~
:M: lanie Burrell City Clerk
Vote
Councilvvoman Cross
Cou.ncilman Greenfield
Councilvvoman Lyon
Councilman. Rasmussen
Councilman Silverthome
Councilvv-oman ~inter
Aye
Absent
Aye
Aye
Absent
Aye