Election Security: Protecting Our Votes
On January 25, 2020, at the Kingston Library, the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region hosted an informational session with a panel of experts, who explained how the election process is carried out and ensured for accuracy.
The panel included: Ashley Dittus, Commissioner, Ulster County Board of Elections; Mark Lindeman, Director of Science and Technology Policy at Verified Voting; Douglas Kellner, Co-chair, NYS Board of Elections; and John Quigley, Deputy Commissioner, Ulster County Board of Elections.
The event was well attended. We learned about how voting equipment is set up; what sort of security there is for the election machines themselves; how the ballots are kept in order to ensure they are not tampered with; what type of encryption protection is in place to protect against online hackers, etc.
After the presentations by the four panelists, questions were posed by audience members. The video is an hour and forty-two minutes long. Q&A’s start at the thirty-seven minute marker. Click on the image to view the video.
Campaign Finance Reform
League Members Jim and Jean McGarry and Dare Thompson (LWVNY President), attend Announcement of “A Local Law Regarding Campaign Finance Reform in Ulster County.”
Ulster County Charter Revision
“The Ulster County Charter Commission was authorized by the County Legislature in Resolution #247 on August 12, 2004 in an objective and nonpartisan manner to prepare studies of alternative structures and processes to identify best practices for potential adoption by Ulster County.”
The Commission has completed its mission and the draft approved by the County Legislature was submitted to, and approved by, the voters at the general election held November 7, 2006.
In the summer of 2009 we formed an Advocacy Committee which includes among our purposes keeping an eye on whether and to what extent Ulster County faithfully observes the spirit and letter of the Charter provisions. From time to time, we reported our findings in our newsletter, the Commentator.
Pursuant to the Charter’s requirements, a Revision Commission was formed in the Fall 2011 to review the first 5 years of Charter experience and make such recommendations for amendments it deemed appropriate.
How Does The League Select Issues for Emphasis?
In League, Program means the issues that we choose for concerted study, education and action at local, state and national levels. Program can include both education and action.
The Program Planning process is part of what makes the League a grassroots organization; each League member has the opportunity to influence the selection of issues where the local, state, and national League will focus time, talent and money.
Every two years, members of local Leagues engage in Program Planning. Based on the results of this, the Board of Directors makes recommendations to the biennial convention delegates about the program to be adopted for the coming two year period.
