King County Council decided to delay their decision on forced mail voting for two weeks. Also, all of the Republican amendments to Sims' vote by mail ordinances will now be considered. (We don't yet know the text of those amendments.) The council asked the Elections Office to consider the public's concerns and report back. The council also asked the Executive's representatives to weigh in on the amendments. Phillips decided that there will be no opportunity for public comment at that time, which seems weird.

I really enjoyed everyone's testimony. We all spoke against forced mail voting. Though the primary theme was the reduction in election integrity, everyone had their own take. I got to meet Marge and Matthew. (I'm sorry if I didn't match other people to their online nyms.)

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I'll start by saying that I'm very dismayed that the Republicans weren't consulted about forced mail voting. Nor were they allowed to offer amendments before today. First, I find it sickening in Washington DC and I find it sickening here in King County. (Our winner takes all system sucks.) Second, I can't believe that the minority party wouldn't be involved in changing our election system. A major part of our United States Constitution is about protecting minority rights. Not doing so is fundamentally undemocratic. So if our opposition somehow opened up the discussion to include Republican council members, it was well worthwhile. (And, yes, I expect the same courtesy in return.)

My testimony was pretty straightforward. Both the secret ballot and public vote count, as enshrined in our Washington State constitution, are the cornerstones of our democracy. Forced mail voting takes away the secret ballot. Using proprietary electronic voting and counting systems takes away our public vote count (aka secret vote count). So what does that leave? A democracy? I said I didn't think so. I wrapped up by saying that using a voter correctable precinct based optical scanner is currently the best way to vote.

During the Q&A, I got to mention that Diebold touchscreen voting systems don't satisfy HAVA requirements for accessibility (the supposed reason we're buying them in the first place) or reliability. In fact, John Gideon of Voters Unite has filed a HAVA complaint here in Washington State, so show him some love.

Most all of us received questions from the council. In a lot of ways, I think that kind of give and take is very productive. Both Ferguson and Patterson asked many of us if our opposition to forced mail voting also means that we oppose absentee voting.

I didn't really do a good job answering. I'm a computer guy, have done a lot of design, including some security stuff. I tried to convey that election systems have to be considered in the whole, not in parts. Because you have to balance many competing concerns. Just like computer security. So it isn't an either-or choice.

So, for the record, I do not oppose absentee balloting. I, however, do oppose the inappropriate promotion of absentee voting over poll site voting, solidly oppose forced mail voting, think our no-excuses absentee balloting is probably a bad idea, and strongly believe that absentee balloting is a necessary option for many voters.

I have no idea at this time what an appropriate percentage of absentee voting is. There are members of our group that think our hybrid system is great, because it provides a form of cross checking. And regardless of the percentages, there are measures we should immediately take to increase election integrity. Such as adding a "none of the above" option to each race, which would significantly reduce both under- and over-votes.

After we all gave our testimony, some people from the Election Office were called up to address our concerns: an accountant, the assistant director, and the GIS guy. Election integrity experts all, I'm sure. They did say something about new technology to track our votes through the mail. (If it'd address my concerns about the lose of the secret ballot, then I'm all on board.)

The assistant director also stated our new Diebold touchscreen voting systems are super terrific, with new super software (not the nasty version other states are using), and it all works super great. Which would actually be great, accept for two small details. Diebold gear sucks. And it's technically impossible to create an electronic voting system that preserves the secret ballot and yet can be audited (validated). (If someone knows better, please clue me in.)

I guess I'm a little bit grumpy that our councilmembers rely on the Elections Office for most all their information. I expect that if they're going to monkey with our elections, that they should know stuff firsthand. Under no circumstances should they solely rely on the officials. Especially since the official's agenda is to ensure "smooth" elections. At the expense of election integrity, of course. And while we' re on the topic, I'd include relying on the vendor-funded Election Center too.

[Updated Monday morning by Jason.]