My two comments are on the ballot and machinery used in this past election. First, there is a lack of any voter verifiable check at the ballot scanner. The machine scans the ballot and accepts a correctly marked ballot, however, it should display what was scanned and allow the voter to accept or reject the scanned results. Currently it is a matter of trust that the ballot was properly scanned and individual races correctly counted.

Second is the convoluted wording and confusing terminology used in County Proposition 1. “Shall there be approved in the County of Erie, Local Law Intro. No. 3 of 2008, entitled A LOCAL LAW, entitled Tax Payer Protection Law, amending Article II, Section 202, known as, the Powers and Duties of the County Legislature and Section 2612 of Article XVIII known as, certain resolutions of County Legislature subject to executive veto.” This amendment should have been written in plain English!

Furthermore, the Erie County Board of Elections placed an abstract of this ballot proposition on its Web site, which along with what was presented on the ballot, is heterogeneous and discordant with the average voter’s echelon of nouns.

Paul Baczkowski

Orchard Park