California Approves Sequoia Voting Systems' VeriVote Voter Verifiable Paper Trail System for Electronic Voting.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- System That Was Successfully Used by the State of Nevada for the 2004 Presidential Election is the First to Achieve Certification in California

Sequoia Voting Systems became the first electronic voting systems provider in the country to obtain California state certification for an electronic voting machine that provides an accessible voter verifiable paper audit trail.

The AVC Edge and VeriVote(R) printer from Sequoia was first used in the 2004 statewide primary and presidential elections throughout the State of Nevada. Nevada provided electronic voting equipment with VeriVote printers in every polling place in the state and led the nation with the lowest residual vote rate in the country (.237%).

"Last year, Sequoia and the State of Nevada proved to the country that electronic voting with a voter verifiable paper trail was possible," said Sequoia President Tracey Graham. "The Nevada model demonstrates that you can have all of the accuracy, accessibility and ease of use offered by electronic voting with the added level of voter confidence that comes with having a duplicate paper copy of every ballot in case they are needed for recounts and audits."

Sequoia is California's largest provider of touch screen voting equipment and had more electronic voting machines in use throughout the nation on November 2, 2004 than any other company.

With the certification of the Sequoia AVC Edge with VeriVote printers, California election officials are one step closer to being able to comply with federal and state election reform laws that require any newly acquired voting equipment to be accessible for voters with disabilities while simultaneously providing a voter verifiable paper record of every vote cast on electronic voting equipment.