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~~Voter-verified Paper Ballots~~
There is a huge problem going on right now with election tampering. After Florida, 2000, the Congress rushed through a bill to replace out-dated punch-card balloting with electronic balloting. There are many problems with this, including votes cannot be recounted or verified by voters, there is no voter-verified paper ballot, software is shoddy and does not function properly, the owners of the voting machines are the ones who are tabulating votes instead of elected state officials, rigging can never be discovered and proven, and courts are blocking inquiries into how these machines run, citing "proprietary software" and such things to prevent a true accounting of the votes.
This is something that must concern all American citizens no matter what your political beliefs are. The very foundation of our country is at stake.
Please act now. There is very little time left to influence the validity of the elections of 2004.
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This letter is a call to action. In just 10 short minutes, you can help immensely. Instructions are below.
If you want to read more about it, here is an excellent, but long, article that was published in a recent UK newspaper. Even if you just read the opening paragraphs about what the State of Georgia discovered using these machines in the elections of 2002, you will be completely shocked. Here is the link:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1013-01.htm
Right now, there are two bills pending in Congress that would require all electronic voting machines to have a voter-verified paper receipt, random surprise recounts, and exit polling. If these bills do not pass and pass quickly, the results of the elections of 2004 will be greatly in error, whether it be fraud or not, and the country will be in even bigger trouble than it is now.
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(The first two steps will take a total of 10 minutes of your time.)
1) Write to and call your Congressman/woman and your Senators. (see below)
2) Sign the petitions. (see below)
3) Pass this information on to everyone you know.
WHERE TO CALL: 800-839-5276 (the Capitol switchboard)
H.R. 2239 would require all voting systems to produce a voter-verified paper receipt for use in manual audits, ban the use of undisclosed software and wireless communications devices in voting systems, accelerate the requirement for electronic voting systems for voters with disabilities, and require that a sample of voting jurisdictions undergo mandatory surprise recounts. H.R. 2239 is pending action in the House Administration Committee.
YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2754
YOUR SENATORS
WHERE TO CALL: 800-839-5276 (the Capitol switchboard)
[There is an adapted letter below that you can use for your Senators. Just highlight it, copy and paste it into your Senators' web forms.]
**You can find your Senators' web forms here. Just choose your state.
2) Sign the petitions.
**Support Legislation HR 2239 requiring Voter-Verified Paper Ballots for 2004 Elections
**Join Martin Luther King III, ActForChange, and over 48,000 voters to support the need for paper ballots.
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=14993
3) Pass this message along to everyone you know.
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http://www.verifiedvoting.org/
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/
Black Box Voting offers a free online edition of their detailed book.
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I am a constituent who cares strongly about ensuring security and trust in elections and I urge you to co-sponsor support a bill in the Senate that has been introduced by Senator Bob Graham called the Voter Confidence Act, S.1980.
As touchscreen voting (e-voting) technology is adopted across America, it's absolutely vital that these new systems meet basic standards of accountability and openness. I am particularly concerned that many systems do not use open source software and cannot provide a voter-verified paper ballot. Unless a paper ballot that can be immediately verified by the voter is required, there is great danger in creating a bill with gaping semantic loopholes that can be willfully misinterpreted to influence the outcome of elections. These paper ballots need to be verified by the voter, and retained for potential recounts; if not, I believe that this technology is too insecure for use in our elections.
The public should be allowed to review the software that runs these machines in order to confirm that they act in the way that the manufacturer claims. Right now, however, the leading technologies are not only proprietary, they are covered by trade secret claims. This kind of closed source, or "black box," software lacks any kind of independent quality assurance. In fact, a recent analysis of one company's software revealed gaping security holes that could be exploited by anyone from a technically proficient insider to an average voter with a few dollars worth of technology in his pocket. You can read the paper here:
This underscores how important open source software is for our elections. The Voter Verification Act would require voting machines to use publicly reviewed software.
The Voter Confidence Act should also mandate voter-verified paper ballots for all new e-voting machines, a prerequisite for accountability and accuracy. The 2000 presidential election was a painful lesson in the failings of current voting technology, but at least there was a back-up system that allowed a manual recount when evidence emerged that the regular voting process was flawed. Without a paper ballot, a compromised e-voting system could not provide even the cold comfort of Florida's manual recount.
I strongly urge you to co-sponsor the bill in the Senate that has been introduced by Senator Bob Graham called the Voter Confidence Act, S.1980, to ensure that all new e-voting machine purchases provide a voter-verified paper ballot and use publicly reviewed software. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
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