Progressive Democrat Issue 63: VIRGINIA FOCUS

From Democracy for Virginia:

Two bills which address the issue of requiring voting machines that provide voter-verified paper trails are currently pending in the Virginia General Assembly.
On Jan. 30, a subcommittee of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee voted 3-1 to delay consideration of the measure until the 2007 session. While the full committee could override that recommendation, that is considered unlikely.

Subcommittee chairman Sen. Jay O'Brien (R- 39th), Sen.Phillip Puckett (D-38th), and Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-26th) voted to put the bill off until next session. Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville 25th), cast the lone vote in favor of the bill.

Focus now has shifted to the companion bill in the House of Delegates, HB 1243, which was introduced by Rep. Tim Hugo (R-40th). Virginia Verified Voting, Virginians for Free and Fair Elections, The New Electoral Reform Alliance for Virginia, VerifiedVoting.org and VoteTrustUSA are all supporting the measures.

The General Assembly also is considering legislation to implement a study recommended by a legislative subcommittee late last year. The study would likely take place in 2007. Supporters of the current verified voting legislation say the study would only delay bringing verifiable integrity to the voting process , without generating any useful data.

While DFV has not formally endorsed the legislation, members are urged to learn about the issue and support the effort to improve election security and fairness.

Don’t forget to write the media about this issue.