Progressive Democrat Issue 109: PAPER TRAIL FOR ELECTIONS

Last year MoveOn.org put on one of the biggest GOTV pushes, quite possibly playing a major role in our big wins in November. They have become one of the mainstays of the progressive movement (though I did witness how they can seriously overwork their people).

Now MoveOn.org is taking on voting machines, pushing to ensure a paper trail. Here is their latest campaign:

Too many voters are still stuck with paperless electronic voting machines—machines that are vulnerable to tampering and malfunction.

A new bill in Congress would ban paperless voting. It's got enough support to pass, but time is short. This week, the Democratic leadership is deciding what Congress will take up next. If they don't put voting reform on the agenda, there simply won't be time to make the change by the 2008 presidential election.

Sign this petition to ask the Democratic leaders in Congress to ban paperless voting before it's too late: "Congress must ban paperless voting in time for the 2008 election. As voters, we support Rep. Rush Holt's paper ballots bill."

Clicking here will add your name to the petition.

This November, a Democrat in Florida lost a close House race when 18,000 votes went missing from paperless voting machines.1 Never again.
This bill is the strongest paper ballot legislation ever introduced in Congress. It's supported by Common Cause, People For the American Way, the Brennan Center for Justice, VerifiedVoting.org, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, VoteTrust USA, and local election integrity groups across the country.2 Newspapers like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Roll Call have all editorialized in support of the bill.3

Long-time voting reform advocate Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) is the sponsor of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007, and it's co-sponsored by close to 200 other representatives from both parties.4

The Holt bill requires a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote in the country as well as these key reforms:

* Make the paper ballot the ballot of record in the event of any recount or audit
* Guarantee the vote count is accurate by auditing electronic tallies with a hand count of paper ballots in a random sampling of precincts
* Eliminate flimsy thermal paper tape rolls and replace them with durable paper ballots
* Require every voting place to offer voters emergency paper ballots immediately if voting machines break down
* Make elections more transparent by requiring public disclosure of voting system software
* Prohibit wireless communication devices in voting systems
* Require documentation of a secure chain of custody for voting systems and software
* Prohibit conflicts of interest involving vendors and testing labs
* Enhance the accessibility of elections for voters with disabilities2

Our nation can't afford another election with unreliable paperless voting. And now's our chance to secure our vote.

Sign this petition to ask the Democratic leaders in Congress to ban paperless voting before it's too late. The full text of the petition is: "Congress must ban paperless voting in time for the 2008 election. As voters, we support Rep. Rush Holt's paper ballots bill." ">Clicking here will add your name to the petition.

Thank you for all you do.

–Noah, Karin, Ilyse, Tanya and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, February 14th, 2007

P.S. For several years, MoveOn members have been lobbying Congress and the states for legislation like Rep. Holt's. Along with our friends in the election integrity movement, we've helped require paper voting in 27 states. Last year, we helped an earlier version of Rep. Holt's bill gain support from a majority of Congress—only a few Republican leaders prevented the bill from passing.

When the media ignored Florida's voting machine meltdown this November, MoveOn members raised money to run a full-page New York Times ad. The ad pictured a road sign reading "Welcome to Florida: Where only some votes count." Now, Florida's governor is replacing the state's paperless machines with paper ballots. Let's get Congress to do the same nationwide.

Sources:

1. "Senator wants District 13 answers," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, February 8, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2369&id=9873-5690110-oBwXSJ&t=5

2. "Holt Reintroduces Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act," VoteTrust USA, February 6, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2370&id=&id=9873-5690110-oBwXSJ&t=6

3. "An Important Election Safeguard," New York Times, June 10, 2005
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=5879

"A Vote We Can Believe In," Washington Post, October 10, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2371&id=9873-5690110-oBwXSJ&t=7

"A Warning in Florida," Roll Call, December 6, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2368&id=9873-5690110-oBwXSJ&t=8

4. "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007," Library of Congress, February 5, 2007
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00811:@@@P

You can find out more about this bill here.

I do want to note that a.) the Holt Bill will NOT guarantee a fair election, but it WILL make verification possible; and b.) there are many other issues to be dealt with that make our elections less than democratic, like voter intimidation, fewer voting machines delivered to minority districts, etc. But, the Holt bill is something of a BARE MINIMUM that we need to push for. Right now we don't even have that.

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