Verfied Voting.org: Last Chance for a Fair Election
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FAIR ELECTIONS MIGHT BE POSSIBLE IN 2004, AFTER ALL
Our best, and possibly only, opportunity to require a voter-verifiable paper trail for electronic voting everywhere in the U.S. for the November 2004 election is "The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003." The House version (H.R. 2239) was introduced in May by Rep. Rush Holt. The Senate version (S. 1980) was introduced in December by Senator Bob Graham.
VerifiedVoting.org is in the midst of a campaign to contact every Senator as many times as possible to let them know how much we care about passing this bill. We have heard that the House bill may not move until the Senators are clear on which of the three voting bills (Clinton's S.1986, Boxer's S.2045, or Graham's S.1980) is gaining the most support.
It is important that GRAHAM's bill emerge as the obvious choice, or it is unlikely that we will have a paper trail by this election.
PLEASE take a moment to use the 1-800-839-5276 number and:
1) Call your Senator and ask their position on S. 1980. Tell them you support it, and ask them to co-sponsor.
2) Report the results of your calls to pass2239@verifiedvoting.org so they can update the data about the legislators.
Also: post this notice on any other blogs you go to.
If you need information on the voting issue or the bills go to http://www.verifiedvoting.org.
FAIR ELECTIONS MIGHT BE POSSIBLE IN 2004, AFTER ALL
Our best, and possibly only, opportunity to require a voter-verifiable paper trail for electronic voting everywhere in the U.S. for the November 2004 election is "The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003." The House version (H.R. 2239) was introduced in May by Rep. Rush Holt. The Senate version (S. 1980) was introduced in December by Senator Bob Graham.
VerifiedVoting.org is in the midst of a campaign to contact every Senator as many times as possible to let them know how much we care about passing this bill. We have heard that the House bill may not move until the Senators are clear on which of the three voting bills (Clinton's S.1986, Boxer's S.2045, or Graham's S.1980) is gaining the most support.
It is important that GRAHAM's bill emerge as the obvious choice, or it is unlikely that we will have a paper trail by this election.
PLEASE take a moment to use the 1-800-839-5276 number and:
1) Call your Senator and ask their position on S. 1980. Tell them you support it, and ask them to co-sponsor.
2) Report the results of your calls to pass2239@verifiedvoting.org so they can update the data about the legislators.
Also: post this notice on any other blogs you go to.
If you need information on the voting issue or the bills go to http://www.verifiedvoting.org.
Information for S.1980 Volunteers
Thank you VERY MUCH for offering to pitch in on this effort. It is crucial for Senators to co-sponsor Graham's bill, S.1980, as soon as possible. We have heard that the identical House bill (H.R.2239) may not move until the Senators are clear on which of the three voting bills (Clinton's S.1986, Boxer's S.2045, or Graham's S.1980) is gaining the most support. It is important that GRAHAM's bill emerge as the obvious choice, or it is unlikely that we will have a paper trail by this election.
This page provides instructions and resources to help you join in this effort. Please email us and let us know anything you find out about a Senator's position on this bill.
Click here for responses to questions the legislators have been asking.
What to do:
Telephone, email, or fax the office of each of your U.S. Senators. Time is limited, and the most productive method is the telephone. You can use this toll free number and ask for the Senator.
1-800-839-5276
Remember, we are courting them and we need the good will of every staff member.
What do to when you contact them:
* Ask Senators if they will co-sponsor Senator Robert Graham's bill, S.1980.
* Let both of them know you are strongly in favor of S.1980 (and its House companion H.R.2239) becoming a law as soon as possible. Make sure they understand that you do NOT support either Clinton's or Boxer's voting bill.
* If they need information, you can provide it yourself from the resources listed below. Or contact us and we will send them whatever they need.
* Send us reports with their position and anything else interesting they tell you. In the subject line, please say something like "S.1980 Report from [your state]" so we can identify it easily.
IMPORTANT when talking to Democrats: The Democratic National Committee has endorsed a resolution requiring a voter-verified paper trail on all election equipment. So be sure to mention that S.1980 is necessary to fulfill the need for a voter-verified paper trail endorsed by the party, since HAVA is not sufficient.
IMPORTANT when talking to Republicans: The Fairfax County Republican committee published a report on the 2003 election, calling it a failure and recommending all the measures required by S.1980.
Publicize this effort:
Cut and paste this text into your blog or bulletin board.
Eye-catching Flyers
Flyer for distribution. Download, print, and distribute this flyer to get information about the problem into the hands of people who aren't on the Internet. It's in color or black and white. You might want to print your Congress people's contact information on the back of the flyer.
Flyer for legislators. Download, print, and fax this one to legislators. Here's a color version.
Information to fax or to give as links:
When you talk to them, use your own words in your own way because it will be sincere, and it won't sound canned or scripted. They'll know the issue really matters to you. But if you need some help, or if they want to read some material on the issue, here are some things you can use.
Answers to FAQ: In this brief document, we have responses to some of the common objections and questions the legislators' staff have asked the volunteers. We suggest you read through this and keep a copy handy while you make your calls.
2-page introduction to the issue: Introduction-2-pages.pdf or Introduction-2-pages.htm
5-page introduction: Introduction-5-pages.pdf or Introduction-5-pages.htm
Brief, readable summary of the bill: HR2239_Summary.pdf or HR2239_Summary.htm
Disclosure of Software for Voting Systems. A discussion of the need for, and the advantages of, open software for voting machines.
S.1980 Text. The best link for the text of the bill. (If you copy/paste the link, you must include the last colon ":" in the link). This is a government website detailing the bill and co-sponsors.
