In case you missed it, there was some good news about the bill recently. It made it out of committee and is headed to the floor for a vote. Finally.
It requires, among other things:
• A durable voter-verified paper ballot must be used or produced for every vote cast
• Accessible verification of the paper ballot must be provided
• All paper-based systems (including thermal reel-to-reel systems and accessible systems that used or produced a paper ballot) used in 2006 can be used until 2010; only systems that used no paper ballots at all must be replaced or upgraded by November 2008.
• $1 billion in funding is authorized for system replacement and upgrading
• Paper ballot is vote of record in all recounts and audits, as a check on electronic tallies
• Routine random audits by hand count in 3% of the precincts in all Federal elections, and 5% or 10% in very close races (but races decided by 80% or more need not be audited)
• $100 million each fiscal year is authorized to fund the audits
• Ban on the use of wireless devices and uncertified or undisclosed software
• Arms-length relationship between test labs and vendors is established, through EAC intermediary which receives test fees, appoints test labs, and publishes test results
You should contact your Representative and urge him/her to vote for this bill, H.R. 811, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act.
UPDATE: I just wrote Rep. Jimmy Duncan, and thought to check if he was already one of the 216 cosponsors of the bill. I don't see his name on the list. Rep. Zach Wamp is a cosponsor, as are Reps. Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper, Lincoln Davis, Bart Gordon, and John Tanner. That leaves Reps. Duncan, David Davis, and Marsha Blackburn as the only Tennessee Representatives who haven't signed on as cosponsors.
Florda's Wexler and Gov. Crist are in front of this plan, ...
15 counties will be required to make the switch to paper ballot counted by optical scanners. Six and a half years after the national embarrassment of the butterfly ballot and three years after I first began my legal challenges to the paperless touch screens, all Florida voters will have a paper ballot. Each and every Floridian will now know with certainty that their vote is counted, and if necessary recounted, with a paper trail as required by Florida law
The Governor's recommendation to replace the touch-screen voting machines (DREs) used in Palm Beach and Broward Counties as well as 13 other Florida counties with optical scanner machines that use verifiable paper ballots is a complete reversal of the policies of Jeb Bush and his cronies, who dogmatically opposed even the most reasonable proposals at every turn. This important change is an unequivocal victory for those of us who have been fighting for years to bring election integrity and a paper trail to Florida.
Submitted by lholmstrom on Wed, 2007/05/23 - 5:56pm.
TruVote.com
Florida jumped the gun on switching to optically scanned ballots. Updates are available to electronic voting machines to create voter verified paper ballots.
The Luddism involved in a group of people sure that it's easy to get into an electronic system, manipulate significant amounts of data, remove evidence of entry or software manipulation, and not leave an obvious access path...
Hooray!
Florda's Wexler and Gov. Crist are in front of this plan, ...
15 counties will be required to make the switch to paper ballot counted by optical scanners. Six and a half years after the national embarrassment of the butterfly ballot and three years after I first began my legal challenges to the paperless touch screens, all Florida voters will have a paper ballot. Each and every Floridian will now know with certainty that their vote is counted, and if necessary recounted, with a paper trail as required by Florida law
The Governor's recommendation to replace the touch-screen voting machines (DREs) used in Palm Beach and Broward Counties as well as 13 other Florida counties with optical scanner machines that use verifiable paper ballots is a complete reversal of the policies of Jeb Bush and his cronies, who dogmatically opposed even the most reasonable proposals at every turn. This important change is an unequivocal victory for those of us who have been fighting for years to bring election integrity and a paper trail to Florida.
TruVote.com
Florida jumped the gun on switching to optically scanned ballots. Updates are available to electronic voting machines to create voter verified paper ballots.
The Luddism involved in a group of people sure that it's easy to get into an electronic system, manipulate significant amounts of data, remove evidence of entry or software manipulation, and not leave an obvious access path...
But switching slips of paper? That's unpossible!
After writing to Jimmy Duncan, I convinced my neighbor to do the same and I have sent a link to this thread in emails to eleven other friends.
I have a feeling that Mr. Duncan will "do the right thing" without our encouragement, but a reminder couldn't hurt.
Unless you're one of those folks who indiscriminately forwards all kinds of crap to friends, I would suggest sending this link to a few.
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