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Hello All,
Had an opportunity to write a 350 words or less
guest commentary for the Louisville Times, Lafayette News, Erie Review and
Superior Observer with a large circulation covering most of eastern Boulder
County. If you deem this of any value, feel free to send it or something
similar to your favorite print media.
Dick Mueser
----- Original Message -----
From: Possibilities
Unlimited
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 11:18 AM
Subject: Guest Commentary Doug,
Yesterday, I talked with Kelley about submitting
the piece below, hopefully to be published in
the 11/26 edition. I will be in sometime this pm to go over the submission
with you.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOUR VOICE TO BE
HEARD
Sometime early in December Boulder County plans to
select a new voting system to replace it's existing punch card system.To comply
with Federal law, the new voting system must include at least one computerized
touchscreen voting machine for each precinct.
Unfortunately, none of the electronic voting
machines now being considered by the County provides the voter with any
assurance that their vote was recorded the way they intended, ( shades of the
2000 debacle in Florida ). This is because none of the the machines produce
voter- verifiable paper ballots.Without voter-verifiable paper ballots, bugs or
security holes in the voting machines could corrupt our elections. Voters and
election officials alike, even if they discovered a problem, would have no
effective means to conduct a recount of the vote totals.
Citizens for Verifiable Voting (CVV) a Boulder County non-partisan organization concerned
with preserving our democracy, is insisting that Boulder County
immediately halt its process of selecting and purchasing new electronic
voting machines. Furthermore, since technical standards for election systems
have not yet been developed by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology(NIST) as required under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), it is
premature and irresponsible for the County to select any new voting system at
this time.
Specifically, CVV is calling on Boulder County
officials and all citizens to:
- insist on the use of
paper ballots as the single, official record of the vote;
- allow no secret software
in voting or vote counting machines;
- recognize that accuracy
is the most important aspect in the elections, not speed in completing the
counts; and
- support HR 2239 and
other election reform laws that address the above concerns.
What can citizens do to assure that their vote is
recorded the way it is intended? They can contact the Boulder County
Commissioners at (303)-441-3500 and the Boulder County Elections Division
at thalicki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Citizens
also can go to the CVV website at http://www.coloradovoter.net for more
detailed information.Speak out, let your voice be heard!
Dick Mueser is a concerned citizen and member of
Citizens for Verifiable Voting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dick Mueser, Broker/Owner
Possibilities Unlimited Realty 303-499-8894 www.dickmueser.com dick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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