CVV Press Release 12/12/2003

["Joe Pezzillo" <jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 12th, 2003

CITIZENS FOR VERIFIABLE VOTING
contact: Joe Pezzillo, Spokesperson
http://www.coloradovoter.net
303-938-8850 / jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx


CITIZENS BLOCK PURCHASE OF ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM

Boulder, Colorado - Citizens for Verifiable Voting, an ad hoc group of
concerned citizens in Boulder County, Colorado, has convinced the local
County Clerk's office to delay the planned purchase of a new voting
system that would have included the controversial Direct Record
Electronic (DRE) vote recording computers and, instead, the County
Clerk's office -- headed by Linda Salas, County Clerk and Recorder --
has adopted the citizen's declaration that only a Paper Ballot will
provide an adequate level of voter confidence for the upcoming 2004
Election.

"We're extremely grateful to the County Clerk's office for clearly
taking our concerns into consideration and for announcing a position
that appears to be entirely consistent with the citizens' requests for a
paper ballot," stated Joe Pezzillo, spokesperson for the group, who was
in attendance at the County Clerk's announcement. "We're also grateful
to demonstrate that active and engaged citizens can and do make a
difference, and can stop the purchase of inherently insecure DRE
systems."

County Officials present also emphasized the importance of the security
of the vote and the voter's confidence, with Chief Deputy Clerk and
Recorder Nancy Jo Wurl commenting on the fundamental "Constitutional
right to a fair and accurate Election."

Indeed, the citizens of Boulder County have been active and engaged and
conducted their own independent process including: four large public
meetings with more than a hundred total attendees; extensive outreach
and education to citizens and the media resulting in repeated press
coverage and including a 100% collaboratively produced website and
active public e-mail list; preparing a Citizen's Resolution calling for
paper ballots that received the written endorsement or support of all
four of Boulder County's political parties; meetings with County
Election officials; legal research and correspondence of clarifications
with the Secretary of State and vendors; direct contact with legislators
including work to secure Rep. Udall's co-sponsorship of HR2239, the
Voter Confidence Act; collecting hundreds of physical signatures on
petitions; and a formal presentation to the Boulder County
Commissioners.

CVV's ten-minute presentation to the Commissioners -- which included
specific legal explanations of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) showing
that DREs are NOT required to be purchased (as is widely and mistakenly
believed) -- makes the Citizen's case for voter-verifiable, full-text,
physically marked PAPER BALLOTS used with a fully disclosed election
system, with Pezzillo saying bluntly at one point "Paper Ballots equals
Voter Confidence, no Paper Ballot equals NO voter confidence."

The full presentation is available via streaming media from the Citizens
for Verifiable Voting website at http://www.coloradovoter.net, which
also hosts an archive of the group's activities, research, and
documents, including the mailing list.

Among CVV's next steps is to prepare materials to help Citizen Activists
mobilize their local communities around this and other issues related to
Electronic Voting. And as CVV has demonstrated, active and engaged
citizens can have a substantial impact on this issue when they get
involved and take some basic steps.

As Pezzillo emphasized, "There's more work to do on this issue, from
insisting on full disclosure of voting systems to preventing the
disenfranchisement of voters through the electronic pollbook, but we are
glad to have overcome this hurdle today."

Concerned Citizen Activists should contact CVV at the contact info
above, via the mailing list or join the Electronic Frontier Foundation's
(EFF) national organizational efforts on this issue, see:
<http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/>.

For voters in the State of Colorado, a statewide group has been formed
to address a broad range of Electronic Voting issues, including
touch-screens, the ePollbook, and election law reform. Join their
efforts online by visiting their website at
<http://www.countthevotecolorado.org>.


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