Easy way to lobby Sec'y of State for paper ballot!

[Evan Daniel Ravitz <evan@xxxxxxxx>]

Just go to the website below and send the message...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 01:37:54 -0500 (EST)
From: TrueMajority <alerts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: evan@xxxxxxxx


Computer Voting Glitches Imperil Colorado 's Votes

California, Washington and Nevada Have Protected Their Voters
Tell Secretary of State Donetta Davidson to Safeguard Yours as Well


Computer voting systems are coming, even though they are "not ready for prime
time." The corporations that make them are keeping secret how the machines
work, saying, "Trust us, nothing can go wrong." They don't even have a way to
have a real recount should the machines crash or there be any other reason to
think that something might have gone wrong. When Maryland election officials
tested the machines, hackers were able to compromise the systems in a matter of
minutes.

But this is a rare example of a serious problem that has a simple remedy. The
machines can be opened up to election officials for monitoring, and each voter
can check a printout of his or her vote to confirm that it was entered
correctly. Then the paper version can be collected and be available for routine
audits and recounts if necessary. This creates a voter-verified paper trail.

State election officials in California, Washington and Nevada have already used
their own authority to protect their citizens by requiring that computer voting
systems in their states provide the voter-verified paper trail. You deserve the
same protection. Tell Secretary of State Donetta Davidson to do the same for Colorado .

To send Secretary of State Donetta Davidson a free message urging the same safeguards for
Colorado  voters, just click "reply" and "send" in your e-mail program
(text below). If this was forwarded to you or you'd like to customize the
message, click here:

http://action.truemajority.org/ctt.asp?u=357452&l=316


**LETTERS TO THE EDITOR**

Letters to the editor are another powerful way to influence election officials.
This feature uses state-of-the-art technology to make it really easy for you to
send a letter to the editor. Click here to give it a try:

http://action.truemajority.org/ctt.asp?u=357452&l=317


About This Campaign:

TrueMajority members have urged passage of federal legislation requiring these
simple remedies, but the Republican congressional leadership refuses even to
grant the bills a hearing. So TrueMajority is rolling out a major campaign to
make sure that state election officials protect their citizens from these
machines. We asked our members to donate the money needed to run this campaign,
and you've already given more than $100,000, twice what we asked for. We are
using this money to mount an even-more-aggressive campaign to make sure these
voting machines aren't installed around the country.

TrueMajority is announcing our national campaign "The Computer Ate My Vote" at
a February 17 news conference during the annual convention of the National
Association of Secretaries of State. TrueMajority members will then hold
similar news events in our first ten target states during the week of February
23. As we win state by state, we'll be moving the campaign around the country
until everyone is protected. So watch your e-mail box, and we'll let you know
what else you can do.

But first, send Secretary of State Donetta Davidson a free message right now. Just
click "reply" and "send" in your e-mail program (text below). If this was
forwarded to you or you'd like to customize the message, click here:

http://action.truemajority.org/ctt.asp?u=357452&l=316

Ben Cohen
President, TrueMajority.org

PS: For more information about our campaign, check out
www.truemajority.org/voting.cfm.
For more information about computer voting systems, check out
www.verifiedvoting.org or www.calvoter.org/votingtechnology.html#resources.

Here is the letter we'll send to Secretary of State Donetta Davidson:

Dear Secretary of State Donetta Davidson:

Touch-screen voting systems may have some benefits, but I urge you to use
whatever authority you have administratively, or influence you have
legislatively, to ensure that election hardware and software are controlled by
public servant election officials and that a voter-verified paper trail is in
place before any Colorado  election uses touch screens.

The secretaries of state for California, Washington and Nevada have already
used their own authority to protect their citizens by requiring that computer
voting systems in their states provide the voter-verified paper trail. I
deserve the same protection.

Sincerely,
(We'll put your name and address here.)


- If you'd like to contact us, don't reply to this e-mail. It will generate a
message to your elections official. Instead, go here:
http://action.truemajority.org/ctt.asp?u=357452&l=318


via

-------------------------------------------------
Evan Ravitz      303 440 6838       evan@xxxxxxxx
Ratify the National Initiative!   http://Vote.org
Photo Adventures:          http://Vote.org/photos
Bush vs the Pope!            http://Vote.org/Bush
Sins of the father Bush   http://Vote.org/silence

Kucinich: winner of the
2003 Ghandi Peace Award      http://kucinich.us
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