Dear Open Forum Editor: Please consider the attached Word document for inclusion in the Open Forum of the Daily Camera. The text is pasted here: ************************************************** Dear Editor,Boulder County should not be contemplating spending millions of dollars on more election equipment at this time. Clerk Linda Salas indicates that there is a need to rush forward with such a purchase. In fact, there is no such need. The primary and general elections of 2006 provide opportunities to implement the hand-counting concept here as it is used in Switzerland, Canada, and many other countries. More than 100 county residents have already volunteered their time to hand-count ballots and spare us further voting fiascoes. The savings should attract the attention of weary taxpayers. The openness under which hand counting would occur and the wide citizen participation in the process should also spark a county-wide resurgence in interest in the cornerstone of democracy—casting a vote with the assurance that it is accurately counted.
If any readers still harbor doubts about how post-2000 elections in the United States have been manipulated through the use of voting equipment, they should read the article on voting in Ohio in the August 2005 issue of Harper’s. Furthermore, New Mexico citizens whose votes were definitely not counted in November 2004 have filed a lawsuit (Lopategui et al. versus New Mexico) that is expected to provide precedents that other states may adhere to concerning voting equipment and software for future elections.
Please write to the County Commissioners (commissioners@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) and Clerk Salas (lsalas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) and ask that we not buy equipment but instead do hand counting at least for 2006. Comments will be accepted until noon, Wednesday, January 4. Two hundred and thirty years after 1776, together we could have a revolution in the way our votes are counted.
If you want to learn more, send a blank e-mail message to cvv-discuss-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; the messages posted there are up to the minute and educational. Also see http://ColoradoVoter.blogspot.com.
Mary C. Eberle Boulder, Colorado [1520 Cress Court—please omit] [303 442-2164—please omit] [message length: 299 words] **************************************************Please note the em dash between democracy and casting in the above. Also note that "Harper's" should appear in italics.
Thank you. Sincerely, Mary Mary C. Eberle 1520 Cress Court Boulder, CO 80304, USA (303) 442-2164 m.eberle@xxxxxxxxxxxx no voting equipment purchase_1.doc
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no voting equipment purchase_1.doc
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