Fwd: [Quixotegroup] Verified Voting Announces the Election Transparency Project!

["Margit Johansson" <margitjo@xxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Courtenay Strickland Bhatia <courtenay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
Date: Sep 11, 2006 1:56 PM
Subject: [Quixotegroup] Verified Voting Announces the Election Transparency Project!
To: quixotegroup@xxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi all!

I hope you'll consider participating in the project below.  We'd also
really appreciate it if you'd forward this newsletter to any individuals
and/or organizations that you think might be interested.  Thanks so much!

Sincerely,

Courtenay
*
VERIFIED VOTING FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER*
September 6, 2006

According to a recent Zogby poll, 92% of all demographic groups in the
country support the public's right to observe vote counting and to obtain
information regarding vote counting. On this issue, the American public is
united: transparency is essential to democracy.

*Announcing... the Election Transparency Project!*
During this election season, Verified Voting is launching our Election
Transparency Project -- an ongoing non-partisan effort designed to provide
citizens with tools to evaluate existing levels of transparency and to
engage in observation of, and reporting on, every part of the electoral
process, from registration of voters to certification of the results.

With each election season, Verified Voting will add guidelines and
observation tools to build usable models for citizen oversight of the
entire process.  Verified Voting will also encourage observation by the
public nationwide until such observation is recognized as a fundamental
ingredient in free and fair elections.

Through the Election Transparency Project, Verified Voting will provide
guidelines for observing various portions of the electoral process,
questionnaires to assist observers in collecting key information, and a
web tool that observers can use to enter the data that they collect.  The
data gathered by observers during each election cycle will be pooled so
that stakeholders can learn more about how elections are being
administered in various parts of the country, and make recommendations
for how election management can be improved in the future.

Verified Voting supports and applauds other efforts for citizen
participation in elections, including the ongoing work of the Election
Protection Coalition and the newly-launched Pollworkers For Democracy
program. Our Election Transparency Project is designed to complement
rather than duplicate those efforts.

*We Need You!*
The success of the Election Transparency Project depends on citizen
participation.  We are seeking both individuals and organizations
interested in improving our democracy by collecting information on the
voting process.  Please consider signing up yourself, and also forwarding
this information to other individuals and to groups with whom you are
affiliated to request their participation as well. /To sign up, visit
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/modinput4.php?modin=110//
/
Once you have signed up to participate, all you need to do is download or
print the questionnaires from our website as they become available, which
will make clear exactly what you need to look for.  After observation, you
will be able to easily enter the data that you gather into a web-based
survey form, or send in your hard copy questionnaire to us for entry. The
data you provide will be made publicly available -- but not your name. Data
is redacted to prevent disclosure of personally identifying information
(such as name or contact information).

*The Time is Now!*
For this election season, we will be focusing on several components of the
election process that occur either before or after actual Election Day
polling place hours.  That means some observation will take place in
September and October, so sign up now!

Actual observation will often take only a few hours of your time, with
some observation opportunities taking place during the business day and
others in the evening; some on Election Day and others before and after.
After observing, you will need to devote a little more time to submitting
your data and notes.

We are preparing observation guidelines and questionnaires for five
different aspects of the electoral process: you can choose those that best
suit your schedule and interests. Some aspects of the election process can
be easily observed by individuals. Others are more suited for a group
effort. Please see the descriptions below for more information.

If you are a member of an organization that might be interested in this
project, please consider talking to your organization about the
possibility of signing on as a group. However, both individuals and
organizations are invited and encouraged to participate.

_*Choose What Interests You Most!*_

For this year, the Election Transparency Project begins with a few
important components:

*1)  Pre-election transparency assessment:* This questionnaire will assist
you in collecting information on the extent to which the elections in your
jurisdiction are, or are not, observable by the public. The information
that you collect on the laws, rules, and written procedures governing
transparency in your area will then be compared against how many of those
written rules are implemented in practice. This is your chance to "grade"
your state, county, parish or township's level of election transparency.

Completing a pre-election transparency assessment for your area can be
done over the course of several days, and can generally be undertaken
when your schedule permits (as long as you or someone in your group can
make some phone calls to offices during business hours). However, in
order to be most effective, the pre-election transparency assessment will
need to be completed as soon as possible, and well in advance of the
election. Participation in the transparency assessment can be undertaken
on either an individual or a group basis.

We encourage everyone who will be observing one of the components
listed below to also complete a pre-election transparency assessment.

*2)  Pre-election testing* of the voting equipment (often known as "Logic
& Accuracy" testing): The laws governing such testing differ widely across
election jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, observers are permitted and
even encouraged to ask questions and make comments. In others, only
silent observers of the tests are permitted. Our questionnaire is adaptable
to any of these scenarios. Observing pre-election testing may take only a
few hours of time, although the testing (and thus the observation) usually
occurs during the business day. This observation can be undertaken on
either an individual or a group basis.

*3)  Ballot Accounting*: reconciling the number of votes cast with the
number of voters signing in at the precinct. This reconciliation takes place
at the time of poll closing. The rules for observing this critical function
vary from place to place. One advantage of participating in observation of
ballot accounting is that such observation takes place after business
hours on Election Day, and therefore is a short-term, after-hours
commitment. This observation is recommended for groups that can cover
several (but not all) precincts in a county, parish, or township. However,
observation by an individual at a single precinct is also useful.

In 2004, this type of observation by a leading citizen group in Florida,
the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition (MDERC), revealed a variety of
discrepancies, including that the vote totals of one machine were
accidentally uploaded three times into the certified count. MDERC's
report, "Get It Right the First Time," was cited by the United States
Government Accountability Office. This is your opportunity to expand this
important work into your local area.

*4)  Early Voting:* Early voting observation is similar in nature to ballot
accounting observation, except that it takes place at early voting
locations (in jurisdictions where they exist) at the close of each day of
early voting.  This observation is recommended for groups that can cover
several (if not all) early voting sites in a county, parish, or township,
but individual observation is also welcome.

Two leading citizen groups, the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition and
the Voting Integrity Alliance of Tampa Bay, are working hard to plan and
implement early voting observation in parts of Florida. The more people
that we have participating throughout the country, the more we will be
able to compare and contrast various ways of implementing early voting.

This observation will take place prior to Election Day, during the period
of early voting. (Approximately 14 states do not offer early voting -- so
this project would not apply to you if you live in: AL, CT, DE, MA, MD,
MI, MS, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, WA.)

*5)  Auditing*: Mandatory manual audits in randomly selected precincts
are essential to protecting the vote. These audits verify that the electronic
voting systems (either DRE voting machines or optical scan voting systems)
are accurately recording and counting the votes.

If you live in an area that already requires both a voter-verified paper
record and routine manual auditing, this is your chance to find out how
those important tools are being implemented, and to collect information
necessary to formulate best practices for future auditing.  This
observation can be undertaken on either an individual or a group basis.

To find out whether your state requires mandatory manual audits of
voter-verified paper records, please visit our audits page:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/audits

In addition to completed questionnaires, Verified Voting welcomes
detailed descriptions of unexpected problems and supporting material such
as videotapes, photos, and the like.

_*Make an Impact!*_
On the basis of the data gathered, Verified Voting will produce one or
more reports that will feature recommendations for best practices that are
geared toward increasing both the verifiability and accuracy of our
elections. By collecting information via observation and submitting it
into a nationwide data pool, you will be laying the foundation for a
stronger democracy.

Our goal is not only to support improvement in the administration of our
elections, but also to create models for effective citizen observation.
You will be able to download a feedback survey so that you can let us
know what you found useful, confusing, or missing from the Election
Transparency Project observation tools, or make other suggestions for
improving citizen oversight of America's voting systems.

Finally, Verified Voting will produce election transparency scorecards for
as many jurisdictions as possible. This data will help identify areas in
which transparency is lacking. Those areas will then become the focus of
our efforts in preparation for future elections.

Remember: much of this observation will begin in a matter of days! Don't
wait... sign up now by filling out this sign-up form:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/modinput4.php?modin=110
or by e-mailing observer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 <https://vevo.verifiedvoting.org/squirrel/src/compose.php?send_to=observer%40verifiedvoting.org> or by calling the Verified
Voting office at 415-487-2255. Forward this message to other
individuals and groups that you think might be interested. Democracy
needs you. The time to act is now!

###

/This newsletter online: 
http://verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6386 /

/Verified Voting Foundation
1550 Bryant St., Suite 855
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-487-2255 telephone
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <https://vevo.verifiedvoting.org/squirrel/src/compose.php?send_to=info%40verifiedvoting.org
>

East Coast office:
1725 19th St. NW, #B
Washington, D.C.  20009

Your contributions make our work possible!  The Verified Voting
Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation; your contributions to
the Foundation are tax-deductible to the extent provided by U.S. tax law.

To donate online, visit http://verifiedvoting.org/donate --or if you prefer
to mail a check, please send to Verified Voting at the address shown
above.

Special thanks go to the Threshold Foundation for its support of the
Election Transparency Project.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send a message to
unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx    /

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