Please send a copy of the Paper Ballot Campaign's Open Letter to Congress <http://www.VelvetRevolution.us/Campaigns/PaperBallots> to your United States Congressional Representative. For some current background, review the article from the BRAD LOG copied below. Colorado Congressional Representatives DeGette, Diana <http://www.house.gov/degette/> , Colorado, 1st Udall, Mark <http://markudall.house.gov/HoR/CO02/Home.htm> , Colorado, 2nd Salazar, John T. <http://www.house.gov/salazar/> , Colorado, 3rd Musgrave, Marilyn <http://musgrave.house.gov/> , Colorado, 4th Lamborn, Doug <http://lamborn.house.gov/> , Colorado, 5th Tancredo, Tom <http://www.house.gov/tancredo/> , Colorado, 6th Perlmutter, Ed <http://perlmutter.house.gov/> , Colorado, 7th Al Al Kolwicz CAMBER - Citizens for Accurate Mail Ballot Election Results 2867 Tincup Circle Boulder, CO 80305 303-494-1540 AlKolwicz@xxxxxxxxx www.users.qwest.net/~alkolwicz <http://www.users.qwest.net/~alkolwicz/> www.coloradovoter.blogspot.com <http://www.coloradovoter.blogspot.com/> CAMBER is a dedicated group of volunteers who are working to ensure that every voter gets to vote once, every vote is counted once, and that every ballot is secure and anonymous. - The BRAD BLOG - http://www.bradblog.com - Holt Election Reform Bill Continues to be Supported by Democrats and Their Public Advocacy Groups, While Being Criticized by the Election Integrity Community Flawed Bill Continues to Fast-Track While Supporters Ignore the Concerns of Those Who Know the Issue Best HR811 On Schedule to Become 'HAVA 2' Unless Radically Amended, Improved... Posted By Brad On 14th February 2007 @ 12:00 In Election Reform, Election 2008, Rush Holt | 2 Comments Blogged from the road by Brad Friedman... Yes, I'm still on the road. And thus, still unable to fully and completely cover events surrounding the dangerous provisions of the Holt Election Reform legislation (HR 811). For the short term then, I'll quickly point to a few notable critiques of the bill, as currently written, from the Election Integrity community. Why Democratic-based public advocacy groups such as MoveOn <http://pol.moveon.org/paperlessvoting/> [1], Common Cause <http://www.getitstraightby2008.org/c.hnKKIINpEqG/b.2422981/k.D056/Tell_your _Representative_to_CoSponsor_the_Holt_Bill/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx > [2] and PFAW <http://www.bradblog.comhttps:/www.kintera.org/site/c.hsJPKYPFJrH/b.2479447/ k.D6CD/Homepage/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp?kntaw23763=288371CC06E44DD0A08C 04951F8F259F> [3] are supporting this bill in direct conflict with the bulk of the Election Integrity community continues to be beyond me. Perhaps worse, they are doing so via campaigns that succeed in misleading their members about the facts of the bill. As I've said many times, though the Holt legislation contains many good and needed provisions, it has several serious flaws --- including, perhaps most notably, a failure to ban all disenfranchising DRE/touch-screen systems --- which will likely lead to this bill being seen as "HAVA 2" by 2008 if it's passed as is. Unlike the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA 1), the Dems will not have Republicans and the disgraced former Rep. Bob Ney to blame when the shortcomings in the bill are revealed before, during and after the next Presidential Election. Quickly then --- before I must shuffle to the next hotel --- allow me to point you to the "Essential Revisions to HR 811" <http://www.votersunite.org/info/HR811EssentialRevisions.htm> [4] as drafted many in the Elections Integrity community and hosted by VotersUnite.org [5] and signed by several other notable Election Integrity groups such as VoterAction.org [6], BlackBoxVoting.org [7] and many others. As well, the blind technology expert, Noel Runyan, has today released a scientific paper, "Improving Voter Access" <http://demos.org/pub1312.cfm> [8] documenting the failures of existing DRE/touch-screen technology (as to-be-institutionalized by the Holt Bill if passed) to meet the needs of the disabilities community. The paper is released under the notable auspices of both Demos <http://demos.org> [9] and VoterAction.org [6]. Press release here <http://www.demos.org/page504.cfm> [11]. Bev Harris of BlackBoxVoting.org [7] has issued her own statement/concerns as well right here: "Beware of the Bandwagon --- A concise list of problems with Holt Bill HR 811" <http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/46667.htm l> [13] Just after the Holt Bill dropped, we also ran a notable Guest Blog from Demos' Democracy Fellow and the founder of the National Voting Rights Institute <http://NVRI.org> [14], John Bonifaz who is critical of the bill's lack of a ban on DRE's: "Why the Holt Election Reform Bill Must be Amended to Guarantee a Real Paper Ballot" <http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4125> [15] Those are just a few of many such statements from various elements of the Election Integrity community concerning the Holt Bill as it's currently written. It's simply mindblowing that so many Congress members, including Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida --- who issued his own near-clone of HR811 yesterday in the Senate --- along with so many Democratic-based public advocacy groups continue to ignore the concerns of the EI community who know this issue best. The fact that even Florida's new Republican (and surprisingly progressive) Governor <http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4100> [16] and new Secretary of State <http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4129> [17] are ahead of the Democrats on this one, and are calling for DRE's to be replaced by optical-scan systems (for the most part, if not during early voting or for disabled voters) should be a clear sign that something is terribly wrong here. While everyone seems to finally understand the need for Election Reform (well, that took long enough!) the notion that any bill is better than a bill which will actually be effective is extraordinarily short-sighted. Passing a bill likely to institutionalize dysfunction and continue our Electoral Meltdowns for years to come should be the last thing that Democrats and their supporters wish to do. Why they seem to be tripping over themselves to do it, continues to be far beyond me. If you haven't already done so, please sign the Paper Ballot Campaign's Open Letter to Congress <http://www.VelvetRevolution.us/Campaigns/PaperBallots> [18] demanding a paper ballot --- which is actually tabulated --- and a ban of DRE's once and for all. (DISCLOSURE: I was allowed by Holt's office to participate during the drafting process of HR811 and was able to succeed in adding some improvements to some of the language, as well as encourage the addition of several important new provisions in the bill. Nonetheless, the bill, as written, still contains many dangerous loopholes as alluded to above. Next week, once home, I hope to offer a more complete and specific analysis of both the good and bad points in the legislation which seems to be continuing to fast-track though Congress. Unfortunately.) Article printed from The BRAD BLOG: http://www.bradblog.com URL to article: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4150 URLs in this post: [1] MoveOn: http://pol.moveon.org/paperlessvoting/ [2] Common Cause: http://www.getitstraightby2008.org/c.hnKKIINpEqG/b.2422981/k.D056/Tell_your_ Repr esentative_to_CoSponsor_the_Holt_Bill/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx [3] PFAW: http://www.bradblog.comhttps://www.kintera.org/site/c.hsJPKYPFJrH/b.2479447/ k.D6 CD/Homepage/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp?kntaw23763=288371CC06E44DD0A08C0495 1F8F259F [4] "Essential Revisions to HR 811": http://www.votersunite.org/info/HR811EssentialRevisions.htm [5] VotersUnite.org: http://VotersUnite.org [6] VoterAction.org: http://VoterAction.org [7] BlackBoxVoting.org: http://BlackBoxVoting.org [8] "Improving Voter Access": http://demos.org/pub1312.cfm [9] Demos: http://demos.org [10] VoterAction.org: http://VoterAction.org [11] Press release here: http://www.demos.org/page504.cfm [12] BlackBoxVoting.org: http://BlackBoxVoting.org [13] "Beware of the Bandwagon --- A concise list of problems with Holt Bill HR 811": http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/46667.html [14] National Voting Rights Institute: http://NVRI.org [15] "Why the Holt Election Reform Bill Must be Amended to Guarantee a Real Paper Ballot": http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4125 [16] Governor: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4100 [17] Secretary of State: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4129 [18] Paper Ballot Campaign's Open Letter to Congress: http://www.VelvetRevolution.us/Campaigns/PaperBallots Click here <http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4150&print=1> to print.
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