U URGENT ACTION
Help recruit Congressional Co-Sponsors for Rep. Rush Holt's HR 5036, the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections (EASY) bill to appropriate Federal funds for verifiable and secure elections NOW!
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Rep. Holt has submitted an Emergency Measure, HR 5036, to provide federal money to cover the costs of any US election district/county that wants to vote on paper ballots and institute an audit.
It is imperative that Congress take action NOW! You can help by calling or sending a fax to your Representative to urge them to co-sponsor HR 5036.
(A summary and complete description of HR 5036 can be found below.)
ACTION: CALL your Representative through the Capitol Switchboard at
(202) 224-3121, or look up your Representative's direct phone by clicking on the link following and entering your zip code at the top: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
Ask him/her to co-sponsor HR 5036, give your name and mailing address and request that they let you know whether they have done so. Congressional experts say that constituent phone calls have the most impact on elected representatives.
If you can't call during weekdays, please click the link below and fill in your information to send a fax (Note, choose this option rather than email--emails are not deemed as effective). Congressional experts say that faxes from constituents are the second most effective means to influence Congress.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22334
Please also contact your friends and relatives throughout the country to urge them to take the action above.
Background
Voting on paperless touch-screen machines is a threat to our democracy, as there is no possibility of a recount or an audit. This poses a major problem with our most sacred democratic right -- the right to vote and have confidence that our vote is counted accurately and verifiably. Despite widespread agreement by many government reports and computer scientists, Congress has not yet acted to eliminate the threat. Rep. Rush Holt's bill, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 811) - which would permanently remedy this problem by requiring a voter verified paper ballot and an audit - was re-introduced a year ago. But despite gathering a bipartisan majority of the House as co-sponsors, it has not been passed in time to affect either the Presidential Primaries or the General Election this November. See further information at the link below.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-811.
NOTE: In New Jersey, CFPA was the primary plaintiff in a law suit filed in 2004, and then in 2005 co-led a successful effort to pass state legislation requiring a voter verified paper ballot and an audit. But at the request of New Jersey's Attorney General, the deadline was recently extended from January 1, 2008 to June 3, 2008. This means New Jersey's Presidential primary will be held on insecure machines.
Since HR 811 can't be passed and implemented in time for this November's elections,
Rep. Holt submitted on January 17, 2008 an Emergency Measure, HR 5036, to provide federal money to cover the costs of any US election district/county that wants to vote on paper ballots and institute an audit.
See further information at the link below. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-5036
It is imperative that Congress take action NOW! You can help by calling or sending a fax to your Representative to urge cosponsoring HR5036.
These Representatives from Pennsylvania and New Jersey have already co-sponsored HR 5036, so if they are your Representative, please thank them:
Representatives Chaka Fattah and Michael Doyle of PA; and Representatives Steve Rothman and Albio Sires and Rush Holt (the primary sponsor) of NJ.
Below:
-*The EASY bill in a nutshell
-*Support Letter from the National Association of Counties (NACO)
*The EASY bill in a Nutshell:
7 The program is entirely optional. Whether or not a state or jurisdiction opts in is entirely up to the state or jurisdiction.
7 Opting in entitles the state or jurisdiction to reimbursement
7 The options are as follows:
o Paperless jurisdictions may opt in to convert to paper ballot voting
o Direct recording electronic (DRE) jurisdictions, with or without printers, may opt in to offer emergency ballots rather than convert
o Jurisdictions that use any system that uses any sort of paper (optical scan ballot or DRE printout) may opt in to:
' Conduct audits, or
' Conduct hand counts
7 $633 million in funding is authorized States may be reimbursed for conversions to paper based equipment they have already made since 2006, or for audits or hand counts they already do!
*Letter from the National Association of Counties in support of Rep Rush Holt's bill - HR5036, the "EASY" bill Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act
http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Advocacy&template=/
ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=26156
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THANK YOU
Stephanie Harris, Chair, CFPA Voting Integrity Task Force
Irene Etkin Goldman, Chair, CFPA Steering Committee
Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA)
Princeton NJ
www.peacecoalition.org
