As some of you know my current 24/7 work is about verified voting and the now-URGENT need to pass legislation requiring voter-verified paper ballots for November's election (see
HR2239 for reference).
In some states, like California, there is a statutory six-month lead time requirement for changes in voting systems; the counties need to be told with enough advance notice if the system they use is going to be decertified. Even without that law, the longer this waits the less likely it is to be implemented in time for November.
So I'm going to DC at the end of April (23-27) and will make appointments with various Senators, Congresspeople and with any luck, the Committee Chairs that not only have the bills locked up but seem to think they are a bad idea. (And they should be ashamed of themselves...
Questions regarding voting systems security, as well as many others, need to be examined by the entity responsible for doing so under existing law, the Election Assistance Commission,
Agreed... but
... before Congress begins imposing new requirements, just months before the 2004 presidential and congressional elections...
What about before states start wildly spending money to get new, untested, unexamined equipment to replace their punchcards, just months before the 2004 elections?????
Who else wants to go? I'll help set up meetings and provide talking points if you need them... I'll go with you to your meetings if I can... whatever it takes. If you've never done this before, here's your chance. It's an amazing experience.
We're hoping to see a merged bill (Boxer-Clinton-Graham) on the Senate side within the week. If that happens, it will be urgent to get as many senators on board ASAP and get the bills out for vote.
Many states are working individually on this issue at present, including Maryland, Georgia, California, Florida, Ohio, and others. That's because there hasn't yet been a federal bill passed to solve the problem nationally. But we need a national solution.
It's not a partisan issue.
In CA, a Democrat from Oakland and a Republican from Irvine are working together to stop the use of any touch-screens for November, just in case Secretary of State Kevin Shelley doesn't say the right thing at the upcoming Voting Systems & Procedures Panel meeting. I'll be going to that too, in Sacramento, just before heading to DC. It promises to be a good one. On the agenda:
- Diebold investigation
- March 2 Primary reports
- Voting Systems for Use in November General Election
"1" and "2" should be fun, but "3" is what we're all waiting to hear... will he step up and do the right thing, issuing a moratorium on use of all touch-screen systems in the state for now?
If you're in California, now is the time to put the pressure on SoS Shelley. Do it before April 6th... and cc: the good Senators to let them know you support the moratorium.