Return to Electoral Integrity page
Rep. Rush Holt [has] responded to the growing chorus of concern from election reform specialists and computer security experts about the integrity of future elections by introducing reform legislation, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 [H.R. 2239] The measure would require all voting machines to produce an actual paper record by 2004 that voters can view to check the accuracy of their votes and that election officials can use to verify votes in the event of a computer malfunction, hacking, or other irregularity. Experts often refer to this paper record as a "voter-verified paper trail."
"We cannot afford nor can we permit another major assault on the integrity of the American electoral process," said Rep. Rush Holt. "Imagine it's Election Day 2004. You enter your local polling place and go to cast your vote on a brand new "touch screen" voting machine. The screen says your vote has been counted. As you exit the voting booth, however, you begin to wonder. How do I know if the machine actually recorded my vote? The fact is, you don't."
Last October [2002], Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), groundbreaking election reform legislation that is currently helping states throughout the country replace antiquated and unreliable punch card and butterfly ballot voting systems. HAVA, however, is having an unintended consequence. It is fueling a rush by states and localities to purchase computer-voting systems that suffer from a serious flaw; voters and election officials have no way of knowing whether the computers are counting votes properly. Hundreds of nationally renowned computer scientists, including internationally renowned expert David Dill of Stanford University, consider a voter-verified paper trial to be a critical safeguard for the accuracy, integrity and security of computer-assisted elections.
<more> (Press release from Rep Holt's office)
Source: http://holt.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=5996
Ireceived this from Michelle Mulder in Rush Holt's Office.....
Carol
Hi everyone!
While Rush works to build support among other members of Congress,
there
are things you can do to help move the voter-verified paper trail
bill
forward. Below you will find advice (addressed to David Dill
and to one
of our favorite Election Officials, Warren Slocum) from a member
of the
group that successfully lobbied Congress and the current Administration
to pass the bill calling for an Independent Commission to investigate
the 9/11 attacks. That bill passed and the President signed it,
even
though just about everyone on Capitol Hill said it would never
happen
and the current Administration was adamantly opposed to it.
On the subject of building co-sponsorship (very important!),
you can
find a list of cosponsors on the bill by going to the Library
of
Congress website -- http://thomas.loc.gov. Under "Legislation",
click
on "Bill Summary and Status". Under "Bill Number"
type in HR 2239 --
then hit "search." On the page that comes up, the number
of cosponsors
will be listed. As of this morning -- June 4 -- there are none.
Call
your own Representatives and tell them how important this is to
you, and
don't stop until you see their names on the list! Then thank
them
profusely!
Also -- bring this matter to the attention of the people in
your own
State who are currently working to establish a State Plan for
compliance
with the Help America Vote Act. The more local jurisdictions
know (and
the earlier they know it) about the amendment Rush is proposing
to that
Act to improve the accuracy, integrity and security features required
for voting systems, the better! So far, we have compiled a list
of
about 38 websites of HAVA State Plan Committees (see below).
Check in
with yours and let them know how important this is to you.
Thank you everyone!
Michelle Mulder
Return to Electoral Integrity page
HAVA State Committees
<http://www.sos.state.al.us/election/hava/index.cfm> -- Alabama
<http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ltgov/elections/hava.htm> -- Alaska
<http://hava.sos.state.az.us/2003/agenda/2003_03_14_11_24.htm> -- Arizona
<http://www.sosweb.state.ar.us/hava.html> -- Arkansas
<http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/hava.htm> -- California
<http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/> -- Colorado
<http://www.sots.state.ct.us/ElectionsDivision/HAVA/IntroHAVA.htm> -- Connecticut
<http://www.dcboee.org/htmldocs/havameetings.html> - District of Columbia
<http://election.dos.state.fl.us/hava/index.shtml> -- Florida
<http://www.idsos.state.id.us/elect/HAVA.htm> -- Idaho
<http://www.elections.state.il.us/voteinfo/pages/HAVA.htm> -- Illinois
<http://www.sos.state.ia.us/elections/HAVA/HAVA.html> -- Iowa
<http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_reform_overview.html> -- Kansas
<http://www.sec.state.la.us/elections/elections-index.htm> -- Louisiana
<http://www.elections.state.md.us/citizens/hava/> -- Maryland
<http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127--63826--,00.html>
-- Michigan
<http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1633-63654--,00.html>
<http://www.sos.state.mn.us/election/index.html> -- Minnesota
<http://www.sos.state.mo.us/elections/hava/> -- Missouri
<http://sos.state.nv.us/nvelection/elect_reform/timetable.htm>
-- Nevada
<http://www.statepulse.com/Nevada/2003/02.19.03.sec.pr2.asp>
<http://www.state.nh.us/sos/HAVA/> -- New Hampshire
<http://www.state.nj.us/lps/elections/hava_doe.html> -- New Jersey
<http://www.elections.state.ny.us/news/2003_taskforce_for_help_america_vote.htm> -- New York
<http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/hava.htm> -- North Carolina
<http://www.state.nd.us/hava/about/> -- North Dakota
<http://www.state.oh.us/sos/hava/> -- Ohio
<http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:-gYWzFjl69IJ:www.state.ok.us/~elections/hava_working_0129.pdf+help+america+vote+act&hl=en&ie=UTF-8> -- Oklahoma
<http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/HAVA/> -- Oregon
<http://www.dos.state.pa.us/bcel/cwp/view.asp?a=1139&Q=440653&PM=1&dosNavDLTEST=|> -- Pennsylvania
<http://www.state.ri.us/hava/> -- Rhode Island
<http://www.state.sd.us/sos/hava.htm> -- South Dakota
<http://www.state.tn.us/sos/election/hava.htm> -- Tennessee
<http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/hava/hava.shtml> - Texas
<http://www.sec.state.vt.us/hava/hava.htm> -- Vermont
<http://www.sbe.state.va.us/web_docs2/hava/> -- Virginia
<http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/reform_federal.aspx> -- Washington
<http://www.wvsos.com/elections/main.htm> -- West Virginia
<http://elections.state.wi.us/> -- Wisconsin
<http://soswy.state.wy.us/election/hava/hava.htm> -- Wyoming
Other References:
<http://www.nass.org/electioninfo/state_contacts.htm> -- National Association of Secretaries of State
<http://lwv.org> -- League of Women Voters
<http://www.lwv.org/where/promoting/votingrights_hava_advocatesguide.pdf> -- Advocates Guide to Help America Vote Act of 2002
<http://www.civilrights.org/> -- Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
<http://www.aapd.org> -- American Association of People with Disabilities
Michelle Mulder
Director of Constituent Services
Congressman Rush Holt
50 Washington Road
West Windsor, New Jersey 08550
(609) 750-9365
michelle.mulder@mail.house.gov
Return to Electoral Integrity page