[Election-Methods] Important Decision on Voting Machines This Week - Urge House to Vote "Yes" on HR811

Mon Sep 3 10:35:34 PDT 2007

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In case the folks on this list care about the integrity and accuracy
of the vote counts too.  The decision this week is monumental and
could determine the fate of this country and the world.

9/3/2007
National Election Data Archive (NEDA)
Park City, UT

Friends,

"The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act" (House
Resolution 811) is coming to the House floor on Thursday, September 6.
  The National Election Data Archive has done a thorough yet simple,
straightforward, and easy-to-read analysis of The Voter Confidence &
Increased Accessibility Act (HR811). It is posted on-line at:

ANALYSIS OF "VOTER CONFIDENCE AND INCREASED ACCESSIBILITY ACT" (HR811)
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/Analysis-HR811-Aug2007.pdf

The National Election Data Archive urges the US House to vote "Yes"
for House Resolution 811.

HR811 WILL BE VOTED ON THIS WEEK

HR811 is on the agenda for the House Rules Committee meeting on
Wednesday afternoon (which usually means a vote the next day,
Thursday, September 6), and is listed as being on the voting schedule
in the Majority Leader's "Weekly Leader" e-mail update that went out
yesterday for next week.
http://www.rules.house.gov/comm_schedule110.htm
http://www.majorityleader.gov/docUploads/027%20Weekly%20083107.pdf

The US House should vote "Yes" for House Resolution 811 and "No" for
the "unfunded mandate" amendment that would gut the requirement for
paper ballots and manual election audits in 2008.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW - IT IS A CRITICAL JUNCTURE FOR US DEMOCRACY &
OUR FUTURE - YOUR ACTION IS NEEDED NOW TO PROTECT 2008 ELECTIONS

HR811 must be passed by October 2007 to provide jurisdictions
currently using paperless DRE voting machines sufficient time to
replace them with auditable voting equipment in order to conduct
manual election audits for the November 2008 Federal election. The
bill's 2008 deadlines must be preserved to protect the integrity of
the 2008 Federal elections.

Please take action to support the immediate passage of HR811 in the US House.

Federal election reform legislation is urgently needed prior to the
November 2008 election.

CONTACT YOUR U.S. HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE YOURSELF
(Faxes are especially effective.)
http://www.house.gov

and ask your Representative to
"Vote 'Yes' for HR811 but vote 'No' for the "unfunded mandate" amendment."

OR USE THIS SOAPBOX

I set up a Congress.org soapbox to use to contact your House
Representative by email or letter (a letter is hand delivered for an
$8.95 fee, but emails are free.)

Click on
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/sbx/f/?aid=10254906&r=1

 - as the subject type in something like "Vote 'Yes' on HR811 and 'No'
on the "unfunded mandate" amendment"
 - deselect your Senators (This only needs to go to House Representatives)
 - select "printed letter" or "email" or "extra Impact" and select an
"Issue Area"
 - type in your own name and sender information
 - fill in the "message booster" information if you have time.

Here is a sample letter you could send to own U.S. Representative:

----- sample letter-------

Please vote "Yes" on House Resolution 811 and vote "No" on the
"unfunded mandate" amendment to it that would gut the requirement for
paper ballots and manual election audits in 2008.

Here is an easy-to-read, understandable analysis of HR811's provisions:
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/Analysis-HR811-Aug2007.pdf

It is time for all 50 States to have verifiably honest accurate
elections - and taxpayers deserve more economical voting systems.

Many states have no paper ballots, and even more have no audits of
their elections - never comparing voter verifiable paper records with
the unofficial vote counts; and many use inaccurate voting systems
which have been decertified or scrapped states such as CA, MD, FL,...;
leaving them with no way to  judge the integrity of their vote counts
and electoral process.

The United States needs "The Voter Confidence & Increased
Accessibility Act" (H.R. 811).

Together with the $300 Million authorized by the House, States have
$1.6+ Billion available in remaining HAVA funding and can afford to
meet the 2008 deadlines.  See how much money your state has left of
HAVA funding on pp. 8 and 9 in the US Election Assistance report
http://www.eac.gov/docs/Congressional%20Report%20Public%20Release%20Final.pdf

There is plenty of time for states with paperless electronic voting
systems to replace them with auditable voting equipment. See how long
it takes States to replace voting systems in Verified Voting's "How
Long Does it Take to Change a Voting System?"
http://electionmathematics.org/em-voting-systems/VotingSystemChange.pdf

Please see http://ElectionArchive.org for more information.

----- end sample letter------

THREAT TO 2008 IMPLEMENTATION - "UNFUNDED MANDATE" AMENDMENT

An "unfunded mandate" amendment to HR811 will say something like "if
the States haven't already been given the HR 811 money, then the
States don't have to meet the HR 811 requirements" until 2010.  There
will be no further appropriations for this in FY 2008. Thus – the bill
could pass with a 2008 deadline, but absent a new appropriation of
funding, the 2008 deadline would not be binding.

According to the most recent EAC report, the States HAVE $1.3 Billion
available -

See How Much Money Your State Has Left of HAVA Funding
on pp. 8 and 9 in
http://www.eac.gov/docs/Congressional%20Report%20Public%20Release%20Final.pdf

Assuming the Senate supports the House's $300 million HAVA
appropriation for FY 2008 -- States will be have $1.6 billion+
altogether.  The States can afford to do this, and our democracy
CANNOT afford for them not to.

i.e. The States are already sitting on $1.3 Billion in left over
(received but not spent) HAVA money as of the end of 2006, and $300
million in HAVA funding (in the House) has already been appropriated
for FY 2008 which could, under the bill text, be used by states to
paper up. So the States have $1.6 Billion altogether available for
fiscal year 2008.  According to the EAC summary (see page 8 on the
link), Kansas (for example) has $9 million in HAVA funding left over
(and it will get more from the $300 just added in the House).

The US House must vote "Yes" on H.R. 811 but must vote "No" on the
"unfunded mandate" amendment.

H.R. 811 VOTING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS IN A NUTSHELL

By 2008 – HR811 requires random hand counts of 3% to 10% of the
voter-verified paper ballots in all Federal races, depending on the
margin between leading candidates. The only exception is landslide
races (those in which the winner received more than 80% of the votes),
in which case audits are allowed but not required. The manual audits
shall be conducted prior to certifying election results and the paper
ballot shall be used as the official ballot for purposes of any
recount or audit.

By 2010 - HR811 requires pre-printed paper ballots to be offered to
all eligible voters at the polls. The pre-printed ballot may be marked
by hand and shall not be produced by a direct recording electronic
voting machine. At each polling place a notice shall be displayed
prominently which describes the obligation of the official to offer
individuals the opportunity to cast votes using a pre-printed paper
ballot.

By 2012 - HR811 requires durable, scan-able, individual paper ballots
with every voting system.

By 2012 - HR811 requires non-visual and enhanced visual paper ballot
verification for voters with disabilities.

By 2012 – HR811 requires mechanisms that do not require a voter to
manually handle the paper ballots for voters with disabilities.

For a complete analysis, see NEDA's easy-to-read, understandable
analysis of HR811's provisions:
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/Analysis-HR811-Aug2007.pdf

The revised version of HR811 deserves strong support.

The National Election Data Archive urges the US House to vote "Yes"
for House Resolution 811.

H.R. 811 IS AN EXCELLENT BILL BECAUSE IT

1.	Requires independent manual audits that would expose inaccurate
vote counts, under-vote rates, and ballot programming errors beginning
in November 2008; and

2.	Authorizes funds and provides jurisdictions motivation and
opportunity to purchase less expensive, more auditable and trustworthy
voting systems that preserve ballot secrecy and are less vulnerable to
electronic failures, errors, and hacking; and

3.	Provides incentive and opportunity for states to use election
audits that would provide an even higher level of confidence to detect
any outcome-altering vote miscount than that mandated in the bill.

The revised version of HR811 deserves strong support.

HR811 would ensure that voters, rather than dirty staffers of voting
machine vendors or election offices, select who will control the US
Congress and Executive branch in 2009 and beyond.

H.R. 811 was recently revised due to pressure from Steny Hoyer, House
Majority Leader, to meet the demands of disability advocacy groups,
and a copy of its July 27 draft showing the changes from its May 16
version is posted at
http://election-reform.org/Bills2007/HR811_july.html

HR811 must be passed by October 2007 to provide jurisdictions with
paperless DRE voting machines sufficient time to replace them with
auditable voting equipment in order to implement manual election
audits for the November 2008 Federal election.   The bill's 2008
deadlines must be preserved to protect the integrity of the 2008
Federal elections.
-----

The US House should vote "Yes" for House Resolution 811 with its 2008
requirement for election audits in tact.

For a simple, straightforward, and easy-to-read analysis of H.R. 811 see:
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/Analysis-HR811-Aug2007.pdf

PLEASE DONATE - WE NEED FUNDS URGENTLY

Please donate to the National Election Data Archive. We urgently need
to raise sufficient funds to hire an additional staff person tokeep up
with the growing work-load.   NEDA could accomplish a lot more if
there were sufficient donations to pay just one person's salary.  (Our
financials are available here for your review:
http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/financial/FinancialStmts2004-2006.pdf)
PLEASE donate whatever amount you can by credit card, PayPal, or by
mailing a check. Even $5 or $10/month would be a big help.  Please
donate. We need your on-going help. Thank you. See
http://electionarchive.org/fairelection/donate.html

Please forward this announcement widely.  We need to all contact our
US Representative by this Wednesday, September 5.

"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have
acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the
silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made
it possible for evil to triumph" Haile Selassie

Please act now at this crucial juncture in history - to protect our future.

Sincerely,

Kathy Dopp
Executive Director, National Election Data Archive
http://electionarchive.org

P.O. Box 682556
Park City, UT 84068
phone 435-658-4657

-----------------------

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE PROBLEMS OF USING ELECTRONIC-BALLOT DRE
VOTING SYSTEMS:

A short, nearly exhaustive list of problems caused by using
touch-screen electronic-ballot DRE voting
machines: http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/US/NEDA-S1487-Testimony.pdf

A list of DRE problems by John Hopkins University Computer Scientist
Avi Rubin who is an expert in the security of electronic voting, the
director of the National Science Foundation's project ACCURATE Center,
and is also an election judge in Baltimore County.
http://avi-rubin.blogspot.com/2007/08/why-nobody-wants-to-buy-diebold.html

"Voters Have Reason to Worry – A Response to Election Officials and
Others Who Urge Voters to Trust"
http://utahcountvotes.org/UT/UtahCountVotes-ThadHall-Response.pdf

E-Voting Ballots Not Secret; Vendors Don't See Problem, August 20th,
2007 by Princeton Computer Science Professor Ed Felten
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1189

Cost Comparisons between Using Optical Scan versus DRE Voting Systems:
http://electionmathematics.org and select "Voting Systems"