By John Gideon on 3/1/2007, 9:01pm PT  

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

LINK There are many good provisions in the new election reform bill (HR 811 introduced by Congressman Rush Holt D-NJ), called the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007." For example, it would ban wireless communications to reduce the possibility of some types of hacking; it would prevent Diebold, Sequoia, and other voting machine companies from using secret software on the voting machines; and it would require partial hand counts to check the accuracy of the machines.

However, the primary problem with the bill is that it allows the continued use of Direct Record Electronic (DRE), or "touch screen" voting machines, as long as they print out a copy of the electronic record of your vote for you to approve (called a "voter-verified paper audit trail" or "VVPAT"). But this "band-aid" cannot solve the systemic problems inherent to DREs. Democracy demands that DREs be banned from all American elections.

It has been said of those calling for a "ban DREs" amendment to HR 811 that we intend to "kill" the bill. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do not seek to remove this bill from consideration; we seek to correct a fundamental omission, which we believe presents a grave danger to all future elections....

  • NAtional: Holt bill would demand paper record of votes
    Once defeated, proposal getting a second look with new Democratic majority LINK
  • NAtional: Brad, Common Cause Debate Rush Holt Election Reform Bill on 'Peter B. Collins Show' LINK
  • CA: Riverside County - Elections chief wary of 'hack' test LINK
  • CO: Montrose County - Criticism of election 'no surprise' LINK
  • FL: Sarasota County - Too many unknowns LINK
  • HI: State's top elections official will step down LINK
  • NY: New York City "“ Board of Elex Raided
    City 'Criminal Probe' LINK
  • OH: Cuyahoga County - 2005 Pepper Pike election decided LINK
  • OH: North Baltimore - Some want nonpartisan village voting LINK
  • PA: Northampton County - Registrar counters with lawyer LINK
  • VA: Star County - Political Parties Plan for November Election LINK
  • Estonia: Estonia claims new e-voting first LINK

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