John,

I was amused at the confusion and comparison of Feinstein's Senate bill to Holt's House bill in the article you linked to. Even Bev Harris was at first confused by all the rancor and multiplicity of bills. No surprise that reporters are too, but unlike Bev who checked it out, they won't.

Actually the compliment to Holt's HR 811 is Nelson's S. 559, which I have repeated ad nauseum here, as you know. But no one checks things out anymore it seems. People like to talk without knowing what they are talking about.

That is one of the consequences of a fragmented, "what she said" approach. When people "do not have time" to research something themselves, they have faith in someone else. They listen to stars of the movement.

And I was interested to find that the positioning goes along party lines. Yes, strangely enough, it is a partisan issue:

By a 6-3 vote along party lines, the House Administration Committee on Tuesday afternoon approved an amended version (PDF) of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, chiefly sponsored by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) and backed by 212 other members of Congress.

(CNET Story About HR 811, emphasis added). Those who opposed Holt (D-NJ) and Nelson (D-FLA), primarily republicans, which spawned the Feinstein (D-CA) legislation, can now bask in the status quo ante and extol the virtues of helping to do nothing about electronic voting machines in the 110th Congress.

To be fair I do realize the opposition thinks that the status quo is better than what would have happened if S. 559 had become law.

And honestly I can not say with moral certitude that one position is the gospel truth and the other is the spawn of satan. Reasonable people can differ peacefully.

Thank you Dredd for at least attempting to bring objective facts into this.

Sometimes egos exceed common sense.

This country has never known comprehensive, National standards for voting methods---including Hand Counted Paper Ballot elections.

HR 811 was just the staring place. But apparently no one, not even the extreme left, seems to want to start this process.