Reply #19: Done -- here's mine

[SharonRB]

Dear Congressman Sensenbrenner:

I am writing you today to request that you support Congressman John Conyers and other Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee in their question for a full congressional investigation into the widespread voting irregularities that took place in Ohio and other states on November 2, 2004. This should not be a partisan issue -- both Democrats and Republicans should support fair, open elections. How can we show other nations what democracy is and support them in their elections when we in this country cannot be sure that our own elections are fair and valid. It is vital that every voter who wants to vote can and that every vote cast is appropriately counted.

Many voters were disenfranchised at the polls -- they were either turned away outright or were forced to leave due to the long lines and lengthy wait times. Many people cannot afford the time to wait in line for hours -- they have family responsibilities and jobs and various other obligations that cannot wait.

In addition, there were activities that took place that kept people from the polls on November 2, such as flyers being sent out in certain Democratic areas that said that Republicans should vote on Tuesday and Democrats should vote on Wednesday. Granted, most people should have realized this was not true, however, many believed it and acted accordingly.

Secretary of State Blackwell did everything in his power to thwart Democratic votes from being cast or properly counted in this election. He shorted precincts on voting machines, he took his time certifying the vote so that the recount could not begin until the very last minute, etc. And, speaking of the recount, it was not conducted according to Ohio law in many, many precincts. What is the point of a recount if you're just repeating the same machine totals as before. A full hand recount was warranted. Also, all machines must have a voter verifiable paper trail. Electronic voting machines without a paper trail cannot be properly recounted.

I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get my point. It is time to have a full investigation into these and other irregularities so that we can begin to fix the system. It is time to have national, not state, standards for national elections. Everyone across our nation must vote in the same way and must have a proper paper ballot, verified by the voter. All of this fancy electronic voting equipment means nothing if a voter can't be sure that his or her vote registered for the candidate he or she wanted. Maybe it's time for "low tech" -- paper and pencil. We need an extended voting period so that all citizens can vote. Oregon got it right -- they use mail-in ballots only and they seemed to have no problems. Plenty of time to vote, paper trail, signature matching -- they have a model system. It's time we look at a system such as this.

Please, Congressman Sensennbrenner, it's time to leave partisan politics aside and stand up for the people, all of the people, and a full investigation and restructuring of our voting system is the only way all of the people will be confident that their votes count.

Thank you,