URGENT ALERT! Stop Congress from using VVPB to deny the right to vote!

[hedda_foil]

If you want to have even the slightest chance of a fair election in this country ever again PLEASE respond to this post -- blast it all over the web -- send it to everyone you know -- and kick and recommend this thread. We're in big trouble folks, and if we don't jump on it hard RIGHT NOW, we won't stand a chance.

On Wednesday, we learned
that a new bill, HR 3910, introduced by Rep. Tom Feeney of Florida (yes, the same Tom Feeney who reputedly asked Clint Curtis to write him a vote flipping program)would render voter verified paper records (VVPR) effectively
meaningless, while jeopardizing the ability of millions of Americans
to exercise their right to vote at all. Its paper record requirement
lets the States decide whether the VVPR is used as anything more than
an expensive and meaningless placebo, while its Voter ID section
requires a government-issued photo ID to vote in person, or a copy of
it to vote by mail, per Homeland Security guidelines. We are issuing
this new action alert so quickly because this new threat is so
immediate that it is essential for concerned citizens to act now to
protect our right to vote and ensure that our votes are counted
accurately and transparently. Please respond to this urgent Action
Alert today by going here http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=1. Democracy demands no less!

HR 3910 could disenfranchise millions of elderly, poor, minority and
disabled voters, who lack the time, means, or physical ability to make
the long trek to wait in long lines to obtain the only acceptable type
of voter ID. At the same time, by combining the questions of Voter ID
and VVPRs, it would stifle the debate about the need for verification
of the vote totals from electronic voting systems This is
unacceptable. Every voter must be able to cast his or her vote
without the undue burden of obtaining a government-issued photo ID
and every vote must be recorded and counted accurately and
transparently. Democracy demands no less.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO HELP DEFEAT HR 3910 IN ITS ENTIRETY. (
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=1 )

In response to this new development, we have adopted a two-pronged
strategy that goes on the offense against HR 3910 while, at the same
time, urging Congress to immediately pass Rep. Rush Holt's Voter
Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005 (HR 550) as
written. HR 550 will ensure that the voter verified paper ballot is
legally considered the official record in the event of a recount,
challenge, or discrepancy, and that independent audits of the voter
verified paper ballots are performed to check the accuracy of the
vote count. HR 550 already has the bipartisan sponsorship of 157
Members of the House of Representatives.

There is nothing more important for any of us to do today than to
write your Representative demanding that the Holt (HR 550)bill be
immediately passed as written, and that the Feeney Bill (HR 3910) be
stopped in its tracks.

You MUST send this new email to your Representative, even if
have already written about HR 550! (
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=1 )

Please go to
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=1
NOW to send an email to make sure your voice is heard. At the same
time, your name will be added to a petition, urging the passage of HR
550 as written. The petition will be delivered to the members of the
House Administration Committee, who are responsible for both of these
bills. Tthe Committee traditionally operates with little, if any,
citizen input -- not even providing a way an email to the Committee
office,. It's time to put a stop to that! (If your name is already
on this petition, only the email to your Representative will be
sent.)

It's up to us DUers to spread the word to all of our blogs, lists and boards, and especially our friends and family. We have to make our voices heard before Congress decides to throw us a useless excuse for VVPR while disenfranchising millions upon millions of Americans. Please sign the
Congressional E-Mail/ and petition (
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=1
), call your Representative and the Members of the House
Administration Committee, and ask everyone you know to do the same.
Democracy demands it of us. DUers can do no less.


Joan Krawitz (aka hedda_
Executive Director
VoteTrustUSA.org ( http://votetrust.usa.org )

[helderheid]

1. I plan to kick the livin' hell outta this!

[PeterPan]

149. kicking because

verifying the accuracy and security of elections should be every public interest activists second issue if it isn't already their first.

[meganmonkey]

2. Done and kickety-frickin'-kick!!!

Thanks hedda!

:kick:

[Leeny]

3. Done

sent my email and am passing this on to everyone I can think of who will send a letter too.
:kick:
:kick:
:bounce:

[electropop]

4. Done. Here's my letter to my Congress person:

Dear Congressman ___:

HR3910 appears to be another stealth attempt to further degrade our election system, deceptively labeled as an improvement. It will make it harder for poor people to vote, and do nothing real to improve the integrity of our elections. Merely requiring paper, without specifying that the states must have mandatory and consistent accounting methods, will only further the loss of credibility in our system.

In other countries (including Canada and India) elections are done on hand-marked paper ballots, and the results are available within hours, and are available for all to openly review. These countries have very clean and trusted elections. Why is it that our ultra-sophisticated machinery produces results incredibly slowly, if at all, and the results are unprovable? If you can't prove who won an election, there was no election. Get rid of the machines, and require every state to use paper ballots, open counting, and mandatory audits and recounts with consistent (non-discretionary) rules. It's not complicated. Please just do it.

[helderheid]

8. may I steal this???

excellent letter!

[electropop]

20. Yes, please steal it, and thank you very much! nt

[helderheid]

48. Copy and paste - thanks!!

[EFerrari]

5. mothers. kick!

:kick:

[mirandapriestly]

6. Done and I told my Congressman what it's like

to not have ID, because I didn't for a while years ago.

[helderheid]

7. haven't done this yet - running out the door but will when I get back

and I'll kick it then too!

[vanboggie]

9. Sent to my Congress Critter

though requests for reasonable action to Ehlers go unheeded. He does whatever the other Pugs tell him to do.

[annabanana]

10. done. . . . kick n/t

[hedda_foil]

11. Please do this for Andy!

He'd be livid over this! Can anyone get in touch with Ted to ask if we could use Andy's mailing list to get this alert to everybody he was in contact with? Please PM me if you're willing to help on that. Andy was an original co-founder of VoteTrust and should now be our Training Director. Can you imagine how he would ROCK at that job? Damnit, I miss him!

hedda

[sonias]

12. Done!

Kicking it!

Sonia

[hedda_foil]

13. Damnit, I KNEW this would happen!

Please keep this kicked and nominated. For heaven's sake, sign the petition and get the word to everybody you know. If we don't stop this NOW, it will pass in some form or other. You know it will.

[PeterPan]

15. Just in case anyone has forgotten who Rep. Tom Feeney is

Blogged by John Gideon on 10/5/2005 @ 12:09pm PT...
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001894.htm
Tom Feeney -- Alleged Vote-Rigging Conspirator -- Introduces New Elections Bill
Further Disenfranchises Democratic Voters, Doesn't Guarantee Accuracy of Results...
Clint Curtis: 'Feeney Trying to Protect His Fixed Voting System'

In a move that some people found amazing and others expected, Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) has filed a new elections bill. HR-3910 – Verifying the Outcome of Tomorrow’s Elections Act of 2005 does nothing to verify the outcome of "tomorrow’s" elections, but it does further the RNC’s wish to keep as many poor, elderly, disabled, and people of color (in other words – normally Democratic voters) away from the polls as they possibly can.

And who is this Rep. Feeney? If you recall, he was the person alleged to have asked for a programmer to write software to switch the touch-screen votes, undetected, in Florida. Clint Curtis, whose story was originally broken here at BRAD BLOG, was the programmer. When asked about this latest step by Feeney, he responded via email simply: “Appears that Mr. Feeney is still trying to protect his fixed voting system”.

Around the water coolers on “The Hill”, there has been talk that Rush Holt’s Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 550) would be going to mark-up sometime in October. It is timely that suddenly Rep. Feeney would produce a bill that will now allow the House leaders to blend the two bills and make one bill that represents their view of privatization of elections.

This bill provides for a voter verified paper audit trail but it leaves to the states how that audit trail will be used, if at all. No verification there.

The outrageous portion of the bill is the part that discusses a voter ID requirement. No driver’s license, state ID card, student ID, library card or utility bill will do, according to this bill. Instead, in order to qualify, a voter will require:
(2) MINIMUM DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS- To meet the requirements of this subsection, a State shall include, at a minimum, the following information and features on each photo identification issued to a person by the State for purposes of subsection (b):

(A) The person's full legal name.

(B) The person's date of birth.

(C) The person's gender.

(D) The person's number for the form of the identification.

(E) A digital photograph of the person.

(F) The person's address of principle residence.

(G) The person's signature.

(H) Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.

(I) A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements.

(3) MINIMUM ISSUANCE STANDARDS

(A) IN GENERAL- To meet the requirements of this subsection, a State shall require, at a minimum, presentation and verification of the following information before issuing a photo identification to a person for purposes of subsection (b):

(i) A photo identity document, except that a non-photo identity document is acceptable if it includes both the person's full legal name and date of birth.

(ii) Documentation showing the person's date of birth.

(iii) Proof of the person's social security account number or verification that the person is not eligible for a social security account number.

(iv) Documentation showing the person's name and address of principal residence.


And what if the voter is an absentee voter? According to this bill they will have to include a copy of their ID, with SSN and address and personal information, in the envelope along with their ballot.

Last week, in response to the unbelievably poor Baker-Carter Commission report, and the rumors in DC that HR-550 may be going for ‘mark-up’, VoteTrustUSA and other groups began a write-in campaign asking members of congress to leave HR-550 untouched. This seems to be the best approach at this time.

Here's a link to the text of the bill.

Guest blogged by:
John Gideon, Information Manager
VotersUnite.Org and VoteTrustUSA.org

[mom cat]

14. Hedda, you are the best! Thanks.

[skipos]

16. Does anyone think

that there should be a DU folder for threads like these (calls to online action)? It is easy for DUers to sign online petitions, and I do them wheneever I can, but I am sure I miss some in the hundreds of new threads in the discussion folder everyday.

If there was a specific folder for online action, people could easily see the things that can be done online and do them.

Just a thought.

[PeterPan]

17. Some of the links are broken - here they are

Email/Petition Link
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=1

Vote Trust webiste
http://www.votetrustusa.org

Sign up and circulate this link. Democracy depends on Congress - and especially the House Administration Committee - hearing from us loud and clear!

[hedda_foil]

18. Thanks, Peter!

Actually the petition links are fine. I just checked. But Lord knows how I managed to screw up the VTUSA link.

[PeterPan]

19. Contact Information for House Admin Committee Members

The House Administration Committee does not provide an email address for comments belive it or not. Neither the Majority side or the Minority side. That's why the petition is so important!

Most Congressional offices will not accept emails from outside their district. However anyone can call and register their opinion - or write (faxes are better than snail mail). You can also call and fax the Majority and Minority Committee offices.

House Administration Committee Majority Office
1309 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

House Administration Committee Minority Office
1216 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]


Members of the Committee

Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) Chairman
2438 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515
P: 202.225.6265
F: 202.225.3394
E-mail: [email protected]

Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
1714 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2203
voice: [phone]
fax: [phone]

Rep. John Mica (R-FL)
2313 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Rep. Candace Miller (R-MI)
228 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2210
DC Phone: [phone]
DC Fax: [phone]

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)
2410 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-2511
202-225-5444 (fax)

Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY)
332 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3226
202-225-5265
202-225-5910

Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)Ranking Member
2445 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0537
202-225-7924
202-225-7926

Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA) Already a co-sponsor of HR 550!
206 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
102 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[marions ghost]

21. VERY IMPORTANT to oppose this...

On September 27, 2005, Rep. Tom Feeney of Florida introduced HR 3910, a bill to amend the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which combines the worst of the Carter-Baker recommendations for a government-issued Voter ID and a meaningless VVPR requirement. HR 3910 would allow any individual state to disregard the only record that the voter has confirmed in favor of the record inside the electronic machine and, rendering the voter verified paper ballot a meaningless and expensive placebo.

The Voter ID section of this bill requires a government-issued photo ID to vote in person, or a copy of it to vote by mail. This would effectively disenfranchise millions of elderly, poor, minority and disabled voters, who lack the time, means, or physical ability to make the long trek to wait in long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain the only type of ID that will allow them to exercise their right to vote.

[PeterPan]

22. I'm quite sure the plan is

for this to sail through the committee (cuz who pays any attention to the House Administration committee, right?) and put it to a vote.

Every Dem will vote against it (not because it is morally repugnant and violently anti-democratic, but because it would give a partisan advantage to Republicans in every federal election)

If it is voted down (which would require a dozen or so Republicans to vote against it) the Republicans can say "we gave you a voter verified paper record bill and all the Democrats voted against it - so shut up!"

If it passes it's the end of democracy in this country.

[marions ghost]

23. Agreed

We need to DU this VERY HARD. Is the Activist HQ onto it?

[PeterPan]

53. Yes Activist HQ Are you there?

This is critical

[happydreams]

24. Everybody needs to read this

[Lorien]

25. Done!

Thanks for the heads up! :hi:

[bleever]

26. Feeney of all people! Kicking this so hard.

[Stephanie]

27. Done

And Jerry Nadler is my rep - he should be all over this one.

[KoKo]

28. Thanks! will get this out to NC VVPB Coalition today....

We just got a bill passed with alot of hard work for VVPB..Now we have to deal with this. :-(

[Extend a Hand]

29. done

so Orwellian...really creepy

[KoKo]

30. Are the Disability Rights Groups onto this? What about the AARP?

I would think that both of those groups would have the ability to join in fighting this. :shrug:

[PeterPan]

36. Jim dickson is against voter id

for obvious reasons
unfortunately Republicans don't really worry too much about disabled voters

[Pastiche423]

57. Jim Dickson is only out for himself

(When he can make money).

He does not work for the good of the disabled, therefore be careful to use him as a credible source. He staged a demonstration w/a few quads (which he had videotaped) FOR the proprietary source BBVs.

[PeterPan]

69. Point Well Taken

[spuddonna]

31. done! and kick! n/t

[Uncle Joe]

32. First they do what they can to take away your vote,

then they come for your children (Iraq) and your home for the mega rich to redevelop.

[Junkdrawer]

33. Done

[hedda_foil]

34. The more I think about this the madder I get!

Please keep this going, write to everybody in your address book! Damn that bastard Feeney!

[mod mom]

35. done and forwarded! nt

[Time for change]

37. Done

Thank you for this.

[PeterPan]

38. kick!

[hedda_foil]

39. C'mon, DUers, keep nominating this thread!

We need to get this to #1 on the Greatest page and then on to the Home Page.

Thanks for your help!!!

[demodonkey]

40. DU this Alert and Kick it to the MOON for our buddy Andy! (Nominate too!)

This is one ot the most important alerts you are ever going to see. Take about ONE MINUTE to do this-- so DU this NOW for Andy, who had Voter Verified Paper Ballots as his last wish.

Let's hit the Congress with 20,000 e-mails!

Marybeth

[Alizaryn]

41. Done

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

42. Done, nominated and kick! nt

[Ellipsis]

43. kickety-kick n/t

[Yellow Horse]

113. Kickety-horse-kick!

:kick:

[hedda_foil]

44. If you want to be able to vote and have it count ...

Kick and nominate, send the email blast to your congresscritter of whatever species, and PLEASE ASK EVERYONE YOU'VE EVER KNOWN TO SIGN THE EMAIL/PETITION NOW!

This is the real thing, DUers. FOR THE LOVE OF DEMOCRACY, KEEP THIS SUCKER UP!

[Vincardog]

45. done

[DemReadingDU]

46. Recommended

[Senator]

47. Take Time to Customize the Email/Letter

So as not to be dismissed as "astroturf."

I prefer short and sweet:

October 7, 2005

The Honorable Mike Ferguson
U.S. House of Representatives
214 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3007


Dear Congressman Ferguson:

Today you can decide whether the nation gets "Florida" elections or "New Jersey" elections.

THIS WILL BE A CAMPAIGN ISSUE IN 2006 should you FAIL to stand up for free, fair, auditable vote counts.

I urge you to stand up for your constituents by working to defeat Feeney's Florida HR 3910 and by strongly supporting the passage of Rush Holt's New Jersey HR 550, as written.

Sincerely,

---
www.january6th.org

[PeterPan]

50. Absolutely - Customize Away!

The form email is there for folks in a hurry but who care about this important issue. It had to be general. But if you have the time to adapt it to your particular representative that is of course much better. This absolutely should be a consideration in the next election. If your representative (Republican or Democrat) doesn't stand up for transparent, verifiable elctions, they do not deserve your vote.

However you customize your email your name will be added to the petition urging support of HR 550 AS WRITTEN that will be delivered to the members of the House Administration Committee.

If you're not sure if your rep is a co-sponsor of 550 yet you can check here:
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=102&Itemid=92

If your rep is a Republican and their name is not
Tom Davis (R-VA)
Tom Petri (R-WI)
Tom Cole (R-OK)
Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
Darrel Issa (R-CA) - hideously also a sponsor of HR 3910
Mary Bono (R-CA)
Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
or
Randy Kuhl (R-NY)

then they're not yet a co-sponsor of HR 550.

There are plenty of Dems who are inexplicably not yet co-sponsors of HR 550 like:
Robert Cramer (D-AL)
Artur David (D-AL) (Can you believe it?)
Doris Matsui (D-CA) (Her husband was on last session's bill)
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)!!
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) And on the House Admin Committee as well!
Jim Costa (D-CA)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)!!!!
Jane Harman (D-CA)
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA) Ranking member of the House Admin
Joe Baca (D-CA)
John Larson (D-CT)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Jim Marshall (D-GA)
David Scott (D-GA)
Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
Bobby Rush (D-IL)!!
Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)
MElissa Bean (D-IL)
Jerry Costello (D-IL)
Lane Evans (D-IL)
Peter Viclosky (D-IN)
Ben chandler (D-KY)
William Jefferson (D-LA)
Charlie Melancon (D-LA)
Michael Capuano (D-MA)
Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Who gave us HAVA without VVPB inj the first place!
Collin Peterson (D-MN)
Ike Skelton (D-MO)
Bennie Thompson (D-MS) - inexplicable
Gene Taylor (D-MS)
Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
Melvin Watt (D-NC)
Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
Bob Andrews (D-NJ)
Greg Meeks (D-NY)
Ted Strickland (D-OH)!
Chaka Fattah (D-PA)!!
Tim Holden (D-PA)
Jim Langevin (D-RI)
John Spratt (D-SC)
James Clyburn (D-SC)
Stephanie Herseth (D-SD)
Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
John Tanner (D-TN)
Al Green (D-TX)
Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
Chet Edwards (D-TX)
Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)
Henry Cuellar (D-TX)

Being a co-sponsor of HR 939 (Count Every Vote Act) is NO excuse!
There is no reason you can't make the statement with 939 and recognize the importance of 550 - like John Conyers, Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (who introduced 939) and most of the other 939 co-sponsors.

Get to work everyone. Circulate this action alert. Sign the Petition. Call your Representatives!

[Amaryllis]

49. kick

[EFerrari]

51. kick, with gratitude

:kick:

[PeterPan]

52. kick

[stickdog]

54. Stand up and demand to be counted! (nt)

[helderheid]

55. KICK

[spanone]

56. Kickinated!!!!

[PeterPan]

58. Full Page Ad in the NY Times Today in support of HR 550!

Heading --

"Would you trust a bank that refused to issue ATM receipts?

Will you trust your democracy to voting machines without them?"

Conclusion --

"Here is what is needed and what you can do.

NEEDED: A system of voter-verified paper ballots so voters can inspect individual permanent records of their ballots before they are cast. This should be adopted in time for the 2006 elections. H.R. 550, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005, is the most comprehensive of the bills before Congress.

Action: Contact your elected representatives in Washington to ask them to support H.R. 550. Tell them your faith in our election system rests on the ability to verify that your vote was counted accurately."

Organized by: People for Fair Elections, Washington DC

Supported (undersigned) by:

Lester Brown -- President, Earth Policy Institute
Donald A. Collins -- Founding Board Member, Family Health International
Sarah Gamble Epstein -- Founding Board Member, Pathfinder International
Peter Goldmark, Jr. -- Former CEO, Int' Herald Tribune; Former Pres., Rockefeller Foundation
Denis Hayes -- President, Bullitt Foundation; Chairman, Earth Day Network
Robert Koehler -- Syndicated Columnist, Tribune Media Services
Lewis Lapham -- Editor, Harper's Magazine
Scott McVay, Ret. -- Founding Executive Director, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Russell Peterson -- Former Governor of Delaware, President Emeritus, National Audubon Society
Roger Sant -- Chairman Emeritus, The AES Corp.
John Schnittker -- Former Under Secretary of Agriculture
Joe Simonetta -- Author
Ruth Thompson -- Communications Consultant
Jeremy Waletzky, M.D. -- George Washington University

[Pastiche423]

59. Sent!

Thank you, Hedda!

[sepia_steel]

60. Done

but my congressman is Gary Miller. So I don't hold out much hope.

[PeterPan]

61. Gary Miller has received 13 emails and 1 letter

from this effort.
Perhaps if it was 130 emails and 10 letters
or 1300 emails and 100 letters.
Get this action alert out to everyone you know and make sure they do the same. This has to come from constituents - they think no one is paying attention and no one cares.
They're wrong!

[PeterPan]

64. Wow gary Miller has now received 16 emails

keep it up!

[LeahD]

62. Thank you for the heads up! Sent the E-mail to my Congresswoman. n/t

[PeterPan]

63. kick

[nicknameless]

65. Damn

Kicked, recommended, and taking action.

[freedomfries]

66. kick & done

[PeterPan]

67. write, recommend, and keep kicking

[Melissa G]

68. nominated

[PeterPan]

70. kick

[cry baby]

71. Sent email and printed letter to send snail mail.

Thanks Joan!

[PeterPan]

72. snail mail is good

faxes are better.
it takes ages for snail mail to get through all the security post-anthrax. fax if you can.
circulate the alert too - thanks so much!!

[cry baby]

73. Great idea, I'll fax it tonight!

thanks a bunch!

[Kip Humphrey]

74. Tom Feeney who hired Clint Curtis to write a hack the vote program wants

to make sure our elections remain stolen!

Stop the crook NOW!

[PeterPan]

76. Hi Kip

and thanks for all you're doing on this issue!
(and also a swift kick for this thread)

[pauldp]

75. kick. Thanks for the info.

[PeterPan]

77. kick

[katinmn]

78. Will send and distribute. Thanks!

[Yellow Horse]

79. DU this e-mail alert PLEASE!

If you have already done it, get your mother, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, cousins, and neighbors to DU it too!

[WeHoldTheseTruths]

80. Kick n/t

.

[Vektor]

81. K&R

:-)

[PeterPan]

82. kick

[demodonkey]

83. C'mon yunz guys! I wanna see 20,000 e-mails...

...from 6 or 7 people, just like on BradBlog!

This is IMPORTANT

[Rainscents]

84. Kick and nominated!

[nadinbrzezinski]

85. done, kick

[redredwine]

86. done and kick

[Bill Bored]

87. I knew that Barter Commission would trade VVPATs for Photo IDs!

Not a fair trade though!

There is no actual auditing requirement in HR3910 and the photo ID requirement could disenfranchise lots of voters.

HR3910 provides for a VVPAR that may not even have to be available for audits or recounts because it retains HAVA Section 301(a)(2)(B)(iii) and redesignates it as (iv):

"The paper record produced under subparagraph (A) shall be available as an official record for any recount conducted with respect to any election in which the system is used."

But the VVPAR is NOT even produced under subparagraph (A) -- it's produced under subparagraph (B), clause (i) according to HR3910. This bill therefore does NOT even fix the voter verification problem with HAVA!

HR550 on the other hand, does fix this problem by rewriting subparagraph (A) to include the generation of an individual voter-verified paper record of the voter's vote that shall be made available for inspection and verification by the voter before the voter's vote is cast. And THIS is the paper record to be retained for audits and recounts.

So I vote NO on HR3910 because of inadequate auditing and voter verification requirements and because of the photo ID requirement which if not implemented fairly, equitably and at no cost in either time or money spent by the voters, would disenfranchise millions of our fellow voters while providing little or no improvement to the integrity of our elections.

[PeterPan]

88. How much difference an indefinite article can make

It's the same problem with HR 278 - another menaingless VVPR bill


"The paper record produced under subparagraph (A) shall be available as

an

official record for any recount conducted with respect to any election in which the system is used."

Not THE official record.

Sure its AN official record but the Secretary of State (does the Blackwell sound familiar?) can decide whether or not it has any significance.

[Bill Bored]

98. Right. Now compare this scam to Sen. Ensign's (R) bill:

<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.330:>

This one looks pretty good by comparison, doesn't it?
This is why Andy Stephenson and Hedda Foil supported it.
And we should too, although Holt's HR550 is better.

[PeterPan]

101. Andy supported this bill in the month before 550

was introduced. And because it was the only vvpr bill in either house at the time. S. 330 (Ensign's bill) and its companion HR 704 (introduced by Rep. Gibbons) have these advantages:

1. They are introduced by Republicans (and S. 330 has three other Republican co-sponsors - Chaffee, Sununu, and Burns - HR 704 has one co-sponsor, Democrat Shelly Berkeley who is also a co-sponsor of 550)

2. It clearly establishes that the vvpr will be used in audits and recounts and that it shall be superior to other records).

However, S. 330 is DOA and is a total waste of time. We know this because Sen. Dayton introduced the exact language of S. 330 as an amendment to the campaign fianance bill during a Rules Committee mark-up in April. Sen. Dodd (D-CT) - our primary vvpr opponent in Congress, HAVA author, and Ranking Member of the Rules Committee immediately tabled it on the grounds that it does not address diasbled access to verification. This bill will never ever ever go anywhere.
This cannot be used against HR 550 (or a companion bill in the Senate)

The other problem with S. 330/HR 704 is that it doesn't do anything with the vvpr - nor does it provide any funding for states to upgrade to vvpr printers.

Unlike 550 there is no audit provision, no prohibition of undisclosed software and wireless communications devices.

S. 330/HR 704 are better than HR 3910 but they are NOT alternatives for HR 550.

[demodonkey]

110. The last time I talked to Andy, he said how important the audit is...

Andy definitely supported HR 550 and he was just miserable that he couldn't be in D.C. for the Lobby Days in June to work for this bill.

If Andy could be on here tonight in person, I know he would be kicking this e-mail alert to the outer solar system and back! Can you imagine how furious Andy would be if Feeney of all people guts the best bill we have now Voter Verified Paper Ballots, AND disenfranchises poor, disabled and elderly with Photo ID ?

[Bill Bored]

114. I don't disagree, but would Dodd support an HR550 companion

in the Senate?

He sounded like such a moron frankly in that Senate Rules Committee hearing last summer at which David Dill and Jim Dixon testified. Dodd went on and on like a broken record about how we need "multiple forms of verification" without mentioning the auditing problem ONCE! He seems to think that just because the voter verifies the vote that it's actually counted as cast! What a jerk. :(

That is downright stupid, I'm sorry to say. There's no other way to describe it. (If he were a Repub, I'd say he was evil, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt because he's one of us.)

It was Dayton who brought up the issue of auditing at that hearing if I recall. And TRENT LOTT of all people said he's happy with paper ballots and op scan in his county. He just didn't want to tell the states what to do.

Personally, I'd be happy to settle all of this at the state level, as Peace Patriot and others have suggested. Congress should go back to the beltway where they came from, although Holt's bill would be pretty good as a stopgap measure if all else fails.

[WeHoldTheseTruths]

89. kick

whups

was down at the bott of the page

[roseBudd]

90. Here is mine to combover Chabot...

Dear Congressman Chabot:

Unlike most middle class people, one thing I understand is poor people. Requiring people who may not own a vehicle, have a checking account and move frequently, sometimes due to eviction or domestic violence to have a photo ID to vote IS Jim Crow.

I am able to identify myself over the phone with only the last 4 digits of my social and a birthdate.

Please do not succumb to this bigoted southern strategy to
disenfranchise the disadvantaged.

[Moosepoop]

91. kick!

:kick:

[freedomfries]

92. kick & search

note that the author of this infamous "election verification" bill impersonates all three sides of the issue that the election reform movement has so painfully tried to keep separate: voter repression, e-vote secrecy and vote manipulation, all in one.
google feeney and write to the members of the committee on house administration.

[PeterPan]

93. kick

[demodonkey]

94. Kick -- and please CLICK the link --tell your Congressperson that you want

meaningful Voter Verified Paper Records with audits!

[freedomfries]

95. brad blog on the new voter repression bill

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001894.htm

[Peace Patriot]

96. Thanks for the heads up! I will act on it immediately.

I don't look to Congress to restore our right to vote. They took it away quite deliberately with the $4 billion HAVA boondoggle, pushing states to prematurely convert to electronic voting with "trade secret," proprietary programming--owned and controlled by Bushite corporations--no auditing controls (not even a meager "paper trail" requirement), and no controls on lavish lobbying and other evils (insecure, unreliable and extremely hackable machines). Yeah, it was Tom Delay who blockaded a "paper trail" in committee, but Democrats SHOULD NOT HAVE SUPPORTED the passage of HAVA without proper controls, and I think the reason they did so anyway was corruption.

We need to throw these election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor'! --rather than trying to patch up a wholly corrupted election system, which these Bushite criminals will once again foil. Frankly, I wish Congress would keep its dirty hands off our election system. The more they mess around, the more power we lose at the state/local level, where it is still possible for real reform to take place. I wish the Dem Party would lead a campaign for election reform at the state/local level, purge its own ranks of the corruption in the electronic voting scene, and forget trying to cozen Bush's "pod people" in Congress into giving us transparent elections. It will never work. They don't want transparent elections. What they want is "Voter ID" to purge more black and poor voters with. And that's likely to be the upshot of all this. And we will have lost more ground in the state/local jurisdictions, where ordinary people still have some influence.

I can't help but support a real Voter Verified "Paper Record" (with required audits/recounts), but, like most Dem Party measures, it is half-assed--AND it tends to endorse electronic voting, as a fait accompli, and IGNORES *HOW* the votes are being tabulated--with SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code--and *WHO* is counting them, Bushite corporations.

We cannot have transparent elections with "trade secret" vote tabulation. Period. THAT is the problem. Private corporations--let alone Bushite corporations--should have no part in our elections. If electronics are used, the code should be OPEN SOURCE, and non-profits or a public agency should be manufacturing and controlling these systems. The best solution would be to go back to PAPER BALLOTS, HAND-COUNTED AT THE PRECINCT LEVEL, until properly secure and public electronic systems can be developed.

A VVPR (you will notice it's not a BALLOT) is a patch; it is by no means a solution. It fails to address the central problem--privatization of our elections and "trade secret" code. And it will more than likely be killed by this Bushite Congress, who will, at the same time, impose "Voter ID" on the states, REDUCING the power of the PEOPLE to determine who is a qualified voter--thus moving us closer and closer to federalized elections under Bush Cartel control.

The contracts for private, corporate-run elections, with "trade secret" vote tabulation provisions, are written and signed by STATE officers and county election officials. That's where we must start undoing this mess.

[PeterPan]

97. kick

[Peace Patriot]

99. P.S. On second thought, it appears that the "Voter Verified Paper Record"

might be comparable to a BALLOT, if I understand the bill correctly (Holt 550). It will be treated like a ballot--have legal standing in recounts and audits. I'm not sure why it is not called a ballot, if that is the case. But my other criticisms still stand--the bill does NOT address how the votes are being tabulated, or by whom; it does not address the weakness, insecurity and hackability, or the inappropriateness, of these private voting systems.

Here's my letter to my Congressman re HR 3910 (Feeney) and HR 550 (Holt), sent via the link in the main post, above. I've used their template (easy to use), and added what I think are critically important points:

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

Dear Congressman:

When the Final Report of the phony Baker/Carter Commission on Federal Election Reform was released in September, editorials across the nation condemned its recommendations for a National Voter ID, while overlooking the Commission's recommendation that Congress adopt a cosmetic voter verified paper record (VVPR) requirement, whose status would be left up to the individual states. What else could be expected from this self-appointed "Federal Commission" that gave itself the task of "reporting" to Congress, stacked itself with electronic voting company supporters, permitted almost no other kind of testimony, and failed to address the matter of private Bushite corporations counting all our votes with SECRET, PRORPIETARY programming code?

On September 27, 2005, in an expected outcome of the phony Baker/Carter "commission," Rep. Tom Feeney of Florida (who has been accused, in sworn testimony before Congressman Conyers' committee, of commissioning a vote theft software prototype) then introduced HR 3910, a bill to amend the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which combines the worst of the Carter-Baker recommendations for a government-issued Voter ID and a meaningless VVPR requirement. HR 3910 would allow any individual state to disregard the only record that the voter has confirmed in favor of the record inside the electronic machine and, rendering the voter verified paper ballot a meaningless and expensive placebo. The Voter ID section of this bill requires a government-issued photo ID to vote in person, or a copy of it to vote by mail. This would effectively disenfranchise millions of elderly, poor, minority and disabled voters, who lack the time, means, or physical ability to make the long trek to wait in long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain the only type of ID that will allow them to exercise their right to vote. This federal bill will further reduce the power and right of the people in their state and local jurisdictions to achieve real reform of our very corrupt election systems, as well as reducing our power and right to determine who is qualified to vote.

In a democracy, every voter must be able to cast his or her vote in the confidence that that vote will be counted, that vote counting will be transparent and understandable, and without the undue physical and financial burden of obtaining a government-issued photo ID. HR 3910 violates both of these essential prerequisites of free and fair elections, and must be defeated.

Fortunately, there is a bill currently before the House Administration Committee that will mandate effective and meaningful voter verified paper records and independent audits without threatening the right to vote that is the heritage of America's current and future voters. Although Rep. Rush Holt's Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 550) fails to address the most critical problem--"trade secret" vote tabulation, controlled by Bushite corporations--it will help to ensure that the voter verified paper record is the official record in the event of a recount, challenge, or discrepancy in a Federal election, and that independent audits of the voter verified paper ballots are routinely performed to check the accuracy of the machines that count the vote. HR 550 already has the bipartisan support of 157 Members of the House of Representatives, and has been endorsed by VoteTrustUSA and VerifiedVoting.org as the "gold standard" in verifiability legislation. The language in this bill was carefully written with input from computer scientists, disabilities organizations, and election reform advocates. And while it does not go nearly far enough, it should be passed as written--with no weakening or "Trojan horses" by Bush's "pod people" in Congress--in time to protect the 2006 elections.

I urge you to stand up for your constituents by working to defeat HR 3910 and by strongly supporting the passage of HR 550, as written. I also urge you to begin a Democratic Party campaign to reform our election system at the state/local level, with a return to hand-counted paper ballots and a complete re-thinking of electronic voting. The goal should be eliminating trade secret vote tabulation, all non-transparent features and all private corporate influence over our elections. Quite frankly, given the state of our country at the hands of the Bush Cartel, I think we should throw these election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor'!

Sincerely,

XXXX

[PeterPan]

100. The issue of "record" vs. "ballot"

has been a hot one for a long time.

Since this is federal legislation it must be adaptible to the definition of "ballot" that varies in different states. In the case of opscan or other paper based systems there is no problem - there is only one ballot - the one the voter marks, and it is therefore inherently voter verified. (Note that HR 550 requires that all voting systems produce or require the use of a voter verified paper record of the voter's vote.)
In the cases in which DREs are used the DRE directly records the voter's vote (at least that's what its supposed to do) and the vvpr would be an additional "record" of the vote. It has been suggested that there may be a problem in some states in calling the voter verified record a "ballot" since there can only be one ballot per voter. In any case the effect of HR 550 is clear because in the case of any inconsistency between totals generated from hand counts of the voter verified paper records and any other totals - the voter verified paper record shall be considered the true and correct record of the voter's vote. HR 550 also makes it clear that the vvpr shall be used in all audits or recounts.

The wrong term is "paper trail" - trail has no legal definition and can be and has been interpreted to be the end-of-day printout from the DRE (its on paper, right?)

[PeterPan]

102. kick

[freedomfries]

103. good kos post on this

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/8/14730/7214

[flyarm]

104. kicked and sent out to all my fla& nj and national email lists

sent to dnc offices in my county in fla and nj..and they have sent out to the dem lists...sent to all the dem clubs i belong to in both states....sent to move on rep in fla...

trying to get it all over!!

with love and thoughts of my dearest friend "Andy".......fly

[flyarm]

105. kick kick kick kick !!!!!!!

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
i miss Andy........fly

[flyarm]

106. sent to dec chair and vice chair..sw fla!! kick

and to state committee woman...sec chair...

trying to get to everyone in fla..since its our asshole who is trying to screw it all up...thankfully i live in nj ( rush holts state, love this man!)..and fla!!



:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

for my love..Andy

fly

[demodonkey]

122. Hi Fly! You are lucky you can kick this in TWO states!

:hi:

You get those Floridians and Garden Staters going, girl!

;-)

[progressoid]

107. too late for a recommendation but still time to sight the petition...nt

[PeterPan]

108. kick

[Capn Sunshine]

109. If ever there was a time for this

IT'S NOW, PEOPLE, when we have them on the rops and they are bleeing! This would give that stalking zombie more life, and the last thing I want to see is a bunch of DUers whining on the day after Elections 2006 that we were robbed again.
So , everybody get off you asses and contact your elected reps , and anyone else you can influence!

[Yellow Horse]

111. Do. This. Now. (and keep this thread kicked, please!)

:kick:

[demodonkey]

112. Kick

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

115. of course a criminal would want to change the law

we must kill feeney's bill.

[davidlynch]

116. Done n/t

[davidlynch]

117. Done n/t

[hedda_foil]

118. Great work, folks!! Keep this ALIVE for all of our sakes!

We CANNOT let them sneak this one through on our watch.

[demodonkey]

121. Kickety-Kick this thread & clickety-click the link. Let D.C. hear ya', DU

:kick:

[PeterPan]

136. Thanks MB!

[LuCifer]

119. KICK!

Thank you!

[PeterPan]

120. kick

[Yellow Horse]

123. I got one sent from almost every member of my family...

...except a couple of my fundie freeper cousins, ha ha ha.

Please check in and let us all know -- how many did YOU get to sign the petition?

[freedomfries]

124. kick

help defeat new RealID voter repression bill HR 3910 and pass HR550 voter protection legislation

[PeterPan]

125. kick

[PeterPan]

126. kick

[PeterPan]

128. kick

[helderheid]

127. kick

[freedomfries]

130. kick - sample e-mail/letter

When the Final Report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform was released in September, editorials across the nation condemned its recommendations for a National Voter ID, while overlooking the Commission's recommendation that Congress adopt a cosmetic voter verified paper record (VVPR) requirement, whose status would be left up to the individual states.

On September 27, 2005, Rep. Tom Feeney of Florida introduced HR 3910, a bill to amend the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which combines the worst of the Carter-Baker recommendations for a government-issued Voter ID and a meaningless VVPR requirement. HR 3910 would allow any individual state to disregard the only record that the voter has confirmed in favor of the record inside the electronic machine and, rendering the voter verified paper ballot a meaningless and expensive placebo. The Voter ID section of this bill requires a government-issued photo ID to vote in person, or a copy of it to vote by mail. This would effectively disenfranchise millions of elderly, poor, minority and disabled voters, who lack the time, means, or physical ability to make the long trek to wait in long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain the only type of ID that will allow them to exercise their right to vote.

In a democracy, every voter must be able to cast his or her vote without the undue physical and financial burden of obtaining a government-issued photo ID and every vote must be recorded and counted accurately and transparently. HR 3910 violates both of these essential prerequisites of free and fair elections, and must be defeated.

Fortunately, there is a bill currently before the House Administration Committee that will mandate effective and meaningful voter verified paper records and independent audits without threatening the right to vote that is the heritage of America's current and future voters.

Rep. Rush Holt's Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 550) will ensure that the voter verified paper record is the official record in the event of a recount, challenge, or discrepancy in a Federal election, and that independent audits of the voter verified paper ballots are routinely performed to check the accuracy of the machines that count the vote. HR 550 already has the bipartisan support of 157 Members of the House of Representatives, and has been endorsed by VoteTrustUSA and VerifiedVoting.org as the "gold standard" in verifiability legislation. The language in this bill was carefully written with input from computer scientists, disabilities organizations, and election reform advocates. It should be passed as written and in time to protect the 2006 elections.

I urge you to stand up for your constituents by working to defeat HR 3910 and by strongly supporting the passage of HR 550, as written.

[PeterPan]

129. kick

[PeterPan]

131. kick

[Amaryllis]

132. kick

[freedomfries]

133. kick

[MissWaverly]

134. Thanks, Feeney is another example of breaking the law

by trying to enforce it, just like the Supreme Court claimed they
were granting equal protection to Florida voters in the recount
process, by STOPPING the recount and handing it to their buddy Bush.

[PeterPan]

135. Down is the new Up

Welcome to the NEocon States of America.
Thanks for giving this thread a kick - this issue is fundamental.
Recruit great candidates, frame the issues, run great campaigns, register voters (even get them IDs) drive them to the polls
and then trust Diebold, Sequoia, and ES&S to count the votes?

Please circulate this action alert!

[demodonkey]

137. Hello from the state capital of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg!

We need VVPR here, PA is targeted and I believe we will be one of the next Ohios or Floridas in 2006 and 2008.

If you are from PA, or PLEASE click and send e-mail to the state Corngessional delegation! We have so few HR550 co-sponsors, and even all the Dems from the PA delegation have not signed on yet.

More info here on PA:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=175x7526

[PeterPan]

138. Recruit good candidates, frame the issues, run

great campaigns, register voters (even get them IDs), drive them to the polls

and then let Unilect, ES&S, Sequoia and DIEBOLD count the votes with a way to verify?
Come on folks we need HR 550 now!

[freedomfries]

139. kick & check NYTimes 10/07 full-page ad

great full-page picture ad in last Friday's New York Times:
Would you trust a bank that refused to issue ATM receipts?
Will you trust your democracy to voting machines without them?
....
The unanswered questions about the 2004 elections warrant the highest concern of every American citizen regardless of party affiliation. The possibility of a faulty counting system is the most serious issue any democracy can face.
...
Contact your elected representatives in Washington to ask them to support H.R.550.

http://www.bradblog.com/Docs/ElectionFraud_9%2028_656_Final.pdf

[PeterPan]

140. the ad was great

i hope it gets some traction

[demodonkey]

150. Home from Harrisburg and working on getting more e-mails to Congress!

:kick:

[PeterPan]

151. Thanx and a kick

[dogday]

141. This is a bill to silence America!

A bill to keep VVPB away from the people. That is exactly what this is. At the bank where I used to work, we kept 2 copies of our transactions. At the grocery store, I get a receipt of my transaction,when I get gas, ATM machine, on the internet I get a printable copy of my transaction. Now all these things are run by machine, same as voting and yet the most important thing that we do in this country, is not backed up by a piece of paper is totally ridiculous. If anything that is the most important receipt I could receive.

[PeterPan]

142. This bill not only would disenfranchise millions

it would bury the issue of voter verified paper records at the federal level. It would create a menaingless placebo vvpr that could be ignored by any secretary of state (does the name blackwell ring a bell?).

Its an unfunded mandate requiring states to upgrade their paperless DREs but then allows the states to toss them in the trash.

[PeterPan]

143. kick - we really need your help on this

If you haven't signed please do and send it to friends and list serves, post it on blogs and websites.
Thanks!

[PeterPan]

144. kicking for democracy

[PeterPan]

145. kick

[PeterPan]

146. kick

[PeterPan]

147. kick

[WeHoldTheseTruths]

148. kick

about 2:00 PM here in Thailand -- not staying up late. Often can't get internet connex though, thus not dependable for regular kicking.

BushCo's Feeney is trying to sneak this in under the radar and continue to subvert the election system and this shit must me stopped.

[dogday]

152. kicking for VVPB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[livvy]

153. Done and ...

:kick:

[NoBushSpokenHere]

154. kick n/t

[demodonkey]

155. Get Back Up There

:kick:

[Bill Bored]

156. kick nt

[Yellow Horse]

157. If you haven't sent this e-mail yet...

...do it NOW. Don't let Feeney the Weenie gut the best bill we have for Voter Verified Paper Records WITH AUDITS!

[Bill Bored]

158. kick nt