HR 550 vs HR 6200

[helderheid]

November 14, 2006

HR 550 vs HR 6200

By Lora Chamberlain

HR 550 vs HR 6200

Hello to all,

Trust but Verify is the motto of the Voting Rights movement. Machine glitches have been occurring across the nation over and over and over because we, the people have given up our right and duty to monitor and conduct our own elections! We must trash these corruptible machines and go back to hand counting our paper ballots like they used to do in the 1950s. Eighty percent of the countries around the World vote on paper and count by hand, 80%!!! Is this because they can't afford the machines or more probably that they just do not TRUST them, so why should we???
This brings me to the issue of Congressional bills, you will see Common Cause and other organizations coming out in the next few weeks telling you to call Congress for a voter verified paper trail bill, Holt's bill HR 550. Please go to www.thomas.loc.gov to read the bill yourself. I DO NOT THINK that it is a fix to our problem and this is why;
The touch screen machines around the country have to be trashed not jerry-rigged with a flimsy paper roll that has print on it that smudges when you touch it, so that no REAL recount would be able to be conducted!!! Only 30% of the voters even look at the paper roll to verify their votes because frankly I think the technology is TOO MUCH for them and it is obviously TOO MUCH for many of the poll workers judging from the delays in polls around the country last Tue. We must simplify by getting real paper ballots for everyone across the country. I think that the ballots could possibly be optical scan counted but I absolutely believe that we must be hand counting of at least 10%-20% of the ballots as a citizen conducted audit!!! Not the Election Assistance Commission as it says in Holt's bill but the CITIZENS! And NOT 2% as it says in Holt's bill but 10%-20%-100% of the ballots counted by hand!!! These are OUR ELECTIONS folks and WE MUST TAKE THEM BACK!!! We have outsourced our elections to the machines and to select small groups of Governmental officials and I believe there is enough evidence across the country in 2000, 2002, 2004 and now 2006 that shows that this was an UNWISE move on our part!!!
"The Price for Democracy is Eternal Vigilance", said Thomas Jefferson and he was NOT kidding! If you want real Democracy, you must be willing to do the work!!! Canada counts their ballots by hand in 4 hours, 39 million ballots in 4 hours, what is OUR problem down here in America, have we gotten just too darn lazy for our own good???
So Kucinich has put in a bill HR 6200 calling for Paper Ballots and Hand Counts across America for the Presidential race of 2008! This is the bill that I recommend! We are going to have to convince the rest of America that we can conduct a citizens run election and so please do not make calls for HR 550 but call instead for HR 6200 and let's get America headed back towards real Democracy!!!

I have a call out to Rep. Dennis Kucinich to be on my radio show on Wed. Nov 22nd, 12noon-2pm(PT) on www.KSKQ.org to talk about this bill, I will let you know what he says.
Thank you very much,
Dr. Lora Chamberlain
[email protected]
1-773-486-7660

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/print_friendly.php?p=opedne_lora_cha_061114_hr_550_vs_hr_6200.htm

[GregD]

1. I tend to agree, and have been discussing that idea with others

HR2239, now known as HR550 and soon to again be renamed, is a relic. It was crafted in the spring of 2003, when the recognition of the problems with electronic voting systems was just raising its ugly head.

So here we are, 3 years later, and a lot of experience with e-voting and real elections. And we have enough co-sponsors that if Ney were still holding the bill in committee, we could force it out, just based on the support.

But this is a new congress, a new leadership, and we have 2 years - one to get a bill passed, and one to get it enforced between now and the 2008 election.

I think that a conversation needs to be held among the leaders of the election transparency movement, as well as legislative directors for Kucinich, Holt, Boxer and ??? and see how they feel about re-crafting the language.

Hell, I still remember when Bob Graham (FL) submitted HR2239 as S1980, after dates within 2239 had already expired, and the dates remained in the newly submitted bill.

The bill needs to be carefully reviewed, carefully (but significnatly revised), and re-submitted.

We will not get a make-over on this one kids. It needs to be done right the first time.

[helderheid]

2. We have such a rare opportunity right now to get it right, and we must!

[Squeech]

3. Agreed

A true conservative would say Let's go back to when it worked right.

(Not that it ever worked exactly right. Yes, there have been, and will continue to be, *political* machines that will tamper with the voters' intent. Yes, there have been, and will continue to be, self-interested secretaries of state and legislatures that will figure out how to exclude certain demographic groups deemed to be inimical to their interests.

But yeah, let's not run our elections with souped-up X-boxes. Keep It Simple Stupid is a good idea.)

[nofurylike]

4. thank you very much for posting this, helderheid! i anxiously

await more info and discussion on this vitally important issue and bill!

i feel we must strongly support this bill!

i'm sorry i didn't see this in time to RECOMMEND
and this:

:kick:


peace and solidarity!