Tell Congress: Support HR 2894, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act

September 10, 2010 Subject: Please Co-Sponsor the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act I am writing to urge you to support the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008, introduced by Representative Rush Holt. This bill would reimburse counties and states for the purchase of paper ballot voting systems in time for the November 2008 elections and cover the cost of conducting routine manual audits of the November 2008 election results for jurisdiction that choose to conduct such audits. Numerous academic and governmental studies have uncovered serious security vulnerabilities in the electronic voting equipment used to count America’s votes. Reports from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service confirmed concerns about the reliability and security of electronic voting systems. Major security reviews of voting systems, from California to Colorado to Ohio have found that the computer-based voting equipment used in many of the nation's polling places lack the sufficient technical controls necessary to guarantee trustworthy elections. While HR 5036 as introduced would have offered money only for the most reliable voting systems - those that use voter-marked paper ballots, with accessible ballot-marking devices to serve voters with disabilities - an amendment has been added in committee that would also provide funding for retrofitting direct-recording electronic voting machines (DREs) with printers. Adding printers to DREs is not the best option for voter-verified paper ballots; paper based systems, whether initially counted by optical scanners or by hand, provide a record of voter intent, are more reliable and cost effective than DREs, and they are simpler for pollworkers and voters to use. They are also easier to recount and audit than DRE paper trails, and with the current generation of ballot marking system, all voters can verify that their votes were marked as intended on their paper ballot. And with its funding for paper ballot systems and ballot markers, the bill makes it possible for counties to implement the best voting system. Many states will conduct Presidential primaries using unreliable, insecure, and unverifiable electronic voting systems. Congress must act to improve this state of affairs by the general election. By offering financial incentives for paper ballot systems and audits, Congress can help states move toward verifiable elections without controversial mandates. Please support the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act. We will add your signature from the information you provide.		First Name* Last Name* Email* Street* Street 2 City* State/Province* Select a state Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Armed Forces (the) Americas Armed Forces Europe Armed Forces Pacific Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Newfoundland New Brunswick Nova Scotia Northwest Territories Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Territory Other Zip/Postal Code* Send an Email Send a Fax