Here’s the latest, very important campaign from MoveOn.org:
Dear MoveOn member,
We all remember the election of 2000. Because of faulty and
mismanaged election systems, George W. Bush won Florida’s electoral
votes and the presidency. And now look at the mess we’re in.
People demanded improvements, and now states are spending millions to
buy new voting machines. So far, so good. But many key states,
including Florida, Ohio and other battlegrounds, are installing “black
box” voting machines — computer voting terminals that don’t produce a
paper ballot.
Without a paper ballot, there’s no way to know if our votes are
counted correctly. Also, computers are vulnerable to malfunction —
how often does yours freeze up?
It’s time to take action to protect our votes. Join our call for
Voter-Verified Paper Ballots, at:
http://www.moveon.org/protectourvotes/
If ATMs and gas pumps can print receipts, then voting terminals can
print paper ballots. Every voter should be able to make sure that his
or her vote will count as it was cast, by verifying a paper ballot that
can be audited and re-counted. And wherever electronic voting
terminals are used, backup paper ballots should also be available, so
no voters will be turned away from the polling place if the terminals
aren’t working.
Over the past few weeks, MoveOn members have been calling legislators
and officials in many states to demand Voter-Verified Paper Ballots.
And along with other citizen’s groups, large and small, we have won
important victories.
A month ago, our side won its biggest victory yet. California
Secretary of State Kevin Shelley decertified 14,000 black box voting
terminals made by Diebold Inc., and said that this November, every
California voter will be able to vote on a paper ballot.
Every voter in every state should have the same right — to verify
that his or her vote was recorded correctly, with full confidence
that it will be counted correctly. We shouldn’t have to hand our
elections over to manufacturers like Diebold and blindly trust them
with the results.
This is not about partisan politics. It’s about the foundation of our
democracy: our votes. There’s no reason Americans should have
anything less than the most accessible, secure and reliable voting
system possible.
Join our campaign by clicking this link:
http://www.moveon.org/protectourvotes/
Thank you, for everything you do.
P.S. The guy who runs Diebold, Walden O’Dell, is one of the biggest contributors to the Bush campaign and has publicly said that he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”
Stop the madness.
