Kucinich endorses voter verified paper trail on campaign website

[Eric J in MN]

Kucinich endorses voter verified paper trail on campaign website.

Do any of the other candidates?

From
http://www.kucinich.us/issues/e_voting.php
--------------------------------------------

As Rep. Rush Holt stated, "We cannot afford nor can we permit another major assault on the integrity of the American electoral process. Imagine it's Election Day 2004. You enter your local polling place and go to cast your vote on the brand new "touch screen" voting machine. The screen says your vote has been counted. As you exit the voting booth, however, you begin to wonder. How do I know if the machine actually recorded my vote? The fact is, you don't".

This is why I am strong supporter and co-sponsor of Rep. Holt's bill H.R. 2239, otherwise known as the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003". If instated, this bill would:

* Require all voting machines to produce a voter-verified paper record for use in manual audits and recounts
* Ban the use of undisclosed software and wireless communications devices in voting systems
* Require all voting systems to meet these requirements in time for the general election in November 2004
* Require that electronic voting systems be provided for persons with disabilities by January 1, 2006
* Require mandatory surprise recounts in 0.5% of domestic jurisdictions and 0.5% of overseas jurisdictions

We have already seen the consequences of inaccurate vote keeping in Florida during the 2000 Presidential Elections where over 280,000 ballots were uncounted, leaving the sum of disenfranchised Floridians far greater than the 537-vote margin by which the state was won. Thousands of nationally and internationally-renowned computer scientists consider a voter-verified paper trial to be a critical safeguard for the accuracy, integrity, and security of computer-assisted elections. Many of them can also list dozens of plausible ways for computerized voting machines to be compromised.

While there is certainly room for improvement in voting technology, electronic voting machines are not the answer. I believe that election reform is an issue that deserves close attention, but we must also guard against changes that inadvertently create even worse problems. Unless we are using auditable voting equipment, public confidence in our elections will be eroded and the results of any election will remain open to question.

[JohnKleeb]

1. not sure but this is good stuff aint it

[snoochie]

2. Thanks for posting this.

I visit his site but didn't see that. I'll have to go back and send a note of thanks for him making this topic more visible.

[LSparkle]

3. Dennis ought to make this an issue at the next debate

If we can't have a fair election, why have one at all? Any candidate doesn't who favor at least checking into BBV smells funny to me ...

[Terwilliger]

4. Have any of the other Dem candidates said anything about BBV?

or related issues?

[snoochie]

5. Don't know...

but if they haven't, they should!

[Eric J in MN]

6. Howard Dean was asked about this during an online chat

Howard Dean was asked about this during an online chat, and he said that volunteers at polls would make sure the election was fair.

His answer suggests that he isn't familiar with the issue, since volunteers can't tell what is going on inside a machine.

[BevHarris]

7. Lip service but nothing formal from: Clark, Dean, and Gephardt

that's all. So far, Dennis is the one showing leadership in this issue. It's safe to stand at a town meeting and tell someone you are "very concerned about it" but it's leadership to make a formal statement.

[Terwilliger]

8. I agree

I also find the lack of enthusiasm on the part of most of the presidential candidates quite disturbing, considering what happened in Florida in 2000.

[JohnKleeb]

10. exactly this is how we got Bush in the first place

Good for Kucinich for showing the big L, in LEADERSHIP.

[JohnKleeb]

9. but hes unelectable so we should ignore him

;)
This is great Bev, I wish more people would see that his leadership in this is an excellent quality about him, after all it was suspicious voting ballots in the first place that got Bush "elected", good for DK, continuingly giving me reasons to support him.

[BevHarris]

11. Look, I like all the candidates (except Lieberman) but for Kucinich

I did this earlier today:

Front page, top, http://www.blackboxvoting.org

"The Honorable Rep. Dennis Kucinich did a courageous thing, which shows his commitment to this issue in the strongest possible terms: He posted the Diebold Memos on his Web site. This was a great validation to the work we have done. If you would like to express your appreciation for his leadership on this issue, here is a direct link where you can make a contribution to his presidential campaign."

His staff contacted me around Oct. 15 requesting memos for the web site. This amazed me. It was harder than I thought to fill that request, because you really have to provide comments on some of them to show why they are important. I started emailing memos -- actually, many they used were from the original emails. Then I set up a private forum and RedEagle and JohnGideon provided many more, and I was able to provide a much more readable format. I can see from the logs that they accessed this site many times, and the memos currently on its front page are what they used.

This really just blew me away. It is easy to do the safe thing, much trickier to take a stand like this. He really "gets it." His staff told me he also read the printouts of Black Box Voting.

Bev Harris

[snoochie]

13. Just want to take this opportunity to thank you

and all the people who have helped you to get this out in front of people.

We all owe you and all those a great debt.

Someone told me he has the 'luxury' of having 'nothing to lose' because he has 'no chance'... it made me mad but it's probably at least partially true.

I wonder when Lincoln made comments about corporations or an elite aristocracy taking over our democracy. Maybe he thought he had 'nothing to lose' too.

Either way, thank God for those that speak out, no matter what their reasons for doing so.

:yourock:

[LWolf]

14. He spoke to us about it in September.

I attended a Peace Day party in Studio City; Dennis was there, and someone asked him about the integrity of electronic voting machines. He gave an immediate, detailed response and mentioned the Holt bill. I don't remember details about what he said, but he was clearly up to date on the problems.

I, too, appreciate his leadership in this and other critical issues.

[Tinoire]

16. Awesome Bev! & Welcome back!

It's good to see you!

You know he's been following this since at least May? He brought up the BBV issue during a talk in San Francisco. I was totally wowed!

peace

[Closer]

12. Kucinich ROCKS!

This is wonderful!

Kudos to Kucinich Campaign for taking the lead in this!

[RedEagle]

15. Thank you Representative Kucinich!

I hope other memebers of Congress are reading your web site.

Kick!