and redo it. I'm hoping in the next few hours to get this letter signed by other election reform activists. If you'd like to be a signer, please PM me with your name and organizational affiliation.
Here's my letter:
Dear Wes Boyd, Joan Blades and other MoveOn staff:
As leaders in the election reform movement, we are deeply concerned about
your newly released petition to
"repair the vote." While we are pleased that MoveOn wants to motivate its
members to take action for fair elections, we regret to say that we believe
that the wording of your petition is more harmful than helpful to the cause.
A "paper receipt" does not solve the problems of electronic voting
technology. A slip of paper with a happy face on it that says, "Thanks for
voting!" could qualify as a receipt. Even a receipt that specifies the votes
cast by the voter is insufficient, because DRE (direct recording electronic)
voting machines can easily be programmed to print a receipt that tells the
voter they voted for candidate A while actually counting their vote for
candidate B. What is needed to ensure that the results of the election
represent the will of the voters is voter-verified paper ballots. It is
these ballots, not the electronic machine tally, that must be used for the
official vote count. Receipts are not simply a "band-aid," but are band-aid
in a bathtub--completely useless.
By asking your loyal members to endorse a paper receipt, you have
miseducated them in a way that we believe is dangerous to the cause of fair
elections. We respectfully request that you replace this petition with a new
one requesting voter-verified paper ballots that are the ballots of record
for every election, and that you notify signers of the original petition of
the change. We further request that the original petitions not be submitted
to lawmakers or other government officials.
For a bit more information on this issue, we direct you to Gary Beckwith's
brief article, "Understanding the difference between paper ballots and paper
audit trails." (Please note that a "receipt" is even less helpful than a
paper audit trail.)
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1201We would like to take this opportunity to offer to assist you in coming
up-to-speed on the intricacies of the election reform issues and movement.
If you would like to meet with representatives of grassroots election reform
groups or would like more written information, we would be delighted to
arrange that for you.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
(list of signers being compiled now)
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