Friends,
We're now on the other side of Election Day -- can you believe it? But
the election is not over yet -- the vote-counting continues, and so must
our efforts to protect democracy! We need you, RIGHT NOW, to find out
if and when manual audits are occurring in your area, and if they are,
to go and observe the auditing process.
As many of you know firsthand, people in various parts of the country
worked very hard over the last few years to achieve an important safety
net for our democracy: voter-verified paper records (VVPR's) and routine
manual audits. VVPR's provide for recovery of voter intent - and,
thus, for accurate elections - in the case of machine failure. Manual
auditing of the VVPR's serves as a diagnostic tool that can be used to
pinpoint and uncover hidden problems, ensuring that our elections, no
matter how smooth they may seem on the outside, accurately reflect the
will of the people.
*/Please check to see whether audits might be happening in your area.
If so, we urge you to IMMEDIATELY take the following steps:/*
1. Call the elections department in your county, township, or voting
jurisdiction TODAY to find out when and where the audit will be
conducted. Please be aware that the audits will begin VERY soon in most
places, which means that you MUST call NOW.
2. Make sure you know the requirements to observe in your area, if any.
3. Participate in observing a portion or all of the audit process.
Don't worry if you can't observe the whole process - any observation
that you're able to conduct will be useful.
4. Complete Verified Voting's Audit Observation Questionnaire. There
are two separate questionnaires -- one for manual audits of votes cast
on a specific percentage of machines or percent/number of votes, the
other for manual audits of a specific percentage of precincts --
depending on the state in which you live. (See state specific links
below.) Please keep reading for information on your area!
5. Submit your completed questionnaire to Verified Voting, so that we
can compare auditing practices in different areas. The information that
you submit will be made publicly available, minus any personally
identifiable information. You can submit your completed questionnaire
online at
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6409,or you can fax it to us at 940-403-2255, or mail the hard copy to
Verified Voting, 1550 Bryant St., Suite 855, San Francisco, CA 94103.
Out of the twenty-eight states that now have a VVPR requirement
statewide, thirteen have an audit requirement (see
http://verifiedvoting.org/audits). KY and PA also have an audit
requirement, even though there's no VVPR law -- and some additional
states do them voluntarily.
*/If you live in CO, CT, NM, NY, WA, or PA:/*
*
*
Fill out the machine questionnaire, which can be downloaded
here:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/downloads/AuditQ-Machine.pdf*/If you live in AK, AZ, CA, HI, IL, KY, MN, NC, or WV:/*
Fill out the precinct questionnaire, which can be downloaded
here:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/downloads/AuditQ-Precinct.pdf*/A few additional notes on various states:/*
*/AZ - If you live here, due to the way the law is written, you may need
to push to make sure the audit actually happens. AZ may need actual
participants to carry out the audit, not just observers./*
CO - Be a part of history! The audits here will be the first ever under
the new statewide requirement.
MN - If you plan to observe in this state, please contact us at
observer@verifiedvoting.org <mailto: observer@verifiedvoting.org <mailto:observer@verifiedvoting.org> >, so
that we can put you in touch with the group that is coordinating an
observation effort there.
NM - This state's audit law doesn't take effect until 2007, but it would
be a good idea for the Secretary of State to conduct one anyway.
Consider orchestrating a letter-writing campaign to the Secretary of
State to make it happen. People there have already been writing to the
editors of local newspapers.
NV - There is no audit requirement here, but audits have been conducted
for the past few years. Call your elections department for more
information.
PA - Audits here are of a specific percent/number of votes (as opposed
to a specific percentage of randomly selected machines or precincts).
VT - This state doesn't have an audit requirement, but might conduct
one. Call your elections department to find out if it's happening.
*/Your observation of audits can help to:/*
- Pinpoint specific machine-related or vote-counting problems.
- Ensure that audits are being conducted in the way that they are
supposed to be by law in your area, and if not, ensure documentation of
errors that occur in the process.
- Determine the best methods for conducting audits in the future ( e.g.,
is it better to randomly select machines? precincts? etc.).
Effective manual audits entail hand-counting a significant number of the
paper ballots and comparing those totals to the machine counts in order
to make sure the system is counting properly. Manual audits can help us
tell whether the machinery of our democracy is working properly. Your
participation will make a difference! Make that call now to find out
where and when to GOTO - Get Out To Observe!
All the best,
Courtenay
Courtenay Strickland Bhatia
President, Verified Voting
415-487-2255 work
415-235-0126 cell
http://www.verifiedvoting.org//Every vote must count as cast./
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
