An urgent letter has been sent today to the Governors, Secretaries of State and State Election Directors of all 50 states urging them to immediately create and impliment plans and procedures for allowing the use of Emergency Paper Ballots at every local jurisdiction during this November's general election. Please circulate widely and contact your state officials. Simply put, our elections are at stake!

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URL: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3576

Open Letter Sent to States Urging Emergency Paper Ballot Plans and
Procedures for November Election
Urgent Plea Mailed to 50 State Governors, Sec's of State and Election
Directors Signed by Broad Coalition of Election Integrity Advocacy Orgs,
Congressional Members, Elections Officials, Computer Scientists, Civil
Rights Attorneys and Journalists
Initial Federal Effort Calling for Back-Up Paper Ballots Now Moves to
States, Citizens Asked to Join the Call!

An urgent letter has been sent today to the Governors, Secretaries of State
and State Election Directors of all 50 states urging them to immediately
create and impliment plans and procedures for allowing the use of Emergency
Paper Ballots at every local jurisdiction during this November's general
election.

The missive, signed by a broad coalition of more than 50 Election Integrity
Advocate groups, congressional members, elections officials, computer
scientists, attorneys and journalists comes on the heels of Federal
legislation introduced recently in both the U.S. House and Senate. Those
bills, which were not brought up for votes before Congress adjourned for the
Election Recess, called for funding to states who impliment plans to provide
Emergency Paper Ballots in the wake of recent primary elections around the
country where voters were unable to cast a vote due to failure, or other
inability of electronic voting systems.

The
two-page letter [PDF] (also posted in full at the end of this
article) was signed by individuals such as: Sen. Barbara Boxer, Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., Sen. John Kerry, Rep. Rush Holt, Leon County, FL Supervisor of
Elections Ion Sancho, OH elections attorney Cliff Arnebeck and University of
Iowa computer scientist Doug Jones. Organizations signed on include: Common
Cause, VerifiedVoting.org, VotersUnite.org, BlackBoxVoting.org,
VoterAction.org, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation,
MoveOn.org, TrueMajorityAction.org and many other national, state and local
Election Integrity advocate groups.

"No legally registered voter should ever be told to 'come back later,' or be
forced to use a provisional ballot simply because a voting system is
unavailable to them at the time they are able to vote," the letter reads.
"It is imperative that an ample supply of Emergency Paper Ballots be made
available to account for any unforeseen circumstance."

The letter continues, "All voters must have the option to vote on an
Emergency Paper Ballot if necessary and all such ballots must be counted as
regular - not provisional - ballots."

As well, it's pointed out that some states already have certain procedures
required by law to ensure that registered voters are allowed to vote in the
event that primary balloting procedures break down. Officials are urged to
check those requirements and otherwise "draft, establish and publicize your
own state's common-sense plans for Emergency Paper Ballots at every polling
place this Nov. 7th, so that every election official, poll worker, and voter
may be crystal clear on the procedures for utilizing such measures."

The movement calling on states to create Emergency Paper Ballot plans began
just three weeks ago when The BRAD BLOG
called on the U.S. Congress to introduce and pass legislation in order to
ensure that legally registered voters would not be turned away from the
polls without being allowed to vote as had been the case for thousands of
voters in a number of states this year due to voting machines that failed to
start up, were misprogrammed, failed during voting or, in some cases, hadn't
been brought to polling places at all until several hours after polls were
to have opened.

Many voters were either told to "come back later" or given Provisional
Ballots which are not counted as normal ballots on Election Night and
frequently not counted at all.

Legislation for Emergency Ballots was introduced the following week
in the U.S. Senate by Senators Boxer,
Christopher Dodd, Russ Feingold and Kerry. A matching
House version was filed the next day by
Rep. Rush Holt and co-sponsored by 28 other House members. As well, Feingold
and Kerry introduced a "Sense of the Senate" resolution calling for same,
but that effort was also never brought up for a vote on the floor before the
recess.

The letter, which was drafted by this journalist along with a number of
other signatorees, was sent to all recipients via return-receipt requested
certified mailing this morning by
VelvetRevolution.us. [DISCLOSURE: The BRAD BLOG
is a co-founder of VR .]

With the failure of Congress to pass such important legislation prior to
this November's important general election, the effort now moves to the
State and Local level. Organizations and individuals are called on to
contact their State and Local Elections officals to assure that plans are in
place to accomodate any and all unforseen circumstances.

Alluding to Americans who have fought for and defended the right to vote in
the past, and indeed to this day around the globe, the letter concludes:
"Our vote is our precious franchise. We believe it is worth defending, and
worth the effort to guarantee that that right remains assured and
inviolate."

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), one of the
initial signatorees, is creating an online petition for citizens to urge
their Secretaries of State and Governors to ensure such plans and procedures
are created and implimented immediately. We'll update this item with the
link as soon as it becomes available.

The open letter, sent to all State Governors, Secretaries of State and State
Election Directors calling for Emergency Paper Ballot plans and procedures
and signed by 55 organizations and individuals, can be downloaded
here [PDF]. It also follows below in full.

October 11, 2006

Honorable Governor, Secretary of State & State Election Director:

As you likely know, many legally registered American voters across the
country were turned away from polling places without being able to cast a
ballot this year. In state after state, voters were unable to exercise their
franchise simply because electronic voting systems malfunctioned, suffered
programming problems, or were otherwise unavailable for use.

We are sure you'll agree that should never happen in this country. No
legally registered voter should ever be turned away from the polls without
being allowed to vote on Election Day in America. No legally registered
voter should ever be told to "come back later," or be forced to use a
provisional ballot simply because a voting system is unavailable to them at
the time they are able to vote. It is imperative that an ample supply of
Emergency Paper Ballots be made available to account for any unforeseen
circumstance.

Common-sense legislation for Emergency Paper Ballots at the polling place
this November was recently filed in both the U.S. House and Senate. The
proposed legislation would have:

* Mandated that voters be given a paper ballot upon request

* Required election officials to post information announcing and
confirming that right at each polling place, and

* Mandated that all such paper ballots be counted as regular, not
provisional, ballots.

Unfortunately, legislators were unable to pass this important measure before
adjourning for the Election Recess. Now the responsibility for this vital
democratic process must rest on the States and Counties to ensure that
millions of Americans will be able to cast their ballots in the general
election on November 7th.

Many of your state's citizens and polling places will be using new
electronic voting systems for the first time. Such systems have already
caused unforeseen problems this year, resulting in disenfranchised voters
from Maryland to California, from Texas to Indiana to many other states and
counties around the union.

In Maryland, the Governor recently called for Emergency Paper Ballots
statewide after catastrophic problems in their recent primary. In Texas and
Arkansas, election officials wisely instructed their counties to have
Emergency Paper Ballots on hand during runoff elections after thousands were
unable to vote during primaries, or when voting machine companies failed to
program balloting systems properly.

In America, in 2006, such occurrences should never have happened, and we
write to you hoping that you will take every measure to ensure they do not
happen anywhere in your state this November.

Therefore, we, the undersigned groups and individuals, strongly urge you to
make contingency plans and procedures to ensure that every legally
registered American voter can vote in the upcoming general election. All
voters must have the option to vote on an Emergency Paper Ballot if
necessary, and all such ballots must be counted as regular - not provisional
- ballots.

We hope that your state and every county therein will take careful, yet
aggressive measures to institute plans for ample Emergency Paper Ballots, to
be made available in every voting jurisdiction.

Several states have laws in place requiring the use of emergency paper
ballots for voters if voting equipment is unavailable or has malfunctioned.
Many more states and counties, however, do not have such provisions. In
addition, many poll workers are unaware of such state laws and elections
code.

So many Americans have fought and died in this country and around the world
- and indeed, are fighting today - in the defense of our most basic
freedoms, to ensure the right to freely cast a vote and thus determine the
consent of the governed in this great democracy. Our vote is our precious
franchise. We believe it is worth defending, and worth the effort to
guarantee that that right remains assured and inviolate.

We urge you to please take this opportunity to draft, establish and
publicize your own state's common-sense plans for Emergency Paper Ballots at
every polling place this Nov. 7th, so that every election official, poll
worker, and voter may be crystal clear on the procedures for utilizing such
measures.

With Great Respect,

The Undersigned

ORGANIZATIONS
51CapitalMarch.com
AUDIT-AZ
BlackBoxVoting.org
Broward Election Reform Coalition
Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota
Citizens for Legitimate Government
Coalition for Peace Action, Princeton NJ
Coloradoans for Voting Integrity
Common Cause
Democrats.com
Election Defense Alliance (EDA)
Election Reform Network
Florida Fair Elections Coalition
Georgians for Verified Voting
Iowans for Voting Integrity
Las Vegas, NM Peace and Justice Center
MoveOn.org Political Action
National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
National Committee for Voting Integrity
National Election Data Archive
NetworkOfCitizens.org
New Yorkers for Verified Voting
Ohio Honest Elections Campaign
Palm Beach Coalition for Election Reform
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
SAVE Our Votes:
Secure, Accessible, Verifiable Elections for MD
Solarbus.org
TrueMajorityAction.org

TrueVoteMD
United Voters of New Mexico
Valley Grassroots for Democracy
VelvetRevolution.us
VerifiedVoting.org
VotePA
VoterAction.org
VotersUnite.org
VoteTrustUSA
Voting Matters [New Mexico]
Wake Up and Save Your Country
We Do Not Concede

INDIVIDUALS
Clifford O. Arnebeck, Jr, election attorney, OH
John C. Bonifaz, voting rights attorney, Boston
Sen. Barbara Boxer
Bob Fitrakis, Ph.D, J.D.
Brad Friedman, investigative journalist
Bruce Funk, County Clerk, Emery County, UT
Sarah Granger, computer security consultant
Rush Holt, Member of Congress
Douglas W. Jones, computer scientist, U. of Iowa
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Sen. John Kerry
Prof. Mark Crispin Miller, NYU
Freddie Oakley, Yolo County, CA, Clerk/Recorder
Ion Sancho, Supvsr. of Elections, Leon County, FL
Barbara Simons, retired, IBM Research

URL: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3576

---
Brad Friedman
THE BRAD BLOG - The uprising continues...
http://www.BradBlog.com
VELVET REVOLUTION - The revolution begins...
http://www.VelvetRevolution.us

Authors Website: http://www.bradblog.com

Authors Bio:
Brad Friedman publishes Bradblog.com