Bradbury urges voter-verified paper records
From Bend.com news sources
Posted: Friday, July 9, 2004 2:08 PM
Reference Code: PR-16659

July 9 - Secretary of State Bill Bradbury's letter on paper records of votes cast to Oregon's Congressional delegation:

"In the wake of the 2000 election, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act ("HAVA") to improve the integrity and reliability of elections systems. As you know, there has been much controversy surrounding the issue of whether electronic voting machines purchased under HAVA should provide a voter-verified paper record of votes for recount or auditing purposes. I write to ask you to support the proposed legislation, H.R. 2239 and S. 1980, which will amend HAVA to require a voter-verified paper record in every state.

I strongly believe that a paper record and the opportunity for hand recounts and human audits of elections ensures the integrity of elections processes and bolsters public confidence in elections outcomes.

We are fortunate in Oregon to have mail-in ballots that automatically provide a paper record. At my request, and recognizing Oregon's long tradition of performing election recounts by hand, a law was passed in 2001 requiring that all recounts be conducted by hand, ORS 258.211.

Oregon's HAVA plan has, from its inception, required that any electronic voting devices that are purchased in Oregon in order to improve disabled access also provide a paper trail. While we are assured in Oregon of a paper record of votes cast, I encourage you to bring that assurance to the rest of the nation.

I wish to thank Representatives Blumenauer, DeFazio and Hooley for their support of H.R. 2239, and I hope that all of Oregon's Senators and Representatives will co-sponsor these bills to provide a voter-verified permanent paper record of votes cast in every state.

Thank you for your support of H.R. 2239 and S. 1980."