FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY, 2005
10:15 AM
 CONTACT: Common Cause
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VIVA 2005 - Ask Your Senators to Stand Up for Election Reform Today
  

WASHINGTON February 1 Here at Common Cause, our work to fix the flawed election system continues. Last week invited our members and supporters to tell us how they would prioritize the issues on our 2005 agenda. Election reform received the highest percentage of votes, of the six issues we listed.

It's clear that election reform matters to our members and supporters. That's why we are urging our members, supporters, and all election reform activists to contact their senators and ask them to support the Voting and Integrity Act of 2005.

This legislation will fix one of the many problems in our election system - paperless, non-recountable, flawed electronic voting machines. You have probably heard of the scandalous behavior of Diebold, the major manufacturer of these machines whose CEO declared he would 'deliver' Ohio's votes for Bush. And you may know that hundreds of computer scientists, especially those with expertise in computer security, have raised the alarm about vulnerabilities or simple errors in the software.

Now, we can do something about it The VIVA bill is waiting to be introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator John Ensign (R-NV). In a truly a bi-partisan effort, Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Assistant Minority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), will be co-sponsoring the bill. You can find out who your Senators are by clicking on this link.

If one or both of your senators is Republican, ask them to consider co-sponsoring the bill, VIVA 2005. The goal is to get as many Republican co-sponsors as possible. With strong Republican support, this bill will stand a chance of passage.

Conversely, if one or both of your senators is Democratic, simply ask them to support the bill.

Let them know that you believe a voter verified paper ballot is crucial to insuring our nation's election integrity. The Voting and Integrity Act of 2005 ("VIVA 2005") requires that:

Voters in federal elections be able to review a paper version of their ballot before it is cast and counted.

Paper ballots and electronic ballots produced by a voting machine must match. In the event of discrepancies, the voter verified paper ballot would be considered the correct record of the votes cast.

In the event of a recount or audit, the paper ballots would be used as the official record of votes cast.

As you can see, the bill is narrowly focused on the paper trail issue. For more information, read the text of the bill as introduced last year. The provisions will take effect in time for the 2006 general election. It applies only to federal elections because the U.S. Congress doesn't have jurisdiction over state elections. However, if this bill becomes law, it will have the practical effect of compelling states to follow suit.

So please call your two senators and ask them to support this important bill today. As always if you have any comments, please share your feedback with us on our blog today.

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