Verified Voting Legislation Sweeping the States
VerifiedVoting.org Lobbies for Voter-Verified Paper Ballots

Kansas City infoZine    31 March 2005

San Francisco, CA - infoZine - Noting the landslide toward requirements for voter-verified paper ballots (VVPBs) in states across the country, VerifiedVoting.org today announced a renewed effort to lobby state legislators to pass bills guaranteeing reliable, secure, and publicly verifiable election systems.

"A mandate for voter-verified paper ballots is sweeping the country," said VerifiedVoting.org Executive Director Will Doherty. "Election administrators, policymakers, and the public recognize the need to prevent the malfunctions, errors, and failures of paperless e-voting machines that occurred repeatedly across the country during November 2004 and prior election cycles."

VerifiedVoting.org, its partners, and voters across the country have successfully persuaded 14 state governments to to require voter-verified paper ballots, with two of those awaiting the governor's signature. VVPB legislation has been introduced but not yet passed in at least 22 more states, for a total of 36 states with passed or proposed VVPB requirements. Still other states among the "not yet introduced" category have traditionally used VVPB systems, and plan to continue to do so, finding ways to meet requirements of the Help America Vote Act without having to purchase unreliable paperless e-voting machines.

"The map on the front page of VerifiedVoting.org displays how each state each is responding to the voters' earnest desire for reliable, secure, and publicly verifiable election systems," commented VerifiedVoting.org Nationwide Coordinator Pamela Smith. "Advocates are seeking reliable elections not only at the state level, but also in the U.S. Congress."

VerifiedVoting.org has taken on verified voting issues in almost every state. In Ohio for example, the legislature responded to lobbying efforts by passing a bill, signed by the state's governor, which requires voter-verified paper ballots for all Ohio voting machines by the first federal election after January 1, 2006. Last summer, many Ohio counties were considering the expenditure of millions on paperless e-voting machines. After receiving extensive pressure from advocacy groups led by VerifiedVoting.org and the Ohio Citizen's Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE), 28 of 31 Ohio counties decided to postpone any purchase decisions until after the November 2004 election. Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell then required all Ohio counties to use precinct count optical scan voting technology, which was the option VerifiedVoting.org had recommended in a crucial letter sent to his administration.

The fourteen states with VVPB requirements are: Alaska, Arkansas (excepting existing e-voting counties), California, Idaho (pending governor's signature), Illinois, Maine, Missouri (by SoS), Nevada (by SoS), New Hampshire, New Mexico (pending governor's signature), Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont.

The 22 additional states where legislators have introduced VVPB legislation are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

Map showing landslide toward paper ballot requirements:
www.verifiedvoting.org/

Details about voter-verified paper ballot requirements:
www.verifiedvoting.org/legis/

Current alerts active in VerifiedVoting.org action center:
www.verifiedvoting.org/alerts/

Paperless e-voting problems recorded during Election 2004:
www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5331