|
Washington, D.C. -- Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today joined with other House members to reiterate his call for Congress to pass his “Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act” (H.R. 550) in the wake of another election affected by problems with electronic voting machines.
“As we stand here today, the results in at least one House race remain unknown because thousands of votes were lost by electronic voting machines,” said Holt. “Until we require that these systems produce a voter-verified paper audit trail, voters will continue to doubt the outcomes of elections involving these machines, because the results will be unauditable.”
“The inaccuracy of electronic touch-screen voting machines poses a direct threat to the integrity of our electoral system and to our nation’s democracy. Once again this broken system has been exposed in Florida’s 13th Congressional district where over 18,000 votes went uncounted. Without the means to fully guarantee that every vote is counted as fairly and accurately as possible, the authenticity of our recorded vote will always be uncertain and open to electoral and legal challenges. As part of this struggle to guarantee equal treatment for all Americans, I have continued to fight for a paper-trail to ensure a manual recount can be conducted in the event of a close election in Florida and across the country. Every American deserves to know that their vote will be counted on Election Day, and it is my hope that during the 110th Congress, we will be able to pass legislation to ensure fair and accurate elections that require a paper trail for all electronic voting machines,” said Congressman Robert Wexler.
In New Jersey’s Ocean County, at least one electronic voting machine apparently counted votes twice, and some were also added to vote totals for the U.S. Senate, county freeholder, and county sheriff races in Lakewood, according to the November 10 Asbury Park Press.
Holt cited the race in Florida’s 13th Congressional District between Democrat Christine Jennings and Republican Vernon Buchanan as the most dramatic example where the apparent malfunction of electronic voting machines have called into question the results of an election.
“More than 18,000 votes were uncounted in a race separated by less than 400 votes,” said Holt. “Without a voter-verified paper audit trail, no satisfactory resolution is possible. One side or the other will always doubt the result.”
“Some election officials, along with manufacturers of these machines, have suggested that any irregularities are the fault of voters who are not using the machines correctly. Election officials and the vendors can’t have it both ways: they can’t claim that the machines make voting easier and at the same time claim the public is too stupid to use the machines properly. There is no excuse for building a machine whose results cannot be checked.”
Holt’s “Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act” was supported by a majority of House members (219) before the November 2006 elections, and it now has 221 bipartisan co-sponsors. If passed, the bill would:
- Require that voters have the opportunity to verify the accuracy of an archival copy of their recorded vote.
- Require that all voting systems produce a voter-verified paper record for use in manual audits. (Funding of $150 million is authorized to help states meet the cost of implementing this requirement.)
- Preserve HAVA's existing access requirements for voters with disabilities and add the requirement that an accessible voter-verification mechanism be provided.
- Ban the use of undisclosed software and all wireless and concealed communications devices in voting systems, and prohibiting the connection of any voting machine component to the Internet.
- Require random, unannounced, hand-count audits of the voter-verified paper records in 2% of all precincts, including at least 1 precinct per county. Such funds as may be necessary are authorized to fund the expense of the audits.
- Require manufacturers and election officials to document the chain of custody with respect to the handling of software; prohibit the use of software that has not been disclosed to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission; prohibit the use of software or software modifications that have not been certified or re-certified; and prohibit political and financial conflicts of interest among manufactures, test laboratories, and political parties.
- Establish procedures to be followed if there is a discrepancy between reported results and audit results, and preserving the rights of individuals and the Attorney General's authority to pursue legal resolution of the discrepancies.
Holt called upon the new house leadership to bring H.R. 550 to the House floor for an up-or-down vote early in the 110th Congress.
“We have all the data we need to know that passing this bill is the surest way to make our elections auditable and restore voter confidence in our democracy,” said Holt.
### |
