Dear Williamson County Democrats,
Would you like to vote on a Paper
Ballot this November? A Ballot that could be scanned by an optical machine which
displays your voter choices for verification before being tabulated? With a
system of audits for accuracy check? A Paper Ballot which could be counted by
hand should there be a need?
It could
happen.
Just recently, 37 million dollars of
federal funding was made available to the Tennessee State Legislature for the
purpose of election equipment upgrades and this is certainly great news.
Furthermore, State Senator Joe Haynes (D) and State House Rep. Gary Moore (D)
have co-sponsored legislation (SB1363 / HB1256) which requires all counties in
the State of Tennessee to adopt voting protocol requiring auditable paper
ballots and an optical scan system of tabulation.
What does this mean? In short, the
Voter would mark by hand a paper ballot that would then be scanned by an optical
scanning machine which displays the voter's selections for verification by the
voter. Votes are then tabulated by the optical scanning machine. Random
hand-counts of paper ballots in selected precincts would be done to audit and
ensure the accuracy of machine counts. Bills SB1363 and HB1256 already have
near-unanimous support at the TN State Legislature and are sure to pass.
So why aren't we celebrating?
The bills before our state
representatives indicate a timeline for implementation which states by
2010. I am hoping you agree that it is incumbent upon us to demand that
our lawmakers implement by November 2008. The state of Tennessee (with the
exception of Hamilton and Pickett counties) is now one of seven states in
America which remain committed to unverifiable, problematic, inefficient, slow
and unreliable, DRE touch screen voting systems for our upcoming November 2008
election.
We must act right now to insure voter
confidence and a clean election this November. This can happen if We the People
demand it - in a civil manner of course.
Call, write or email your
representatives and let them know how you feel. Phone calls are most effective.
Ask them to log the call.
Here are a few talking points and
contact info:
TN House Bill 1256 and Senate Bill
1363 Pass and implement before November 2008
While acknowledging the progress the
state legislature has made in moving Tennessee voters forward with HB1256 and
SB1363, I implore you to make the move NOW. Mandate that HB1256 and SB1363 be
passed and implemented before the November 2008 Election. This can be done
- if we have the will to do it.
If our State legislators have no
objection to going to paper verified optical scanned ballots and we have come to
the point where we have unanimity and bipartisan support at all levels of
government, and we now have the federal funding available - and full public
support, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?
Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Virginia,
Connecticut, California, New York, Maine, and New Mexico all made it happen in
quick time. Cuyahoga County, Ohio, made the switch in 7 weeks - we have 7
months. Why is Tennessee (with the exception of Hamilton and Pickett counties)
one of seven states in America with insecure, unverifiable, unreliable touch
screen DRE voting systems?
For us to wait until 2010 to make this
necessary change in our voting process is saying to the entire voting population
in Tennessee, that the 2008 Election is really not that important!
The people of Tennessee want the
passage of SB1363 and HB1256 with IMPLEMENTATION BY NOVEMBER 2008.
State House Representatives for
Williamson County:
Rep. Charles Sargent (District
61)
206 War Memorial Building
Nashville, TN 37243-0161
State Senate Representative for
Williamson County:
Sen. Jack Johnson (District
23)
305 War Memorial Building
Nashville, TN 37243-0023
State Coordinator of Elections:
Brook Thompson
9th Floor, William R Snodgrass
Tower
312 Eighth Ave. North
Nashville, TN 37243
(615) 741.7956
Secretary of State:
Riley C. Darnell
State Capitol Building
Nashville, TN 37243-0305
(615) 741.2819
Governor’s office:
