Breaking News - Election Reform

From Mother Media:
United Voters of New Mexico and coalition will hold a Press Conference on Election Reform at the Capitol Building in Santa Fe, Wednesday, February 23rd, beginning at 10 AM. Speakers will emphasize the importance of mandating Voter Verified Paper Ballots (VVPB) and other reforms during this legislative session. Details below under the "Events" heading. Be there if Democracy matters to you.

Governor Bill Richardson's election reform bill is now available in draft form. Pick up a copy at his office on the 4th floor of the Capitol Building. While deftly negotiating the contentious voter ID issue and thankfully including provisions for a paper trail (Section 32), that paper trail is not explicitly *voter verifiable*. Therefore there is no way to guarantee that a machine has recorded and totaled the vote as indicated on the paper trail. Voters will not even get to see their paper trail before casting their vote. The exact language of the bill is as follows: "As used in this section, 'auditable paper trail' means a record that may be used by the state or its contractor to check either the veracity of a machine count or the count itself."

Action: Call the Governor at (505) 476-2200 and ask to speak with someone regarding his election reform bill. Indicate that you are pleased he has included paper audit trails in his bill, but politely insist that the paper trail be an official Voter Verifiable Paper Ballot (VVPB) for recount purposes, as provided for in Mary Helen Garcia's bill, HB1026 [details below]. Cite Nevada as a state which already uses this system and even performs *random sample audits* to make sure that the paper totals and the machine totals match. You can even indicate that there are perhaps five NASED (National Association of State Election Directors) certified HAVA compliant VVPB machines to choose from, including the one used in Nevada (Sequoia AVC Edge). Details on Nevada at bottom. Here are some possible machine options to suggest:

Populex  NASED #N-2-15-22-22-001
Sequoia AVC  EDGE with Veri-vote printer NASED # N-1-07-11-006
Avante, Vote Trakker2, NASED certification #0114-4.4.3
Accupol, NASED certification # N-2-13-11-11-001
TrueVote, NASED certification #N04005000100

Finally, note the following resolution, which was passed by the Democratic Central Committee of New Mexico on April 24, 2004:

Resolution:
      WHEREAS Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines of various kinds have been shown to be capable of producing unreliable, unverifiable results,
      WHEREAS DRE voting systems with voter-verifiable, printed ballots will be available in the next year,
      WHEREAS it would be a waste of funds to buy new systems now,
      BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party insist that no new DRE voting machines be purchased until DRE voting systems are available with
voter-verifiable, printed ballots.
      BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party insist that any new DRE voting machines purchased in the future use voter-verifiable, printed ballots.

Eli Lee of Soltari Inc. a strategic consulting firm has been working closely with the Governor on this bill. A respectful and constructive word with him might be effective:  505.842.5539
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Representative Mary Helen Garcia Introduces HB 1026 - "Requiring the Use of Voter Verifiable Paper Ballots."

In response to the community's efforts in the House Voter and Elections Committee, and in particular the perseverance and dedication of Stephen Fettig of Los Alamos, Vice-Chairperson of the House Voter and Elections Committee Rep. Mary Helen Garcia has taken the lead on this crucial issue. Her bill not only provides for voter verifiable paper ballots, but it allows the Secretary of State to certify VVPB machines for use in the state even if they do not submit an application to be certified, as they now must do. This significantly increases the Secretary of State's ability to provide New Mexico with machines that address the critical VVPB issue. Thanks to all involved. The special "emergency clause" in this bill mandates the law come into effect immediately on passage, allowing the Secretary of State to act prior to her June 2005 deadline for in state VVPB HAVA machine certification. Please support Mary Helen Garcia (986-4435) and her Senate co-sponsor James G. Taylor (986-4862). Track the bill's progress (HB 1026] at https://legis.state.nm.us .

Unconfirmed reports from the Senate Rules Committee hearing indicate that Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino and his aide Harry Pavlides (sp) may have amended the VVPB provision in their bill, SB 718 to use the language developed by Mary Helen Garcia and Stephen Fettig in HB 1026.

Gerald and Harry have led the way on this issue in the Legislature and we warmly thank them for their groundbreaking efforts and willingness to incorporate the community's input.

**** Events:

Press Conference - United Voters of New Mexico and coalition - Wednesday, February 23rd, Santa Fe Capitol Building (Roundhouse) Rotunda.

10AM - Lawsuit on behalf of NM Citizens to prohibit any further purchase of non voter-verifiable paper ballot machines.

11AM - Election Reform Day. Focus on Voter Verifiable Paper Ballot (VVPB), automatic recounts, open-source computer code, same-day voter registration, instant run-off voting and making Election Day a state holiday.

Mother Media
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