34 Election Reform Organizations Urge Congress To Require Paper Ballots

From Vote Trust USA by Velvet Revolution and others:
Responding to the electronic voting machine failures that marred the 2006 elections, 34 non-partisan election reform organizations launched a new campaign urging Congress to enact legislation requiring a paper ballot for every vote cast. They expect this grassroots campaign to have broad public support and generate thousands of emails to the incoming Congress. (You can view the letter here and email it to your member of Congress.)

Many of the organizations have previously supported voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPAT), but now, like other citizens across the country, they recognize that electronic voting machines have been national mistake.

“The e-voting machines are a threat to democracy. Putting a VVPAT on them is nothing more than a band-aid. It’s like requiring a seat belt in a Ford Pinto. What good does it do when the Pinto explodes?” said Brad Friedman, who co-founded one of the organizations participating in the campaign.

The letter states: “In light of lessons learned during the 2006 primary and general elections -- with myriad contests resulting in uncertainty and thousands of voters in state after state turned away from the polls unable to cast a vote on DRE systems which failed throughout the day -- we now hold that a paper ballot, whether counted by optical-scan system or hand, is the minimum requirement for any Election Reform legislation in which voters may have confidence. Such a requirement is needed to help ensure Americans that every legally registered voter can vote, that every vote is recorded precisely as the voter intends, and that every vote is counted and, if necessary, re-counted accurately.

This year's elections have made crystal clear that electronic voting machines … caused massive disruptions, undermined the results of crucial elections, and forced thousands of voters to leave the polls without being able to exercise their franchise.”

The letter is signed by:

VoterAction.org
VotersUnite.org
VelvetRevolution.us
National Voting Rights Institute
Demos
TrueMajorityAction
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Broward Election Reform Coalition
California Election Protection Network
Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota
Coalition for Voting Integrity - Pennsylvania
Coloradoans For Voting Integrity
Commonweal Institute
Election Defense Alliance
Florida Fair Elections Coalition
Gathering To Save Our Democracy - Tennessee
Georgians for Verified Voting
Iowans for Voting Integrity
Mainstreet Moms (theMMOB.org)
N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting
Network of Citizens
New Yorkers for Verified Voting
Oregon Voter Rights Coalition
ProgressiveActionAlliance.org
Palm Beach Coalition for Election Reform
Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections - Florida
SAVEOurVotes.org - Maryland
Texas Safe Voting
TrueVoteMD
Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia
Verify The Vote Indiana
Virginia Verified Voting
VoteAllegheny
VotePA
VoteRescue of Texas
Voting Integrity Alliance of Tampa Bay