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Edited on Wed Nov-10-04 07:46 AM by kuozzman
I'm collecting articles about people opposing verifiable paper ballots, it's frickin ridiculous! I'll post final list. "Voter-verified paper ballots are not only unnecessary - they constitute a major threat to the modernization of the nation's obsolete voting system," Jim Dickson, the vice president for governmental affairs of the American Association of People with Disabilities, argued in a statement.
Those concerns were echoed in a March letter that Reps. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) sent to their fellow Members.
"Various proposals have been introduced in the House and Senate, but a common feature of these bills is they would amend HAVA to require that all voting systems, including electronic and computer-based systems, produce or accommodate a 'voter verified paper record,'" the lawmakers wrote.
They argued that such proposals are "premature" and would "undermine essential HAVA provisions, such as the requirements for disability and language minority access requirements, and could result in more, rather than less, voter disenfranchisement and error."
But such groups as Common Cause, a leader in both campaign-finance reform and election-reform battles in Congress, have taken a firm line in favor of requiring paper trails. The group argues that in the age of electronic voting machines, Holt's bill is a necessity for ensuring the integrity of the elections process.
Common Cause President Chellie Pingree said in a statement Monday. "No one's right to vote has meaning if the voter cannot be reasonably assured that their vote was counted as cast. This is a problem that must be fixed."
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