Jul
17

Kucinich's letter to Pelosi, opposing H.R. 811

Please forward and post broadly

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Mahar-Piersma, Auke
Date: Jul 17, 2007 8:51 AM
Subject: Letter to Oppose H.R. 811
To:

Please circulate the below letter far and wide to all your members (and other organizations) to ask their Representative to sign the letter. If you get any feedback from an office, please let me know so I can follow up.
Auke
– - – - – - – - – - – - – -
Auke Mahar-Piersma
Legislative Director
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
(202) 225-5871
– - – - – - – - – - – - – -
Speaker Pelosi:
We have been made aware of a growing concern with H.R. 811, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007.
Many constituencies important to the Democratic Caucus, including but not limited to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Counties, VotersUnite.Org, and Election Defense Alliance, have expressed frustration with our offices about the process and current legislative text of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act.
These constituencies represent a broad range of interests that reflect many of the core values of our party. H.R. 811 now finds opposition from organizations focused on upholding the integrity of our elections and local and states governments. For these constituencies, H.R. 811 falls short of its intended goals to ensure votes are cast and counted as intended by the voters.
Below are representative examples of the negative feedback we are receiving.
VotersUnite.Org statement by founder Ellen Theisen
After more than three years of supporting election reform bills introduced by Representative Rush Holt, I am saddened to see the many severe flaws in the version of HR 811 as it was passed out of committee last month.” June 11, 2007

National Association of Counties letter to Congress
County officials welcome federal lawmakers’ interest in strengthening the integrity and accessibility of our most basic democratic institution. We look forward to working with you to address the myriad challenges facing county officials in this environment of unprecedented change in election technology rather than exacerbating these challenges by enacting legislation such as H.R. 811. March 14, 2007

Before this bill is scheduled for a vote before the House of Representatives we urge you to ensure the legislative process addresses these very valid concerns and a substitute is developed that has broad, vocal support.
Sincerely,
Member of Congress
–
Paul R Lehto, Juris Doctor


July 17, 2007   //   General   //   No Comments   //  

No Comments to “Kucinich's letter to Pelosi, opposing H.R. 811”

  • avatar July 19, 2007 at 10:02 pm
    Anonymous says:

    The DRE companies are getting help to stay in business from an unlikely camp: that of their sworn political adversaries, e-voting activists.

    I’m on the emailing list of dozens of election-related web sites. Two recent alerts caught my attention. First there was the request that folks not only ask their representatives to vote against HR 811, but shun People for the American Way for their support of the bill.

    Then today Rob, (or someone) at OpEd news sent a little blurb announcing that HR 811 may have been brought to a screeching halt, and wasn’t this good news?

    And of course, the Kucinich/Pelosi letter…

    What I find amusing (once I’ve stopped crying) is that these activists seem to be totally unaware of how beneficial their actions are to the very DRE companies they decry.

    I wonder that any of the DRE companies (known as the collective ETC since 2003) even bother to keep lobbyists on retainer. E-voting activists are doing such a good job of curbing legislation that might actually change laws and raise the standards for voting machines, why would DRE companies ever need to lobby again?

    But of course they will, and they have.

    [Check out the letter sent by ETC-regarding HR 811 http://gop.cha.house.gov/fl13/ETCJULY17LETTER.pdf ]

    It is easier to kill a bill than to get one passed. So, although, there are some bills that are a challenge to kill (like Voter ID bills spreading the country like wildfire) HR 811 was never a sure thing. The money and lobbying behind Electronic Voting is substantial—and clearly the efforts of those lobbyists are paying off.

    And as E-Voting activists attempt to Kill Bill (HR 811), sadly they offer in its place, little more than words and conjecture. There are no alternative bills of this nature, being considered in Congress. Certainly none that activists can agree on. So basically the plan seems to be to kill HR 811 and any bill like it, and keep on voting as we have been.

    One day, rather than bickering and whining so much, maybe we as election activists can curtail the debate and actually get something done. Wouldn’t that be nice?

    I mean, with enemies like those in the e-voting movement, helping to keep election laws exactly as they are, the DRE companies hardly have a need for friends in Congress.

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