As a response to DRE's (direct recording electronic voting machines), which are proving themselves to be as unreliable and corruptible as voting integrity activists said they would be, Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey has introduced legislation to correct the problem and require VVPB's (voter verified paper ballots) as the gold standard for elections.
Unfortunately, the Holt Bill contains a provision far more dangerous to our elections system than unverifiable DRE's.
To see the assassin hiding in this Trojan horse, read below the fold...
This post by Bev Harris, of BlackBoxVoting.org, explains how the Holt Bill consolidates the power over US elections into the hands of the four appointees of the Elections Assistance Commission, who are selected by our feckless Leader.
Posted by Bev Harris on Friday, April 13, 2007 - 03:48 pm:
The Truth About the Holt Bill (HR 811)
Paper ballots may not matter if white house appointees are put in
charge of elections. They can end run the Holt Bill any time they
want, in many different ways.
Use pictures to help communicate this to your circle of influence -
download the image with this link:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/...
The Holt Bill, HR 811, permanently funds putting elections under the
control of four White House appointees (the "EAC").
This structural change will permanently alter the checks and balances
of our representative democracy.
One of the very first acts the EAC did in 2004 was to try to arrange
for the cancellation of elections in crisis situations. We need a
paper ballot, but we cannot afford to have this perilous structural
change accompany it. This is dangerous. Kill the bill.
What you can do right now
The Election Defense Alliance has a letter you can sign and send:
http://www.electiondefensealliance.org
Halt Holt.
This little-known provision has the fingerprints of Republican strategist Karl Rove. Never satisfied with one method of subterfuge, Rove has created redundancy in his nefarious election-rigging scheme.
*First, have Republican cronies manufacture the unverifiable voting machines on which elections are held. Example: Wally O'Dell's Diebold.
*Second, create legislation, the Help America Vote Act, sponsored by our felonious friend, Bob Ney, to use a carrot and stick approach (federal funding for new voting machines = carrot, compliance deadline = stick). This step relies on the technological ignorance of local elections directors, who fear losing their federal funding, and who quickly purchase these poorly designed and unverifiable DRE's. It is then a simple task to control election results amidst the chaos of digital computations collected by unwitting election workers.
*Third, disenfranchise Democratic minority voters through the Department of Justice and by other means. Right wing control of the Civil Rights Divisions of local Justice Departments makes this task a snap. Legislation that requires voter ID, which plays to fears of xenophobic and racist white voters, cements the process of disenfranchisement.
*Fourth, consolidate all power over US elections into the EAC (elections assistance commission) so in case steps one, two and three fail, the EAC can step in and declare elections invalid or cancel them altogether.