The blackbox voting story seems to have FINALLY made its way to the mainstream media. Yahoo News has this AP story from today:
Groups Question Voting Machines' Accuracy. There's also a story in this week's Newsweek (the one with the $87 billion mess headline on the cover):
Black Box Voting Blues. Thankfully, both mention Rep. Rush Holt's legislation that would require a paper trail. (The summary of his bill, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003, can be found on his website
here.)
The bad news is that the Newsweek article indicates "prospects are dim, as the committee chairman, Bob Ney of Ohio, is against it." This is the first I'd heard of opposition, so it made me take notice. VerfiedVoting.org is all over this. Their strategy is to get the bill as many co-sponsors as possible to force the bill through committee. Check the Verified Voting.org website to see where your rep stands on the bill. If you're a constituent of one of the reps on the House Administration committee, you're especially needed to get your rep to support Holt's bill.
This issue isn't getting enough traction, but I'm not sure why. Somebody big, like MoveOn or one of the presidential campaigns, needs to make a stink about this NOW. This may be our last chance! We need to all to stop dicking around and take it seriously. I'm pledging to add my words to the debate at MoveOn and the Dean blog. Dare I say this is something all the Democratic campaigns could get behind? Like in a united front even? Now that would be breathtaking in its majesty.