Boxer-Clinton “Count Every Vote Act” unveiled

from: The New Voting Rights Movement Begins Here Today
by Steven Rosenfeld, The Free Press, March 2, 2005

(snip)

This past weekend, civil rights activists, election reformers and peace groups held a series of teach-ins in (Berkeley) California where they laid out a broad and deepening case for congressional action.

(snip)

On the Senate side of the aisle, Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Barbara Boxer, D-CA, recently convened a meeting of top Democratic senators – including Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-MA, John Kerry, D-MA, Dick Durban, D-IL, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV – to discuss a major election reform bill.

According to press materials, the Boxer-Clinton “Count Every Vote Act” will:

* Provide voter-verified paper ballots for every vote cast on electronic machines;

* Set uniform standards for provisional ballots;

* Ensure equal access to voting machines and election personnel in every community;

* Designate Election Day as a federal holiday;

* Reduce wait times for voters at polling places;

* Make deceptive voter suppression activities a federal crime;

* Restrict the political activities of state elections officials and voting machine manufacturers.

story: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1179

felons vote???? Wasn't that supposed to be in this bill??

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_493.pdf

p.s. looks like it's actually the CLINTON-BOXER-KERRY-LAUTENBERG-MIKULSKI bill.

after people pay the price for what they have done, they SHOULD still be allowed to participate in our democracy.

sounds like giving people a second chance "is a good thing".

that sounds so much like the democratic party, and so unlike the republican party.

of course the republican crooks manage to make sure their crimes are never uncovered, and if they are, such diversion and diffusion occurs that they never get prosecuted.

sort of like the difference between martha and kennyboy.

they forgave * for his DUIs and AWOL and all!

The situation on that I think is that at this time it's more of a state by state issue, so they wouldn't necessarily put it in a National bill right away.

Fixing the main accountablity process is something that HAS to be done so that it's even worth the effort to get felons rights reinstated. If your vote can be manipulated, it doesn't really count.

Most states (36 I think) have means to "reinstate" voting rights for felons after specific time periods. 2 don't take them away ar all. I'm not sure wher the rest fall.

The section that discusses the felon question is towards the end of this pdf (text of the Clinton Bill):

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_493.pdf

right this wrong, the more optimistic I get in regards to honest elections.

but will it get passed with a republican congress?

who voted against equal, honest voting rights for everyone? I don't quite know how that argument could be framed.

They would be foolish not to vote for it. It would show their true colors. Thank you for the update!

"States have always...."

"We don't want to interfere in states' rights..."

"It's a good idea, but there are a lot of holes in it...."

"When they put forth a bill that covers all the bases we will be glad to support it...."

Shall I go on?

Just like that. I'll be keeping an eye on this one. ;)

Gyre

to do that since 2000 but it didn't get very far. It was her and someone else. She talked a little about this in the Ohio hearing. I'm glad to see she's still working on this. :D

Full text of the Count Every Vote Act of 2005

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_493.pdf


Support the "Count Every Vote" Act!

http://ga4.org/campaign/counteveryvote/step1.tcl


Be a citizen co-sponsor of the Count Every Vote Act

http://www.friendsofhillary.com/CountEveryVote/


Urge Your Members of Congress to Co-sponsor the Count Every Vote Act

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=16842

and to anyone (even Republicans!) who support it. Our country needs this badly.

As a nerd, I really appreciate the requirements that all of the programming code be open source.

B.

it has worked almost from the beginning.

and if monitored, it can be as close to honest as we can ever get.

PLUS there is backup documentation incase of a need for a recount.

we do not have to know by midnight who has won. hell, the last three national elections have taken weeks, if not months, to find out the actual outcomes.

so why not just do it right to start with and use ballots.

a receipt for a vote on an electroic machine doesn't mean shit.

and remember to sign the envelope, dot the 'i's' & cross the 't's', etc..... and verify that your signature is on file.

:eyes:

MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY. —The per-
manent voter-verified paper record produced in
accordance with subparagraph (A) shall—
‘‘(i) be preserved within the polling
place, in the manner, if any, in which all
other paper ballots are preserved within
that polling place, or, in the manner em-
ployed by the jurisdiction for preserving
paper ballots in general, for later use in
any manual audit;

It's pointless to count on democracy to happen if it is in its present kidnapped state. Once this is passed and made law, I feel a lot better about democratic rights in the US...otherwise it is dying on the vine.