Texas League of Women Voters against VVPAT

The last national convention was a huge surprise to the entrenched, clueless national board. Many, many many delegates showed up to protest the League's stand on VVPAT. Many can argue, and I would, too, that the League is responsible for the HAVA act interpretation that allows no VVPAT. League delegates OVERWHEMINGLY voted to amend the League position against VVPAT to a neutral one - at least not against.

Yesterday, I saw the new League positions for the up coming Texas State convention. Toll roads are in and VVPAT is out.

What you can do. If you are a League member, contact your local league president and ask if you can be a delegate to the state convention in Corpus Christi in April. If you are not a League member, join, then ask to be a delegate.

It would be a wonderful sight to see us pro-VVPAT people dominate the state convention the way we did the national one.

That's not a good position. What are they thinking?

But hooray on the VVPAT but remember we really need VVPB as well. Voter verified paper ballots. That part makes the ballot that's printed the ballot of record. Otherwise, the machine count is the final word in a recount. We can't let that stand.

Also FYI Meg, if you didn't see the thread on South Texas Chisme, there are two lawsuits being filled on the e-voting issue. One is a cease and desist lawsuit against the SOS for those fraudulent commercials touting e-voting is fast, safe and secure. That fraudulent message is being spewed repeatedly on radio and TV from used car salesman, Roger Williams, our Secretary of State. Litigants are some Harris County Democrats and that lawsuit will be filed shortly, maybe by next week.

The second lawsuit is by our own DU board member and candidate for Attorney General David Van Os. David announced at his filibuster that he plans to sue the SOS and state on the e-voting issue, based on the Texas Constitution "purity of ballot" clause.

Here's the section in our constitution:
Article 6, Section 4, Texas Constitution -
"In all elections by the people, the vote shall be by ballot, and the
Legislature shall provide for the numbering of tickets and make such other
regulations as may be necessary to detect and punish fraud and preserve the
purity of the ballot box."

One similar suit filed in Tennessee (pdf format)
http://www.votersunite.org/info/MillsSummary.pdf

Here's a couple of Daily KOS threads on this kind of lawsuit:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/11/27/7178/5540
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/18/142844/939

Hooray for diligent activists and committed candidates for office like David.

David's answer to the e-voting question on the Progress Action Alliance site
http://www.paa-tx.org/node/1458

State Candidate Questionnaire - Attorney General -David Van Os
1. Would you support requiring all electronic voting machines to print on paper for each voter a complete summary of their voting choices, which will become, after their inspection, the authoritative record of their vote?

A: Electronic voting machines that do not provide a reliable means to enable the voter and the public to confirm that the vote is recorded by the machine as the voter intended it, are in my considered opinion unconstitutional under Article 6 of the Texas Constitution, and I will so rule as Attorney General. Your proposed solution sounds like it would cure the constitutional infirmity if such a bill were enacted. As Attorney General I will not need to wait for a bill to pass the legislature. This is a constitutional issue and I will have the authority to act and will do so. My position is spelled out in more detail at my website.

Sonia

But the Texas League is NOT on board for either VVPAT or VV paper ballots. If you are a League member, I hope you will be a delegate to the state convention.

I know they did let local chapters decide, and ours does support VVPAT.

Absolutely agree that the Texas organization needs to move in that direction.

Sonia

Beverly Kaufman, Harris County's County Clerk (REP) is big LWV and she is opposed by James G. Goodwille Pierre (DEM). Beverly Kaufman testified in the Carter-Baker Hearings that VVPATs are not necessary.

Support for a VVPAT is in the Democratic AND Republican party platforms.

We SHOULD join LWV and get them on the stick!

Commerce was once a fairly bipartisan organization favoring small business opportunity, but now it's a purely a Republican PR machine without any balance whatsoever. Then AARP took a big lurch away from bipartisan issue advocacy to shilling pure Republican anti-senior talking points on Bush's prescription drug company boondoggle. Now even the LWV is adopting a position that is partisan and clearly contrary to everything the LWV has traditionally stood for? That just sucks.

I'll confess, it's one thing I haven't joined. And I should. We all need to, and we can change the LWV from within. You don't have to be a woman either, men can join too.

Sonia

Thanks. Please join.

"The Houston League does not have a position on vvpt. We agree with the
LWVUS position.
"In order to ensure integrity and voter confidence in elections, the
LWVUS supports the implementation of voting systems and procedures that
are secure, accurate, recountable, and accessible. those four criteria
are not code words for voter-verified paper trails or any other type of
technology. The League neither supports nor opposes any specific type of
voting technology and supports technological innovation."

Barbara Swartz, President
LWV Houston Area"

LWVUS had specifically come out against a paper trail, but a bunch of us at the 2004 national convention pushed them to compromise. We pointed out that the technology was too new for the League to be backing a particular technological solution (i.e., paperless DRE's). The Minnesota League led the charge for the change and will be hosting this year's national convention. It should be interesting.

BTW, the LWVTX state convention will be in Corpus Christi April 21-22, 2006.

The Progressive Populist Caucus (PPC) is having their annual meeting here in Austin on April 22nd. Our guest speaker is David Sirota. I hate having conventions overlap. Why does this happen?

Sonia