response from my rep (Jim McDermott) about supporting rep. Conyers

Dear ---:

Thank you for sharing your concerns about the accuracy of the recent elections. I thought our country had learned during the vote fiasco of 2000 that every vote counts. Washington State seems to take this seriously, but it appears that some states still do not.

I appreciate your interest in Congressman Conyers' forum addressing election irregularities in Ohio. Although I was on my way back to Seattle on the day of the forum, December 8, C-SPAN broadcast the forum, and I was able to watch much of the proceedings on television. The stories of election confusion and suppression shared at the hearing were disturbing and deserve immediate investigative attention. I am encouraged by the efforts of the panelists to ensure that all votes are counted. I agree with Mr. Conyers statement that "it is good know that we have citizens in Ohio who have not given up."

Elected officials serve at the will of the people. Presidential electors are no different. It is vital that their votes accurately reflect the will of the people.

As state officials, the media, and citizens continue to review the recent election, valid questions have been raised about how balloting was carried out in several states. These concerns have been fueled, in part, by valid skepticism about voting machinery. Unfortunately, reports of ballot systems confusion, racial discrimination and voter intimidation have now been compounded by computer problems.

I believe we must make electronic voting machines accurate and tamper proof. These new computerized systems were initially seen as an effective answer to antiquated and confusing ballots such as the infamous "butterfly" design, as well as providing better options for disabled voters. In 2002 Congress passed the "Help America Vote Act" (HAVA), offering financial assistance to states for purchase of new computerized voting machines. However, elections officials have found that navigating this new market is very complicated, and many jurisdictions purchased computers that are vulnerable to tampering or otherwise unreliable.

Worse yet, most of these new machines do not even offer a paper trail. Without an actual paper ballot, elections officials are left with only the computer's "word" for election results and recounts are virtually impossible. Computer experts, voting experts and voters' rights groups see several potential dangers inherent in this paperless system: machines malfunction; engineers and programmers make mistakes; operators make errors.

Despite the guarantees from the makers of these machines, we have now seen numerous documented cases of irregularities with electronic voting machines. There may have been many others that no one knows about, or ever will know about.

This is why I am a cosponsor of H.R. 2239, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, which amends HAVA to require a voter-verified paper record of all votes cast in federal elections. While states may hold elections as they see fit, every citizen has the right to have his or her vote counted accurately and the federal government can and should enforce that right with regard to federal elections.

I also fully support the recent Congressional request for a Government Accountability Office investigation into reports of irregularities with voting machines used in November's elections. It is my hope that the results of this investigation will give jurisdictions guidance on how to safely use these new machines and to restore citizens' confidence in the accuracy elections, and will provide impetus for further federal legislation that may be needed.

As the use of electronic voting machines grows, I will continue to demand verifiable paper tails to confirm accurate and secure elections. I appreciate you taking time to share your views with me.
Sincerely,
Jim McDermott
Member of Congress

What an honor it must be having him represent you!

Not many Reps send those types of responses.

Now if only he was a senator! :)

...about what he said and keep nudging him in public to take action and give an accounting of what he is doing about this problem.

As the use of electronic voting machines grows, I will continue to demand verifiable paper tails to confirm accurate and secure elections. I appreciate you taking time to share your views with me.
Sincerely,


Paper tails???? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Do you pin these on us DEMS?
:-)

that she's supporting H.R. 2239. Not as eloquent a response as McDermott's, but I'm glad she's with him on this issue.

remember him in F911? straight up from the beginning, "this invasion is illegal, and * wanted it no matter what it cost in lives and destruction" he is awesome....

I've seen him on CSPAN - he's really impressive and this line really hits it straight on -

Elected officials serve at the will of the people. Presidential electors are no different. It is vital that their votes accurately reflect the will of the people.

Too bad not more of the morans think this way

grows"

We don't have to accept these fraudulent election producers if we DON'T ACCEPT THEM.

As Nancy says, JUST SAY NO, to electronic fraud machines.

if we live in a state where both the senators and (1) representative are dyed-in-the-wool Republicans? I just can't see myself writing to Ted Stevens, Lisa Murkowski or Don Young and getting any kind of encouraging answer at all. It's really kind of discouraging.

i know i'm lucky having Jim McDermott as my rep. but even if your representatives don't agree with you, at least they know how their constituents feel and that people are paying attention to the issue. it's never a waste of time.

They're republicans, but I don't really think they're neocons ... maybe they won't laugh their asses COMPLETELY off. :D

Mine is Kolbe. I am so new to this area that I don't even know where the line is that separates his district from Raul Grijalva's.

I sent him the link to the Curtis afadavit and the Wayne Madesen articles and he responded with some of the same points about what he is doing. It's actually nice to see that someone in his office is reading the emails because clearly they taylored your response to your message, it wasn't just a "boilerplate" response.

I can't tell you how glad I live in Seattle and able to vote for an oustanding American like McDermott!

Here's the letter I received from my representative, Anna Eshoo.
(Boldface emphasis added by me.)


Thank you for contacting me about your concerns relative to
potential voter fraud in the 2004 Presidential Election.

The integrity of our elections is crucial to our democracy. It's
essential for voters to have confidence that the votes they cast will
be counted, and counted correctly. I am disturbed by some recent
reports of voting machine failures and miscounted ballots. Among
the irregularities reported by numerous news organizations are
electronic voting machines in suburban Columbus, Ohio that
allegedly added over 3,800 votes to President Bush's tally in a
precinct that has only 800 registered voters, and a North Carolina
precinct that lost 4,000 votes when voting machines ran out of
memory to store votes.

While irregularities such as these didn't change the result of the
Presidential election, they may influence the result of local races
and they cast doubt on the system as a whole. In order to restore
the confidence in our voting system, any reported case of voting
irregularity must be investigated so that problems can be corrected.
Rep. Conyers, along with several Democrats on the Judiciary
Committee, wrote to the Government Accountability Office shortly
after the election, urging them to investigate these voting
irregularities. I'm pleased that the GAO will conduct an
investigation and I look forward to reviewing their findings.

Since the election fiasco in 2000, I've made reforming our election
process a priority. In the 107th Congress, I cosponsored H.R. 3295,
the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). This law provided funding to
help states replace outdated voting machines and created an
Election Assistance Commission to improve the general
management of elections. Congress, unfortunately, has not fully
funded the law. To date it is underfunded by over $700 million,
slowing the pace of reform in states like Ohio, where punch-card
machines are still used in an overwhelming number of counties. I
will continue to push for full funding of this important law in the
new Congress.

While replacing outdated voting machines was a vital first step,
more needs to be done to restore confidence in our system. I've
cosponsored H.R. 2239, the Voter Confidence and Increased
Accessibility Act, which would require a voter-verified permanent
record. I think this is necessary to provide voters with the
confidence that their vote is being accurately recorded. This
legislation was not enacted in time for implementation during the
2004 elections but it should be enacted in the next Congress.

If you have any other questions or comments, let me hear from
you. I always appreciate hearing from my constituents and ask that
you continue to inform me on issues you care about. I need your
thoughts and benefit from your ideas.

If you'd like to receive information on other issues, I've created an
e-newsletter to keep constituents informed on a variety of topics.
If you'd like to receive it, go to my website at
http://eshoo.house.gov and click on "E-Newsletter Sign-Up."