Improve Elections - Take Action Today >>>>>>>>>>>>>

A short time ago, Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Commissioner Ray Martinez resigned from his post to spend more time with his family and move on to other activities. (The EAC is the agency responsible for oversight of federal elections.)


Verified Voting has selected a list of potential replacements for the vacancy, people who bring high levels of understanding about the need for election transparency -- and top-quality experience and expertise.

It is important that this list reach every US Senate office, to urge every Senator to choose from this list and support one of these highly qualified candidates.

Your help is needed: ask your Senators to support the top quality candidates from this list, to improve oversight of federal elections.

All it takes is one quick click to send a fax or email to your Senators! To see the list and send it out to your Senators, pleasevisit the VerifiedVoting.org Action Center at http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/vevo/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3516

Full public funding for campaigns would cost just $6 per person...

Congress would only have to spend $6 per citizen per year to publicly fund each and every election for the House, the Senate and the White House. When you consider that "pork barrel" projects cost every one of us more than $200 last year alone, it’s no contest.

Think of it. With public funding, wealthy special interests and their hired lobbyists would no longer have a commanding influence over our politics and government. Instead of begging for campaign donations, candidates would spend their time communicating with voters. Once elected, our leaders would be free to focus on our nation's challenges rather than having to worry about financing their next campaign. And there's no doubt that more of our most able leaders would run for federal office when the ability to finance a campaign isn't such a daunting obstacle.

Americans for Campaign Reform is building a nonpartisan grassroots movement of citizens who support voluntary public funding and want Congress to act now. We can make this happen. Public funding is already working in Arizona and Maine, and was just passed by the Connecticut legislature.

As citizens we can complain about the corrosive influence of our election finance system, or we can do something about it. With your help, we can mobilize citizens across the country and put pressure on Congress to enact real reform.

ACR Honorary Chairs,

Bill Bradley, Former Senator (D) New Jersey
Bob Kerrey, Former Senator (D) Nebraska
Warren Rudman, Former Senator (R) New Hampshire
Alan Simpson, Former Senator (R) Wyoming

Go here to sign up ===> http://www.just6dollars.org/

You will soon be asked to vote on a nomination to fill the vacancy on the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC), to replace outgoing Commissioner Ray Martinez.

I write to ask you to support only candidates from the list below in this letter. These individuals have all been selected because of their dedication to election transparency, their expertise and their knowledge of election processes. Further, each candidate on this list brings a rich cross-section of experience and perspective that will inform and enhance the work of the EAC.

Please give your support to one or more of these candidates, both in committee if you are on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, and for the floor vote in the Senate. This is an opportunity to help ensure top quality oversight for our nation's federal elections. Thank you.

cc: Hon. Harry Reid

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David J. Becker, Election Law Attorney who works with jurisdictions nationwide to help them comply fully with evolving federal and state election laws (including HAVA and the Voting Rights Act), conducts international democracy-building efforts, and is active in working with Congress on the renewal of the Voting Rights Act. David recently left the U.S. Department of Justice after serving for seven years as a senior Trial Attorney in the Voting Section of the department’s Civil Rights Division, where he was responsible for leading dozens of investigations into violations of federal voting laws, regarding issues including, among other things, minority language voter rights, redistricting, alleged voter intimidation, and vote dilution. Most notably, David served as lead trial counsel for the United States in Georgia v. Ashcroft, 195 F. Supp. 2d 25 (D.D.C. 2002), rev’d by 539 U.S. 461 (2003), for which the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights awarded him the department’s Special Commendation for Merit.

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Betty Castor served until recently on the Carter–Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform, and was the 2004 Democratic Party nominee for the US Senate from Florida. Castor served for six years as president of the University of South Florida, one of the largest metropolitan universities in the nation. Prior to joining the university, Castor served as Florida Commissioner of Education for seven years from 1986-93, and she was the first woman ever elected to the Florida Cabinet. She served three terms as a state senator from the west coast of Florida, becoming the first female to hold the position of President Pro Tempore (1985-86) and chaired the Appropriations Committee on Education. She presently is the founder and president of a political action committee called Campaign for Florida’s Future, focused on increasing participation in public life by citizens in Florida and the nation.

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Christina Galindo-Walsh, senior staff attorney for the National Disability Rights Network. Ms. Galindo-Walsh oversees voting training and technical assistance efforts for the Protection and Advocacy System. She spearheads the Network’s Protection and Advocacy System under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), as they work to ensure election access to individuals with various disabilities. She joined the staff from Florida, where she worked as a litigation lawyer focusing on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Christina received her law degree from Florida State University.

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Bill Gardner, Secretary of State in New Hampshire and the longest serving state level Secretary of State in US History. He is in charge of the department that oversees all general elections, primary elections, voter registration and recounts within the state, including the New Hampshire Primary. He began his life in New Hampshire politics as a state representative and was elected Secretary of State in 1976. He has been kept in office by both Democratic and Republican chambers in the Legislature for thirty years.

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Edward Hailes, Jr., senior attorney with the Advancement Project, formerly served as the General Counsel for the United States Commission on Civil Rights, directing the federal agency’s historic investigation into allegations of voting irregularities in Florida during the November 2000 presidential election and the Commission’s high-profile hearing on police practices and civil rights in New York City after the police shooting of Amadou Diallo. Mr. Hailes also served for 10 years as a legal, then legislative, counsel for the NAACP, gaining a remarkable record of success in civil rights litigation and legislative advocacy on behalf of the organization. A graduate of the Howard University School of Law, he also earned his undergraduate degree at Howard University as an Honors Program graduate.

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Douglas A. Kellner was appointed by Governor George Pataki as one of four commissioners of the New York State Board of Elections. Mr. Kellner was also designated as the Co-Chair of the State Board. Doug Kellner previously served on the New York City Board of Elections since 1993 as the Democratic commissioner from Manhattan. He resigned from that position in order to assume the state-wide post. Commissioner Kellner was one of the first proponents of a voter verifiable paper audit trail for electronic voting machines. He was instrumental in promoting new technology for scanning absentee and provisional ballots, and drafted model procedures to open the process of canvassing ballots to public scrutiny and convinced fellow commissioners to adopt rules that provided meaningful due process in ballot challenges.

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David Orr, Clerk of Cook County, Illinois, serves as the chief election authority in the third largest election jurisdiction in the country and has found innovative ways to reform how government works. Orr serves as president of the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks (NACRC), and is a member of the Board of Advisors to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). He has played pivotal roles in helping to shape federal and state election reforms. Orr promoted passage of a statewide law that allows senior high school students to serve as election judges, part of the Clerk’s Teen Democracy Program and has used new technology to lay out the county’s multiple ballot formats in-house, which saves about $1 million every year. Orr established an award-winning interactive voter website, www.voterinfonet.com, and has earned national recognition for launching voter education campaigns and redesigning polling place materials.

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Deborah Markowitz, Secretary of State of Vermont since 1998. Secretary Markowitz is the constitutional officer chiefly responsible for Vermont’s elections. During her tenure, Secretary Markowitz has made it a priority to improve Vermont’s democracy and promote good citizenship. Over the past seven years, Markowitz has helped schools throughout Vermont bring civics education into the classroom at all levels by providing teachers with curriculum materials including a comprehensive mock-election program. Markowitz has modernized the administration of Vermont’s elections, resulting in fewer problems and complaints during elections. She implemented an ambitious election reform agenda that included widespread voter education and outreach programs. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the National Election Standards Board and is President-Elect of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). Markowitz is also widely respected as one of the most knowledgeable resources on legal and ethical issues for local officials.

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