VerifiedVoting.org Media Release

For Immediate Release: Friday, June 10, 2005

Contact:

Bobbie Brinegar
Senior Political Advisor
VerifiedVoting.org
bobbie@verifiedvoting.org

Pamela Smith
Nationwide Coordinator
VerifiedVoting.org
pam@verifiedvoting.org

VerifiedVoting.org Lobbies on Voter-Verified Paper Ballots

Washington, D.C. - A coalition of organizations and more than 200 citizen lobbyists are lobbying the U.S. Congress June 9-14 in support of legislation requiring voter-verified paper ballots.

VerifiedVoting.org supports H.R.550, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, and S.330, the Voting Integrity and Verification Act, which would require that voting systems used in federal elections produce a voter-verified paper ballot that voters can inspect before casting their votes.

"Voting machines of all makes and models are malfunctioning routinely in nationwide elections," said VerifiedVoting.org Senior Political Advisor Bobbie Brinegar. "Voter-verified paper ballots provide the most reliable way to count votes accurately when voting machines fail as they inevitably do."

For example, a single paperless e-voting machine in Carteret County, North Carolina, permanently lost more than 4,400 votes in November, throwing a statewide race for Agricultural Commissioner into confusion.

"A rapidly increasing number of states - 22 at last count - already have laws or policies requiring voter-verified paper ballots," said VerifiedVoting.org Nationwide Coordinator Pamela Smith. "Congress should ride the groundswell of popular support for legislation requiring voter-verified paper ballots and mandatory audits so the public can have confidence in the results of elections."

VerifiedVoting.org joins Common Cause, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Rock the Vote, VoteTrustUSA, VotersUnite.org, and Working Assets, in coordinating advocates from at least 26 states and representing at least 65 congressional districts. They have 80 meetings scheduled on Capitol Hill.

H.R.550 was introduced by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and S.330 was introduced by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV).

For this release:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5776

Map showing which states have VVPB requirements:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org

Latest details on verified voting legislation:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/legis

Lobbying blog:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/cat_evoting_lobby_days.php

E-voting malfunctions in the 2004 nationwide election:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=5302 and
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=5331

PRESSLIST: Media professionals are invited to subscribe to the Verified Voting presslist at
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/presslist

About VerifiedVoting.org:

VerifiedVoting.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan lobbying organization championing reliable and publicly verifiable elections. Founded by Stanford University Computer Science Professor David Dill, the organization supports a requirement for voter-verified paper ballots for all voting technology, including electronic voting machines, to allow voters to inspect individual permanent records of their ballots and election officials to conduct meaningful recounts and audits. The organization's website is at
http://www.verifiedvoting.org