From: Peter Schurman, MoveOn.org
Sent: 6/2/2004 2:36:21 PM
Subject: Protect Our Votes - Insist on a Paper Ballot


Today were launching a petition to ensure that there's a paper record of every ballot cast. Sign the petition to protect your vote and the votes of all Americans today.


Dear MoveOn member,
We all remember the election of 2000. Because of faulty and mismanaged election systems, George W. Bush won Florida's electoral votes and the presidency. And now look at the mess we're in.
People demanded improvements, and now states are spending millions to buy new voting machines. So far, so good. But many key states, including Florida, Ohio and other battlegrounds, are installing "black box" voting machines -- computer voting terminals that don't produce a paper ballot.
Without a paper ballot, there's no way to know if our votes are counted correctly. Also, computers are vulnerable to malfunction -- how often does yours freeze up?
It's time to take action to protect our votes. Join our call for Voter-Verified Paper Ballots, at:
http://www.moveon.org/protectourvotes/
If ATMs and gas pumps can print receipts, then voting terminals can print paper ballots. Every voter should be able to make sure that his or her vote will count as it was cast, by verifying a paper ballot that can be audited and re-counted. And wherever electronic voting terminals are used, backup paper ballots should also be available, so no voters will be turned away from the polling place if the terminals aren't working.
Over the past few weeks, MoveOn members have been calling legislators and officials in many states to demand Voter-Verified Paper Ballots. And along with other citizen's groups, large and small, we have won important victories.
A month ago, our side won its biggest victory yet. California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley decertified 14,000 black box voting terminals made by Diebold Inc., and said that this November, every California voter will be able to vote on a paper ballot.
Every voter in every state should have the same right -- to verify that his or her vote was recorded correctly, with full confidence that it will be counted correctly. We shouldn't have to hand our elections over to manufacturers like Diebold and blindly trust them with the results.
This is not about partisan politics. It's about the foundation of our democracy: our votes. There's no reason Americans should have anything less than the most accessible, secure and reliable voting system possible.
Join our campaign by clicking this link:
http://www.moveon.org/protectourvotes/
Thank you, for everything you do.
Sincerely,
--Carrie, Joan, Noah, Peter, and Wes
  The MoveOn.org Team
  Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004
P.S.: See our website for helpful background information on this issue.