Changes to HR811 proposed by 4 election integrity groups.

[Stevepol]

Kathy Dopp's News: The four groups which have joined to petition for changes in Holt's 811 bill are The National Election Data Archive, Black Box Voting, Democracy for New Hampshire, and Citizens' Alliance for Secure Elections, OH.

Here's the gist of her message:

Friday, March 30, 2007. Leaders in four election integrity organizations are delivering a proposal to the Congress calling on the members to sponsor better election reform legislation.

snip

Some election officials agree. Douglas A. Kellner, Co-Chair of the New York State Board of Elections in a March 20, 2007 email correspondence said: "Congress got it wrong when it passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002 and there is a high probability that HR 811 in its current form could create another form of expensive mischief that could interfere with efficient administration of elections."

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the National Association of Counties (NACo) have also written a joint letter on March 19, 2007 urging members of Congress to oppose HR811/S559.

Yet, federal election reform legislation is critically needed in early 2007 if it is to be in effect in time to assure the accuracy and truth of 2008 federal elections.

Kathy Dopp, President of the National Election Data Archive with help from state and county election officials and other election integrity activists such as Bev Harris, Director of Black Box Voting; Nancy Tobi, Cofounder of Democracy for New Hampshire and Chair, NH Fair Elections Committee; and Phil Fry of Citizens' Alliance for Accurate Secure Elections OH have authored a "One-Page Concept Proposal for Federal Election Reform Legislation". The key ideas of their proposals are 1) citizen oversight of elections, 2) sufficient manual counts of paper ballots to verify the accuracy of election outcomes, 3) prohibit and monitor voter disenfranchisement, and 4) well-planned,
long-term improvement of voting systems. They are also recommending that the US Election Assistance Commission be dissolved.

According to Dopp, their "One-Page Concept Proposal for Federal Election Reform Legislation" has more reasonable time frames, enforceable requirements, provisions for citizen oversight, respect of
states' rights and flexibility, provides sufficient funding to cover its requirements, and is more cost-efficient and effective than current election reform proposals.

Attached is the "One-Page Concept Proposal for Election Reform Legislation" along with detailed comments.

http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/US/EI-FedLegProposal-v2.pdf

Any feedback on the proposal and any help that you can be in getting
this legislation sponsored would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Kathy Dopp, President of National Election Data Archive
http://electionarchive.org
[e-mail] 435-658-4657

Here's more:

The flaws in current election reform bills proposed by Holt, Nelson,
Clinton, and Tubbs-Jones are discussed in these papers and articles:

"Federal Election Audit Costs" shows that the HR811/S559 and
HR1381/S804 election audits would give as low as a 10% probability of
detecting outcome-altering vote fraud and yet cost 50% to 94% MORE
than an election audit with a 99% success rate, when applied to 2002
and 2004 US House and Senate races.
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/paper-audits/FederalAuditCosts.pdf

Much of the testimony that has been given before the House
Administration Committee on Election Reform is available publicly
here: http://electionarchive.net/docs_other/HearingTestimony/
or will be posted here: http://www.cha.house.gov

Doug Kellner, NYS Board of Elections Co-Chair' comments:
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/CommentDouglasAKellner.htm

Joint letter of National Association of Counties and National
Conference of State Legislatures
http://electionarchive.net/docs_other/HearingTestimony/NCSL-NACoopposeHoltBill.pdf

"Fool Me Once: Checking Vote Count Integrity"
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/paper-audits/TierElectionAuditEval.pdf

DeForest Soaries says that "EAC and Federal efforts for election
reform 'A Charade,' 'Travesty'!
http://www.ejfi.org/Voting/Voting-6.htm#soaries

"Why we must not Re-Authorize the EAC"
http://electionarchive.net/docs_other/EAC-DoNotReauthorize.pdf

"The US Election Assistance Commission Has Not Done its Job"
http://www.votersunite.org/info/TestimonyTheisen03-13-07.pdf

"Avoid Another HAVA Train Wreck: Software Disclosure Requirements are
a Good Long Term Goal but Need to Be Redrafted in Current Federal
Election Integrity Legislation."
http://electionarchive.net/docs_other/dopp/VotingSystemSoftwareDisclosure.pdf
David Wagner, computer scientist's testimony on election reform before
the House Admin committee:
http://electionarchive.net/docs_other/HearingTestimony/wagner.pdf

"Critical changes are needed to Holt's HR811"
http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/US/ChangesNeeded2HR811.pdf

"Holt's HR 811, A Deceptive Boondoggle -- 10 Blunders to Fix" by Bruce
O'Dell http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bruce_o__070221_holt_s_hr_811_a_dece.htm

"What's Wrong with Holt II (HR 811)" by Bev Harris of Black Box Voting
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bev_harr_070208_what_s_wrong_with_ho.htm

"Summary of E-Voting as a Ponzi Scheme" by Nancy Tobi of Democracy
for New Hampshire
http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/3571 or
http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/files/PonziSummary.pdf

"New Version of Holt Bill: A Giant Step Backwards" by Nancy Tobi of
Democracy for New Hampshire
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_nancy_to_070207_new_version_of_holt_.htm

HR811 Review by Marian Beddill
http://noleakybuckets.org/holt811/holt811detail.shtml/

"Who is Supporting and Who is Opposing Current Election Reform Legislation?"
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_kathy_do_070325_who_is_opposing_or_s.htm

Analysis of the proposed "Count Every Vote" bill (federal legislation)
http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/3609

What's wrong with the NEW Holt Bill (HR 811)?
http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/3572

Stopping H.R. 550 as written because we can't compromise on democracy
http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/3084

Joint Letter to Congress on HR811/S559 of the National Association of
Counties and The National Conference of State Legislatures
http://electionarchive.net/docs_other/HearingTestimony/NCSL-NACoopposeHoltBill.pdf