Senators Boxer, Clinton Unveil "Count Every Vote Act of 2005"

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://dailykos.com/story/2005/2/26/204031/168>


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 Senators Boxer, Clinton Unveil "Count Every Vote Act of 2005"
by Hunter
 Sat Feb 26th, 2005 at 17:40:31 PST

 The email alerts on this were sent out last week. In case you missed it,
here's the press release from Boxer.

WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barbara
Boxer (D-CA) today unveiled comprehensive voting reform legislation to make
sure that every American is able to vote and every vote is counted.
Senators Clinton and Boxer announced the legislation today in a press
conference joined by Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), who will
sponsor the legislation in the House of Representatives, and voting rights
advocates. [...]

The Count Every Vote Act of 2005 will provide a voter verified paper ballot
for every vote cast in electronic voting machines and ensures access to
voter verification for all citizens, including language minority voters,
illiterate voters and voters with disabilities. The bill mandates that this
ballot be the official ballot for purposes of a recount. The bill sets a
uniform standard for provisional ballots so that every qualified voter will
know their votes are treated equally, and requires the Federal Election
Assistance Commission to issue standards that ensure uniform access to
voting machines and trained election personnel in every community. The bill
also improves security measures for electronic voting machines.

To encourage more citizens to exercise their right to vote, the Count Every
Vote Act designates Election Day a federal holiday and requires early
voting in each state. The bill also enacts "no-excuse" absentee balloting,
enacts fair and uniform voter registration and identification, and requires
states to allow citizens to register to vote on Election Day. It also
requires the Election Assistance Commission to work with states to reduce
wait times for voters at polling places. In addition, the legislation
restores voting rights for felons who have repaid their debt to society.

 The Count Every Vote Act also includes measures to protect voters from
deceptive practices and conflicts of interest that harm voter trust in the
integrity of the system. In particular, the bill restricts the ability of
chief state election officials as well as owners and senior managers of
voting machine manufacturers to engage in certain kinds of political
activity. The bill also makes it a federal crime to commit deceptive
practices, such as sending flyers into minority neighborhoods telling
voters the wrong voting date, and makes these practices a felony punishable
by up to a year of imprisonment.

 Boxer, Clinton, and Tubbs Jones deserve our support on this one -- the
Republican strategy will be to attempt to ignore this completely, and bury
it long before it could ever reach the floor. Let's make that a painful
strategy to have, by singling out each opponent of voting reform as they
fling themselves in front of this bus.

 Having accurate vote counts should not be a partisan issue. The fact that
it is says volumes about the cowardice and reliance on "grass-roots"
thuggery of the current Republican party.  And yeah, Jeb -- I'm talking
about you.


-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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