San Diego’s own Susan Davis has given us an opportunity to limit the use of touch screen voting machines throughout the U.S. It is the opinion of Secure-Accurate Elections that we should all get busy supporting Susan Davis’ amendment to the Holt Bill, H.R. 811.

On September 5th, Congresswoman Susan Davis introduced an amendment to the Holt Bill (see press release below) that restricts the use of touch-screen voting machines nationally in federal elections. Her amendment allows for the presence of one touch screen machine with a paper trail per precinct for those who want or need to use the machines. Her amendment is similar to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s recent ruling which severely limits the use of touch-screen voting machines in elections.

Velvet Revolution, which has been active in the Voter Integrity movement welcomes the restriction on the “unreliable, vulnerable DRE systems.“ that has always been a major objection to HR 811.

Secure-Accurate-Elections supports Velvet Revolution's call to action. We encourage you to contact the following members of the Rules Committee and House Leadership to encourage them to support Congressperson Susan Davis’ amendment.

The names and numbers of members of the House Rules Committee and House Leadership are posted below. We ask you to call and politely urge members to allow for Susan Davis' DRE Amendment to Holt's HR 811 Election Reform Bill. And please pass on this information to others!

House Leadership:

NANCY PELOSI (D-CA)
Phone: (202) 225-4965
Fax: (202) 225-4188

STENY HOYER (D-MD)
Phone: (202) 225-4131
Fax: (202) 225-4300

U.S. House Committee on Rules:
Main Number: 202-225-9091

Democrats:

JAMES P. McGOVERN (MA)
website
Phone: (202) 225-6101
Fax: (202) 225-5759ALCEE L. HASTINGS (FL)

ALCEE HASTINGS
website
Tel: (202) 225-1313
Fax: (202) 225-1171

DORIS O. MATSUI (CA)
website
Phone: (202) 225-7163
Fax: (202) 225-0566

DENNIS CARDOZA, (CA)
website
Phone: (202) 225-6131
Fax: 202-225-0819
800-356-6424

PETER WELCH, (VT)
website
Phone:(202) 225-4115

KATHY CASTOR (FL)
Phone: (202)225-3376
Fax: (202)225-5652

MICHAEL ARCURI (NY)
Phone: 202-225-3665
Fax: 202-225-1891

BETTY SUTTON (OH)
Phone: (202) 225-3401
Fax: (202) 225-2266

Republicans:

DAVID DREIER (CA) - Ranking Minority Member
Office (202) 225-2305
Fax (202) 225-7018

LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (FL)
Phone: (202) 225-4211

DOC HASTINGS (WA)
Phone: (202) 225-5816
Fax: (202) 225-3251

PETE SESSIONS (TX)
(202) 225-2231
(202) 225-5878 fax

Rep. Susan Davis’s Statement
Restrict the Use of DRE Electronic Voting Machines

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-Calif) released the following statement on her effort to offer an amendment to Rep. Rush Holt’s bill (H.R. 8 11) to ban paperless voting.

“Electoral integrity is of the utmost importance to guaranteeing our democracy and I support many of the provisions of Rep. Rush Holt’s bill (H.R. 8 11) and respect the thought behind it.

“However, as we have looked closely at all the issues concerning Election Day voting systems, we are still ignoring the 8,000 pound gorilla in the room. Although Rep. Holt’s bill has looked at many tough issues, there is one controversial issue that seems to come up again and again in my discussions with voters, activists and elections officials. It is an issue that has been dealt with in many states including my home state of California just recently with the Secretary of State’s Top-to-Bottom review. The wealth of data and opinions on this topic are so strong that I feel Congress would be remiss if we do not allow a debate on the question of whether and how Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Voting Machines should be used in federal elections.

“In an attempt spark debate on this issue, I proposed an amendment to H.R. 8 11 allowing every polling place to have one DRE with a paper trail for those who want or need to use it—sort of a paper or plastic option. And of course, early voting could be done electronically because it makes the most sense when voters from any of thousands of precincts show up to vote in the same place and stocking all the different paper ballots can be a nightmare. What’s more, problems of the past such as long lines from broken machines or elections with no record like we saw in Florida ’s 13th Congressional District could not happen. There would be fewer problems that lead to long lines and disenfranchisement, people with disabilities could vote privately, a true paper record would be available for recounts and costs would shrink.

“It is my hope that Congress will address this issue in the near future. Our democracy is too important to ignore this issue any longer.”