BBV: how to send a Letter to the Editor of your local paper

[Eric J in MN]

Step 1: Find the website of your local newspaper. You can use google.com. If you don't know your local newspaper's name, use your city and the word "newspaper" as search terms.

Step 2: Click around the newspaper's Letters section until you find an email-address for Letters to the Editor or a form.

Step 3: Write a letter like (use your own words):
A bill in Congress to make elections more accurate, The Voter Confidence Act, has recently reached 125 co-sponsors, including Congressman ____ and ____,(naming Congresspersons in your state.)

You can find out who the co-sponsors are from your state at:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/states.asp

Make the letter 2-3 short paragraphs.

Step 4:
Include your full-name and address and phone-number.

Step 5:
If they don't print it, that's fine. They get hundreds of letters. The important thing is to let the editors know this is an issue people care about.

[RedEagle]

1. Yay Eric- Working Hard to Help You

Here's a link that might help find your newspapers, and other media, too:

http://newslink.org/news.html

[AP]

2. Even better, use the LOWV site:

http://www.capwiz.com/lwv/dbq/media/

You enter your zip code and they give you all your media outlets in your area and an email form for writing them. You don't even need an email application to do it. You do it all on their site.

It's the best tool for writing letters to the media I've ever seen.

[Eric J in MN]

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[Eric J in MN]

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[Eric J in MN]

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[Eric J in MN]

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[Eric J in MN]

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[leftchick]

8. Thank you Eric...

I am off to write mine!

[Eric J in MN]

9. you're welcome (nt)

nt

[leftchick]

10. question....

I have a local election official who has publicly said on several occaisions that adding a paper printing to the touchscreens we already have is too costly and not necessary. (He also happens to be a member of The Election Center!) In my letter I would like to respond strongly and refute his statements. I am not a great letter writer so I could use some help. Any suggestions for me?

[Eric J in MN]

11. possible answers about cost

about cost of printers

1) We should use optical-scan ballots if the cost of a computer plus a printer is too great.

2) Making elections accurate and trustworthy is well worth the price of printers.

3) Election officials never say the computer's monitor is too expensive, or the chips are too expensive, it's just when it comes to the printer that price suddenly becomes an issue.

about whether it's necessary

1) Any election method which relies entirely on a process within a computer can easily be rigged by the computer programmer who writes the voting-machine software.

2) If they test the electronic-machines on election day, and find a problem, but there are no paper-ballots, then what? We need paper-balots for meaningful recounts.

[leftchick]

13. perfect...

Thanks yet again Eric.

[Eric J in MN]

14. you're welcome (nt)

nt

[Eric J in MN]

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[RedEagle]

15. If everyone wrote just one letter to the editor

Just one.

Kick!