ALL CONCERNED VOTERS--PLEASE HELP

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Sarasota needs your help, SOS is challenging VVPB amendment

ALL CONCERNED VOTERS--PLEASE HELP

February 3, 2007

o Our charter amendment is being challenged--again!
www.safevote.org /

Governor Crist made history February 1st with a bold move for verified elections,
but he did not go far enough.
His recommendations must be modified and expanded, then put into law by the Florida legislature.
Instead of eliminating most DREs (Direct Recording Electronic touchscreen voting machines),
which are expensive and subject to failure and hacking, he should eliminate ALL of them,
and press the Florida Secretary of State to approve various ballot marking devices for the disabled and for language minorities, so all voters can have a voter verified paper ballot, and all counties can have a choice of certified equipment that is within their budget and meets their needs. We must have mandatory audits,and voter verified paper ballots for all, in order to have confidence in our elections.

Charter Amendment

Although the good work of many is coming to fruition, we "have miles to go before we sleep". Secretary of State Kurt Browning is challenging our county charter amendment at the State Court of Appeals along with Kathy Dent and the County Commissioners. Can you believe it? Even though the voters of Sarasota County overwhelmingly passed the county charter amendment for voter verified paper ballots and mandatory audits last November, we are under attack once again. It is extremely important that the key messages of our county charter amendment prevail, not only for Sarasota County voters, but as a precedent for the rest of Florida. We are implementing those added protections in Sarasota County under our home rule charter, but all counties in Florida need these requirements added to our state laws, in order to benefit.

See your state legislators

Find your Reps at www.myfloridahouse.gov, and your Senators at www.flsenate.gov

Bring them a copy of the Florida Voters Coalition 2007 Position Paper. See the Position Paper attached.

Contact Governor Charlie Crist at [e-mail], Secretary of State Kurt Browning at www.dos.state.fl.us, the members of the House Ethics and Elections Committee at www.myfloridahouse.gov, and the members of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee at www.flsenate.gov. Kurt Browning is likely to propose a bill, and the committee members are the ones who will decide which bill gets to the floor of the legislature for a vote. Other bills calling for paper ballots have been proposed, but Browning's will take precedence. It must include our needed provisions, otherwise it could be a token gesture, a halfway measure, or worse.

More at the website for the full press release.
http://www.safevote.org