No Paper Ballot Bill in Maryland

[aintitfunny]

The bills never got out of the Ways and Means Committee which is chaired by Sheila Hixson, Democrat, District 20, Montgomer County. I was told that she was a principal actor behind the bill not getting a fair hearing. Why would she not want us to have fair, unquestioned elections?

Contact Information

SHEILA ELLIS HIXSON
Democrat, District 20, Montgomery County

Lowe House Office Building, Room 100
84 College Ave.
Annapolis, MD 21401 - 1991
[phone], [phone]
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3469 (toll free)
e-mail: [e-mail]
fax: [phone]

[In Truth We Trust]

1. Kick- Paper ballots NOW! Hand count NOW!

[aintitfunny]

2. Too Important to let slide

we need it for the 2006 election. Interesting Article here:
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/executive_tech/article.php/3495176

[DaveinMD]

3. this is all Sheila Hixson

You need to get people to pound on her about this. She is chair of the Committee that keeps killing this.

[aintitfunny]

4. That was what someone else

Led me to believe. Do you have any idea as to why this woman would kill this in committee?

[DaveinMD]

5. I really don't know

I know Sheila. She's usually a good Dem. I think its a money issue with her.

[shireen]

6. money?

what price to pay for democracy?

It'a inexcusable. We need to have confidence in our vote -- their actions are utterly irrational.

[aintitfunny]

8. Money or Pride or whatever

We should not be subject to having any doubts about our votes being counted. It is absolutely ludicrous and we should be shouting from the rooftops and hassling those legislators who would deny us confidence in free, fair and honest elections.

[hootinholler]

7. Maybe money, maybe not

Maybe it's pride. Was she on the comittee when Diebold was selected? In order to require a paper ballot you have to admit 2 things. First, that Diebold DREs (and all we spent on them) were not a good idea. and second, that there are existing problems with elections (which with DREs are difficult to detect).

-Hoot

[aintitfunny]

9. I suspect that may be part of the problem

But if you screw up you should take actions to fix it not just pretend it does not exist.

[hootinholler]

10. I didn't mean to imply it was right...

Just trying to point out what we must overcome to set things right. I absolutely agree this must be fixed.

-Hoot

[aintitfunny]

11. I hope that i did not imply you implied

it was right, cause I really did not think you did.:D It is an emotional issue for sure.

[hootinholler]

12. I don't think you implied that what I implied was implicit or explicit...

Oh HELL.

:evilgrin:

-Hoot

[aintitfunny]

13. Thanks for the morning laugh out loud N/T

[EC]

14. Did she say why she

is holding it up? Might consider she could have been bought off, does she have any financial problems (extreme ones, not like the rest of us)? What is the committee she heads?

[aintitfunny]

15. She is chair of Ways & Means

and I have not recieved a reply as to the reason.

[OnBackground]

16. Hixson

So, besides the obvious, that she may be getting donations from someone who doesn't want this to pass, there is also the possibility that Hixson just doesn't want to spend money on the program since she is the budget chair or to admit that it wasn't properly vetted in the first place.

Also, there is the vendetta angle. Specifically, Linda Schade, the Green Party candidate for delegate in the 20th LD (where Hixson lives) made the tightest general election race we have had in years, since the Republicans are harmless in our liberal district. It was a tough, occasionally nasty race. Maybe Sheila Hixson hasn't forgotten that, or missed rumors that Schade or someone else might attack from the left. Maybe she wants to deny them a victory.

[Stinky The Clown]

17. Yanno, if the lack of verified voting is the result of a Dem saving her ..

political ass, then said political ass needs a good whippin'

This issue is far, far, far more important than damned near anything I can imagine. If an election can be stolen, then all the hard and righteous work in the world will be for naught.

[aintitfunny]

18. I agree. I sent her this email today

I sent you the email below on April 14th. I have received no response. I realize I am not a direct constituent of yours, as I live in Baltimore County, but I am a citizen and taxpayer in the State of Maryland. Perhaps you do not think I warrant a response on the subject of my concern about having a verifiable paper ballot when I vote in this state. I would respectfully disagree.

Since you are the head of the committee that did not allow the bill to get a verifiable paper ballot to get out of that committee, I would really like to know:

1. Why it did not get out of the committee?

2. Who in particular held it up, my sources put this directly on your shoulders, Ms. Hixson, and I would like to understand the truth.

3. Why, in the first place, is my vote and the vote of every Maryland Citizen not being protected?

4. Should not absolute right to vote take precedence over fiscal concerns?

I am independently asking these questions. I think that when any American goes into the voting booth they should be able to vote with confidence that their vote counts. The Diebold machines with no paper ballots that allow for a hand recount do not inspire confidence, instead they inspire grave doubt. Please see the following article:

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/executive_tech/article.php/3495176

This article is from a Tech magazine, not a political journal or blog. I fail to understand why this is not being taken seriously by our lawmakers.

It now appears too late for something to be done before the 2006 election and that is primarily the fault of the bill not getting out of the Committee you chair. Should we, as Democrats, lose the gubernatorial race by a small margin, or strategic Maryland house seats, there will be no real way to know the truth. That is not just sad it is just plain wrong.

----------
She never responded to the first email, I doubt she will respond to this one, but everyone who cares about our right to vote should contact this woman.