DU the Conyers Election Reform Survey Online

[dzika]

Sorry if this has been posted...

Congressman John Conyers, Jr., has posted a poll on election reform:

http://johnconyers.com/index.asp?Type=SUPERFORMS&SEC={D806E54D-86E7-42DF-BA64-771A221369F1}


source: http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/election-reform-poll-by-rep-john.html

[meganmonkey]

1. Done....

[Pam-Moby]

2. thanks for the link

can we kick this so many people has a chance to do the survey?

[Catbird]

3. Kick

:dem: :dem:

[sweetladybug]

4. done

n/t

[MelissaB]

5. done and thanks n/t

[Beth in VT]

6. It worries me that there is no mention of

hand-counted paper ballots or open source code for machines.

We need to hammer away on these items.

[Carolab]

8. Totally concur.

The survey is rather incomplete and doesn't leave room for comments. I am afraid this "paper trail" will be somehow misconstrued as a panacea, which we all know it is not.

[garybeck]

15. YESSSSSS to this reply

it will be a travesty if they fix the voter suppression problems and don't deal with electronic voting machines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we need to send feedback to conyers immediately!!!

Gary also in VT

[SueZhope]

7. Thanks for the post & done nt

[livvy]

9. Done. Thanks. I hadn't seen that before.n/t

[bliss_eternal]

10. kick

Let's kick it!

[JoMama49]

11. Did it and

kickin it

[Al-CIAda]

12. done -eom

[LeahD]

13. Done n/t

[bush_is_wacko]

14. Thanks for the link and I took the time to find his contact information

so that I could point out to him the glaring hole in his survey. He is still thinking along the lines of "machine" voting. I wrote him a quick letter to explain why it has to change. I also thanked him for doing such a great job!

[teddyk23]

16. all

I will pass on your comments to Mr. Conyers. By "hand counted paper ballots" do you mean a random audit of machine results by hand counting? Or do you mean some kind of optical scan system? Or do you mean a system that is just paper and no machine?

Or...as is always possible, am I just missing the point?

[New Earth]

17. paper ballots, hand counted

paper ballots hand counted
paper ballots hand counted
paper ballots hand counted
paper ballots hand counted
paper ballots hand counted

no more machines!

from what I understand, a paper 'trail' has no legal ground.

[bush_is_wacko]

22. Just paper, no machine. Machines are too easily manipulated or

infected, or hacked. No punch cards, no funky butterfly ballots, straight colored paper and pen. It is time we all realize the old way is the best way!

My comment to him was in either Sweden or Switzerland (I'm sorry, at this juncture my head is so crammed full of details I forget "small" details such as this on a regular basis)has a simple system of small slips of colored paper. Each color represents a different candidate or a different side of a different issue. Early voting and absentee voting should be exactly the same as regular voting. When the voting is over each side of each issue and each candidate has a representative that counts their ballots. They are all together in the same room and the process is open to the public. Observance keeps them honest. They never have problems and the counting goes quickly. The candidate or issue is decided by popular vote only. this is simple and because of it's openness is very difficult to manipulate.

Several of his other poll questions were right on though and I told him so.

[teddyk23]

25. thanks

Understand where you are coming from now. I will pass it on...

[cry baby]

35. teddyK23, if you have the ear of the congressman, please tell him

that we love him for the courage he has shown in his fight for the voter. Thank you, too, and Welcome to DU!:hi: :hi: :hi:

[hootinholler]

39. See #37 too. N/T

-Hoot

[minvis]

18. Done

[damntexdem]

19. Did it.

But I doubt that it will get anywhere.

[Melissa G]

20. done. thanks for the post! n/t

[super simian]

21. Done! n/t

[dalloway]

23. done n/t

[sepia_steel]

24. kick

[texpatriot2004]

26. Done, thanks for the link n/t

[Amaryllis]

27. Is he even aware of the issues with machines? He barely mentions them here

this makes me nervous.

[Pam-Moby]

28. Kick

[Vidar]

29. Done. Thanks for posting.

[geomon666]

30. This question is a non-issue

Ensure that state and local election officials involved in the administration of elections do not use their offices for political gain, such as by chairing an election effort for an election they are supervising:

Corruption knows no affiliation. Katherine Blackwell would've done the same thing if he/she weren't chairing an election effort.

[rumpel]

31. Done, thanks for letting us know.

[mirrera]

32. Conyer's survey incomplete!

I just wrote to Mr. Conyers the following:

Dear Mr. John Conyers and staff,
A survey about voting reform WITHOUT the option of paper ballots hand counted, is absurd. Why is there an assumption that machines in our electoral process are the best way. At the least, people will call for re-counts anyway, so why not save MILLIONS of dollars and follow the example of other countries that use paper ballots, hand counted. Please visit http://www.chuckherrin.com for great advice on how to address these issues across party lines. I have attached his presentation on voting security from the vantage point of a professional hacker. I have to tell you that as a citizen, I find it creepy that there is only talk of machines and more machines. It reminds me of someone who is given a prescription drug, and then has to take numerous other drugs to deal with the side affects. We keep fixing the problems caused by these machines, by adding new problems. NO MACHINES! There is a huge number of people supporting a step back, but our public officials seem to be embracing this corporate voting method that costs our States millions, while the machine companies get rich. Please put out a new survey that offers this obvious option.

I think we need a REAL survey about how Americans want to vote, and have those votes counted. To most people, it wasn't even a passing thought until 2000, that there was a chance the vote counting was not as intended. We are awake now, and we have to define things to benefit US, not big business. If we let them barrel over us with more machines, we will never get rid of them!

[Carolab]

34. Excellent and thank you for doing that. n/t

[marions ghost]

36. good letter

thank you

[hootinholler]

37. They need better proofreading too:

Ensure full enforcement by the Justice Department of anti-voter intimidation laws, including prohibitions on voter suppression and caging:
Yes
No
Should National standards for voter registration, polling place opening hours, and ballot recounts be established:
No
Yes
Establish an explicit private right of action for voter rights in the Help America Vote Act.:
Yes or No

-Hoot

BTW, I agree on paper ballots.

[GetTheRightVote]

33. done

I love Rep. John Conyers

:kick:

[marions ghost]

38. Sticky one also...

I was also bothered by "Fully fund the HAVA Act"--what's a good position on this? Who wants to fund HAVA as it is? (No mention of VIVA). I just had to answer no, since there was no qualification.
The current version of HAVA has paved the way for Republican-owned voting machine companies to sell auditless e-voting to the nation.