Reply from my congressman, Bill Pascrell

[emcguffie]

Notice the .5 mandatory recount. That's a good idea, provided they don't know which .5 is to be recounted. If it could get passed.

January 19, 2005




Thank you for contacting me with your concerns over the
efficacy of electronic voting machines. I appreciate hearing from
you and welcome the opportunity to respond.

Accurate and auditable elections are a fundamental
imperative to the proper functioning of democracy. Without them,
the strength of our democracy will be questioned by American
citizens and the nations in the international community that we
seek to inspire. I am alarmed by the number of new voters who
were forced to vote by provisional ballot, the voters who were
turned away and directed to distant precincts and the votes that
were eliminated due to punch card abnormalities. I am further
troubled by the widespread reports of electronic voting machines
and new technologies that failed to function properly in order to
uphold the integrity that our election system aspires to achieve.

I have been active in the fight to hold electronic voting
machines accountable for each vote they record. I am a cosponsor
of H.R. 2239, the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility
Act of 2003." This is a bill designed to require electronic voting
machines to provide a hard copy record of each vote for a manual
audit, similar to that of a paper ballot box. This bill will also hold
voting machines accountable by requiring mandatory surprise
recounts in .5 percent of domestic jurisdictions.

Please be assured that I will closely follow the actions of
the General Accounting Office (GAO) upon its receipt of a letter
from my colleagues regarding the creation of an independent
investigation into the technologies used in the 2004 election. I will
continue to support efforts that hold electronic voting machines
true to our democratic values.

Please count on me if ever I may assist you regarding any
federal matter. I would like to remind you that my website,
www.pascrell.house.gov is frequently updated and provides a good
way for you to communicate with me.

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