More editorial support for VVPB/MRMR in the Nashville Tennessean

[Fly by night]

Boy oh boy, our Orange State media is on a roll this week. I've already posted the op-ed piece that ran this past Sunday. Yesterday, as I was at the airport waiting to fly to DC to lobby my Congresspeople about Rush Holt's "paper ballot" bill and to attend the VoteTrustUSA summit, I picked up the Tennessean at the airport. There, on the editorial page, was a three star letter (considered the best letter of the day) on VVPB/MRMR. Here is the letter in its entirety, with the permission of the author. Enjoy and please keep writing and thanking Sandra Roberts, the Tennessean Editorial Page Editor, for keeping this issue front-and-center ( [e-mail] )
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WE NEED OPEN AND VERIFIABLE ELECTIONS

To the editor:

Bill Haymes' Nashville Eye column on the French EU vote reminded me of how far America must go to achieve what the citizens of France already have -- open and verifiable elections. ("Vote in a French village not unlike election Nashville-style", June 5).

Their paper ballots allow for a transparent hand-counting process that the French see as an essential part of honest elections, not as an imposition of extra work on poll workers, or an 'unnecessary delay' in returning election results.

Coincidentally, I've just read the special report from the elections supervisor of Leon County, Florida. It summarized the results of a security test on its Diebold vote tabulation computers, called for by a nonpartisan voter advocacy group. The finding was that the vote count is surprisingly easy to manipulate simply by switching memory cards -- and leaves no trace of tampering.

Not surprising is that Leon County's election supervisor believes the ultimate insurance of a fair election is a paper ballot.

Unfortunately, our national trend is just the opposite. In 2006, nearly a third of Americans will vote on paperless, touch-screen computers, using software written by companies openly biased toward one political party.

Some Americans maligned the French people for their opposition to our Iraq invasion, calling them 'freedom-haters'. The quality of freedom is defined by the fairness of its elections.

To me, any legislator not supporting election reform, requiring a paper ballot trail and random recounts, is the real 'freedom-hater'.

Joe Irrera
( [e-mail] )

[Fly by night]

1. kick

[Stevepol]

2. This is a great and hopeful post. I sent it on to a bunch of folks via

email. One of those I sent it to was an editorial writer for the local newspaper.

I'd suggest that others copy the letter and the short introduction to it and send it to somebody on your local newspaper or just to your editor.

You could also send a copy to everybody you know who might not know about the most important issue our country has ever faced (my opinion).

[Fly by night]

3. One more kick, 'cause I'm just now back home from the big city -- DC.

[FreedomAngel82]

4. Nice to hear!

I'm glad to hear here in Tn there is a support still for paper ballots. This is the best: <To me, any legislator not supporting election reform, requiring a paper ballot trail and random recounts, is the real 'freedom-hater'.>