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Send a Letter to the Editor |
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Below are some points you may want to make to newspapers in Maryland. Also provided is the contact information.
The key points to make are that Governor O’Malley has included $3.4 million in state funding for transition to voter verified paper ballots and this should be supported by the legislature. Paper-based voting with optical scan counters is less expensive than the cost of leasing the paperless voting system and with a paper ballot it is possible to have a meaningful recount and independent audits to ensure the vote count is accurate.
Other important points you might want to consider making are: - Electronic voting machines make it impossible to safeguard the integrity of your vote
. Voting machines are subject to human error, computer malfunction and
malicious tampering. The machines sometimes produce inaccurate and
uncertain election results.
- We need a voter verified paper audit trail. By
using a paper ballot verified by each voter -- with either an
electronic or optical scan machine – necessary routine audits and
meaningful recounts can be conducted to ensure that the votes are
accurately counted.
- Every vote is important and must be counted accurately.
There is no way to tell whether the voter’s selection is accurately
counted by the machine. We need to be sure. The only way to ensure
accuracy in the vote count is a paper ballot and audit trail.
- Voting machines must support voters with disabilities.
Maryland ’s voters, including those who are vision-impaired, as well as
those who speak languages other than English, must have the right to
cast an independent and secret ballot -- and to have a permanent record of their ballot preserved for future audit and recount purposes.
- Cancel the contract with Diebold.
Diebold has shown itself to be ethically challenged. They have been
successfully sued for fraud, they’ve illegally installing uncertified
software and some of their voting systems have defective parts which
compromise the election process.
- Let’s get it right: This is an opportune time in history
. Voters are concerned about the accuracy of the vote count. This is
the time to put in place a voting system people can trust—where they
can be sure their vote is counted as cast.
- Transparent Voting is the core—the very foundation of our democracy. If we cannot trust the way votes are counted than our democracy is no longer legitimate.
Keep your letter short.
It should be no more than 150 words – you can make one or two points –
not more. If you write letters that are too long they are most likely
to be ignored. It is best if your letter is in response to an article
or editorial published by the newspaper. Email addresses: |
