Letters on Sec. Bowen's Action
Write Letters Supporting
Secretary Bowen's Decertification/Recertification Action
For addresses of newspapers and other info on sending letters to the editor,
see:
Sending a Letter to the Editor
For examples of newspaper articles in the last few days,
see Articles.
Above all don't worry; just dash off a quick note to your newspaper.
The volume of mail they get matters. Even if yours isn't published,
you may influence future coverage and editorials.
Below are some possible points to use, or say anything else in
support of Secretary Bowen and her action.
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Why didn't anyone find out these problems before?
Senator Bowen is doing a great job! The systems needed inspecting!
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Polls show public confidence in our electoral system is falling.
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How can we trust systems that loose 18,000 votes in a Florida Congressional race?
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Optically scanned paper ballot systems are less expensive and safer.
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Touchscreens fail at the polls and then voters can't vote and are
disenfranchised.
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With a touchscreen, my votes are secret even from me!
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New Mexico switched to paper ballots in 2006; Maryland and Florida are switching
now.
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The Riverside County Board of Supervisors' elections panel
recommended switching Riverside to paper ballots.
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Over half the vote is now via absentee ballot because people want to
avoid the hassle at the polls, which is long lines due to shortage
or failure of touchscreens, or because people don't trust the machines.
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Most computer scientists think we should move to paper ballots.
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Recent studies have shown the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)
can be "gamed" and is not sufficient to safeguard our votes.
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Diebold was fined $2.3 million for making unauthorized patches to California's
voting systems in 2003; should we trust them with counting our votes?
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The so-called federal testing system is a sham; one of the main
testing labs, Ciber, has been denied accreditation in the revamped
system, because it couldn't prove it did the required tests!
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Elections are the foundation of our democracy; why are we outsourcing
the running of elections?
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Diebold hasn't even fixed the "interpreter" problems found by the
2005 California study yet!
As Nike says, "Just do it!" And thanks.
Jerry Berkman, August 6, 2007