This Just In

-Finally Catching On-

VIDEO - RFK Jr. on 'MSNBC Hardball' Says Hacking an Election on E-Voting Machines 'Easy', Endorses Emergency Paper Ballot Legislation, Recommends BRAD BLOG!
UPDATED: Complete Video Now Linked!

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Mathews to discuss his recent Rolling Stone piece on Diebold's duplicity in their voting systems.
Kennedy spoke about how easy it now is to hack an election with an Electronic Voting Machine ("in just 60 seconds") as based on recent studies by Princeton, NYU's Brennan Center and the non-partisan GAO office.
He also discussed the new Congressional Emergency Paper Ballot legislation, and even recommended your friendly neighborhood BRAD BLOG as a good source for information on all of the above!
COMPLETE VIDEO LINKED HERE:http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3540
---Brad FriedmanTHE BRAD BLOG - The uprising continues...http://www.BradBlog.comVELVET REVOLUTION - The revolution begins...http://www.VelvetRevolution.us
Do you want to protect the election in November so voters at least have a chance of having their votes counted as cast, not messed up by flawed voting machines? Take action now!

Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Christopher Dodd (R-CT), and Russ Feingold (D-WI) just submitted an emergency Senate bill, S 3943, that will provide Federal reimbursement for states to make paper ballots available to all voters who want them, and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) has submitted a companion bill, HR 6187, in the House. With only a couple more days in this congressional session, these bills have to be heard and passed immediately.

What you can do:

1. Contact your Senators and Representative immediately to ask them to cosponsor these bills and to vote for them (You can contact your particular members via this link.)

2. Contact your local media and ask them to publicize the story (You may write in support of, or ask your local media to cover this issue via this link.)

3. Forward this message to everyone you know, in every state, who cares about our democracy and wants to have a chance that the votes will be counted accurately in November.

Thanks.
Kate

Latest info on these critical bills, S 3943 and HR 6187, as of Wed, Sep 27, 1:40 p.m.:
S.3943Title: A bill to amend the Help America vote Act of 2002 to reimburse jurisdictions for amounts paid or incurred in preparing, producing, and using contingency paper ballots in the November 7, 2006, Federal general election.Sponsor: Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] (introduced 9/26/2006) Cosponsors (2)Latest Major Action: 9/26/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

H.R.6187 : To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to reimburse jurisdictions for amounts paid or incurred in preparing, producing, and using contingency paper ballots in the November 7, 2006, Federal general election.Sponsor: Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] (introduced 9/26/2006) Cosponsors (None)Committees: House AdministrationLatest Major Action: 9/26/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.



More info about the issue and the Senate bill from Brad Friedman's blog on Sep 26:

URL: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3531

BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: BOXER, DODD INTRODUCE 11th HOUR EMERGENCY PAPER BALLOT LEGISLATION IN SENATE!
Calls for 'Contingency Paper Ballots' in States, Counties this November to be Paid for Feds!
Co-Author of HAVA is Co-Sponsor of New Bill Answering Our Call for a 'LET AMERICA VOTE ACT', Makes Paper Ballots Optional to States Rather Than MandatedŠBut We'll Take it! -- Sources Say House Bill to Follow Soon!
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) introduced emergency legislation to amend the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) this afternoon to offer funding to states and counties who make 'contingency paper ballots' available to voters to be used at the voter's option instead of electronic voting systems.
The so-called contingency paper ballots would be counted as normal ballots, as opposed to Provisional Ballots which must be vetted first to determine the integrity of the voter's registration. Provisional ballots are frequently counted only several days after Election Day, and often, not at all.
The inclusion of Dodd as a co-sponsor on this 11th hour legislation is no small coup, as he was one of the original co-sponsors of the HAVA legislation of 2002 which this bill would amend. Until now, he and the other bi-partisan co-sponsors of that original legislation have been reluctant to open HAVA to amendment.
The BRAD BLOG has further learned from Capitol Hill sources that similar legislation is currently being prepared for introduction in the U.S. House. We hope to have more details on that later today, as the legislators on the House side are working through several language issues in collaboration with colleagues in the Senate.
The legislation, filed just after 4pm ET this afternoon, would refund voting jurisdictions who offer paper ballots as an option to voters, and requires such jurisdictions post "in a conspicuous manner at the polling place, a notice stating that contingency paper ballots are available at the polling place and that a voter may request to use such a ballot at the voter's discretion."
Election integrity advocacy groups and citizens alike have been rallying members of both the U.S. House and Senate to pass such legislation since The BRAD BLOG initially called for what we had called, the "LET AMERICA VOTE ACT" last Tuesday. The act we called for would mandate emergency paper ballots at all polling places this November in light of thousands of voters having been sent without being able to cast a vote in primary after primary election so far this year when new electronic voting machines either malfunctioned or were otherwise unavailable.
The short Boxer/Dodd bill does not mandate the use of such ballots, but rather offers federal payment to local jurisdictions that choose to make such 'contingency paper ballots' available at either the voter's request or in the event of machine malfunction.
The bill is now being referred to informally as the "Confidence in Vote Act of 2006". It's a simple bill, three pages long in total, and is posted in full at the bottom this article. The final version of the bill to be filed momentarily (it may have already been) may be downloaded here in PDF format.
The bill introduced today is notable in no small part in that it's co-sponsored by Dodd - one of the original co-sponsors of HAVA along with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in the Senate and Reps. Bob Ney (R-OH) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) in the House. HAVA was the bill which had set in motion the nationwide implementation of electronic voting systems paid for by the federal government. That bill gave states and counties some $3 billion dollars for voting systems "upgrades" around the country, and has led to a panoply of problems at polls, criticism from computer scientists, security experts and non-partisan election integrity organizations.
Dodd, and the other bi-partisan co-sponsors of HAVA, including the now-disgraced lead author Ney (R-OH), have been reluctant up until now to modify the legislation in any way, despite repeated calls from Election Integrity advocates, and a host of bills filed in both the House and Senate which have not been allowed to move forward.
The BRAD BLOG has learned that Boxer and Dodd chose to make the use of "contingency paper ballots" an option to states, rather than a mandate, in hopes that it would make the bill less contentious and easier to pass in the few days left in this legislative session before the election recess.
Both touch-screen DRE's and paper based optical scan systems have spectacularly failed across the country so far this year as well, and contingency plans have been called from both Republicans and Democrats alike to have such contingency plans in place at local jurisdictions should such machines continue to fail this November.
The downside to offering these paper ballots as an option, instead of a mandate, is that some states - such as Florida - have provisions in place making it essentially illegal for elections directors to offer such paper ballots at the polling place. For those states, it may well be that only a federal mandate would do the job of ensuring that voters would be able to vote come hell or highwater this November.
The legendary Leon County, FL Election Director Ion Sancho had previously expressed hopes that such a bill would make it "illegal to send a properly registered voter away from the polls without allowing them to cast a vote."
The latest state to have had machine problems in their primary election, resulting in voters being turned away from the polls, or being given Provisional Ballots (which are frequently not counted at all after Election Day) was Maryland. The Republican Governor of Maryland, Bob Ehrlich, called for scrapping the state's Diebold paperless touch-screen voting systems after their September 12th primary, calling on the state to impliment Emergency Paper Balloting this November. Incidents similar to the now-infamous "Maryland Meltdown" have been occuring across the country all year in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Arkansas, West Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, and many others.
The Boxer/Dodd legislation cites a recent call from former Republican Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and former Democratic Governor Richard Celeste to have such "backup and contingency plans that anticipate a wide range of possible failures in their electronic voting systems" this November.
With just 4, or so, legislative days left in this Congress before they break for their Election Recess, it'll be no easy feat to see the bill passed by both the House and Senate before they leave. But given the stakes, and the bi-partisan call across the country for such a measure, we hope the Congress can act with the speed appropriate for a bill so important to, at least, helping to mitigate the train wreck that our democracy may be headed for this November 7th.
The BRAD BLOG would urge you to contact your Congress Members to demand they support this legislation immediately. You can contact your particular members via this link. You may write in support of, or ask your local media to cover this issue via this link.
The complete text of the Boxer/Dodd legislation and this complete story, in full at:URL: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3531
---Brad FriedmanTHE BRAD BLOG - The uprising continues...http://www.BradBlog.com