There are a lot of bad things going on right now in Tennessee’s General Assembly. A lot. But the Republican effort to gut the Voter Confidence Act – a bill that was passed last year 92-3 in the State House and unanimously in the State Senate – is perhaps the most disgustingly anti-American, anti-democratic, and politically cynical maneuver ever. Ever. Ev. Er.
The Voter Confidence Act, which requires that our un-secure and unverifiable touch-screen voting machines be replaced before the November 2010 election with paper ballots (read by Optical Scan machines), is important because it guarantees three important processes to protect the vote in Tennessee:
1) Tennesseans will vote on paper ballots
2) The paper ballot becomes the ballot of record in case of a recount. (The electronic voting systems we have now only have one mechanism in place for a recount – press the same button again and get a repeat of the exact same totals you got before).
3) Mandatory random post-election audits in 3% of precincts (to insure that the Optical Scan machines are functioning properly).
Why is this the worst thing happening on the Hill right now? Because if your vote doesn’t count, then nothing else matters. Your desire for women to be able to make their own reproductive health decisions doesn’t matter. Your fight for 2nd Amendment rights doesn’t matter. Your struggle for marriage equality doesn’t matter. Your vote is your voice and it speaks loudly to elected officials. When your vote can be easily discarded, manipulated, or lost, then you lose the most important voice you have.
On Tuesday, March 24, both the House Elections sub-committee and the Senate State and Local Government committee will consider the bills introduced by Republicans that will repeal and/or gut the Voter Confidence Act:
HB0295 by Rep. Glen Casada (R-Franklin) and SB0305 by Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin): As introduced, deletes provisions of the “Tennessee Voter Confidence Act” requiring purchase of precinct-based optical scanner voting systems and mandatory hand count audits. – Amends TCA Title 2 and Chapter 1108 of the Public Acts of 2008.
HB0614 by Rep. Curry Todd (R-Collierville) / SB0872 [pdf] by Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro): As introduced, deletes all provisions requiring the purchase of precinct-based optical scanner voting systems only, including language referring to Help America Vote Act funds; deletes mandatory hand count audits of paper ballots created by such machines; deletes language. – Amends TCA Title 2 and Chapter 1108 of the Public Acts of 2008.
Rep. Casada, Rep. Todd, Sen. Jackson, and Sen. Ketron – who all voted YES for the Voter Confidence Act in 2008 – will argue that the move to a more secure and verifiable voting systems will be “too costly.” Not only is this not true, but these concerns were addressed and put to rest before last year’s vote (you know, the one that was almost unanimous in the House and unanimous in the Senate):
- The costs of purchasing all the equipment to make the change will be covered completely by the federal Help American Vote Act (HAVA) funds we have remaining from our original grant. As a result, the costs to Tennessee counties for purchasing this new equipment will be $0.
- The new equipment, Optical Scan machines that will count the paper ballots, are much more efficient than touch-screen voting machines. One Optical Scan can do the work of up to 20 touch-screen voting machines.
- Optical Scans are so much more efficient that they will save voters, who often have had to stand in long lines to vote on touch-screen machines, and the employers, who are required by law to allow up to three hours off to vote, time and money. Voting on paper ballots can happen concurrently so it takes less time for each person to vote. Comparison of 21 voters voting showed that it only took 13 minutes for all 21 to vote on an Optical Scan machines and two hours and 48 minutes to vote using a touch-screen voting machine.
- The ongoing operational costs will be lower. A recent study [pdf] demonstrated that Florida counties that switched to touch-screen machines had average operating costs each year that were three to five times higher than Florida counties that kept or switched to Optical Scan machines.
- The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR), composed of state and local elected officials, spent over a year studying the vulnerabilities of different voting systems. In their comprehensive report, Trust But Verify: Toward Increasing Voter Confidence in Election Results, TACIR concluded [pdf]:
- We are being told that the costs of paper ballots capable of being read by Optical Scan machines are prohibitively expensive, running as high as 50 cents per ballot. But Tennessee counties that have used Optical Scan machines in the past have obtained paper ballots at less than half that cost. In fact, if need be, Optical Scan machines can read ballots that have been produced on routine office copying machines.
- The US Congress is now considering legislation that will require that all states implement the same election safeguards that the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act now provides us here in Tennessee. The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2009 [pdf], sponsored by Congressman Rush Holt and co-sponsored by over 200 other members of Congress, requires that all voting systems that do not use or produce a paper ballot must be replaced before the November 2010 election. The bill also requires routine random manual audits of the votes cast in at least 3% of precincts in all federal elections. Those requirements mirror exactly the standards of the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act.
“(Paper ballots) reassure voters that their vote is being counted accurately and can be audited or recounted. Many experts and advocates believe that (touch-screen voting) machines are especially vulnerable to tampering and fraud because most do not physically document votes so they can be independently recounted or audited …. Governmental entities and private corporations are routinely audited regardless of whether problems are suspected. With so much at stake, the same should be true for elections.”
The passage last year of Tennessee’s Voter Confidence Act proved that our legislators understood that free and fair elections trump partisanship. This year, it looks like some may need a little nudge in that direction. Please contact the members of the House Elections sub-committee and the Senate State and Local Government committee before Tuesday and tell them that you oppose any effort to repeal or weaken the Voter Confidence Act. In other words, urge them to keep the Voter Confidence Act intact!
House Elections Sub-Committee
Rep. Eddie Yokley (D-Greenville), Chairman
rep.eddie.yokley@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-6871
Rep Eric Watson (R-Cleveland), Vice Chairman
rep.eric.watson@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-7799
Rep. Jim Coley (R-Bartlett)
rep.jim.coley@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-8201
Rep. Joshua Evans (R-Greenbriar)
rep.joshua.evans@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-2860
Rep.Gary Moore, (D-Nashville)
rep.gary.moore@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-4317
Rep. Harry Tindell, (D-Knoxville)
rep.harry.tindell@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-2031
Senate State and Local Government Committee
Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), Chairman
sen.bill.ketron@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-6853
Senator Lowe Finney, (D-Jackson), Vice-Chair
sen.lowe.finney@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-1810
Senator Joe Haynes, (D-Nashville), Secretary
sen.joe.haynes@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-6679
Senator Tim Burchett, (R-Knoxville)
sen.tim.burchett@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-1766
Senator Mike Faulk, (R-Kingsport)
sen.mike.faulk@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-2061
Senator Thelma Harper, (D-Nashville)
sen.thelma.harper@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-2453
Senator Mark Norris, (R-Collierville)
sen.mark.norris@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-1967
Senator Jim Tracy, (R-Shelbyville)
sen.jim.tracy@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-1066
Senator Ken Yager, (R-Harriman)
sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov, 615-741-1449
Thank you for doing your part to ensure free and fair elections. If during your phone calls or email exchanges you are given any other excuse reason why the Voter Confidence Act should be gutted, please let me know.
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