Dear TN Voter Confidence Act Study Committee Members: 

I am writing to thank you in advance for your serious review and assessment of the threats, costs and other issues that paperless touch-screen voting has presented to restoring the integrity of our elections here in Tennessee. We hope you will use the information you receive and review on December 18 to recommend immediate action to restore the integrity of our franchiase here in Tennessee. The time for a decision is now if we are to protect our votes before November, 2008. Please do the following things: : 

1) Accept and endorse the TACIR staff report, "Trust But Verify", as an excellent summary of the many compelling reasons why we must act to restore integrity to our voting process. 

2) Recommend that the Tennessee legislature consider, debate and adopt (as soon as possible) legislation which will support and assist the orderly adoption of voting systems that use or produce voter-verified paper ballots to be counted on more secure and verifiable voting equipment (specifically, optical scan systems) than we have recently installed in most counties. 

3) Recommend that the state of Tennessee assist counties in the transformation to more secure and verifiable voting systems as soon as possible by working now to provide both state funds, redirected HAVA funds (of which we still have between $15-20 million) and other means to reduce the economic impact of these state-mandated efforts to restore integrity in our voting process might have on those county governments.      

4) The Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (HB 1256,  Moore; SB 1363, Haynes) provides the opportunity for the legislature to go forward as quickly as possible. Please support a recommendation that the TN Voter Confidence Act be considered, debated and adopted by the full Legislature when it re-convenes in January. 

Once again, thank you for the time and attention you have given to the issue of election integrity, and specifically more verifiable voting systems, and the additional time you will give this important issue in the near future. We sincerely hope that you will support some affirming action by the study committee at the December 18 meeting that will hasten needed election reform in our state.  

Thank you for your public service. You can rescue our franchise. We can't afford another insecure election. 

Bernie Ellis
Gathering To Save Our Democracy