Dear TACIR Commissioners, 

I am writing to thank you, through your participation in TACIR, for your serious review and assessment of the threats, costs and other issues that paperless touch-screen voting has presented to maintaining the integrity of our elections here in Tennessee. You have heard much testimony and would doubtless hear more if there were time available for citizens to do so once again. However, the time for a decision is now upon us and we hope that TACIR will accomplish the following on December 12: 

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) Act as the influential body that you are to 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 in Tennessee, to be counted on more secure and verifiable voting equipment (specifically, optical scan or similar voting systems) than we have recently installed. 

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 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) Encourage the Legislative Study Committee assigned to review the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (HB 1256,  Moore; SB 1363, Haynes) on December 18 to recommend that this legislation go forward as quickly as possible and that it 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 --  through your work on the TACIR Board. We sincerely hope that you will support some affirming action by TACIR at the December 12 meeting that will hasten needed election reform in our state.  

Thank you for your public service. Here's hoping we can rescue our franchise and save our democracy here in Tennessee before it is too late. 

Bernie Ellis
Gathering To Save Our Democracy