LIBERADIO(!)

Guess who’s one of 6 states at “High” risk for voting machine mishaps tomorrow? That’s right – Tennessee! Sweet, we win again! Oh, wait….

According to a new report by Common Cause and the Verified Voting Foundation:

Six of the 15 states that hold presidential primaries on Super Tuesday are at “high” risk for having election results affected by electronic voting machine malfunction or tampering…[Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Tennessee] were given that ranking for using electronic voting machines that do not produce an independent, voter-verifiable paper record that could be used in the case of a recount or audit.

The report also found that 17 states have a “medium” risk, the classification given to states that “use voting systems that deploy paper ballots or produce a voter-verifiable paper record of each voter’s vote, but do not require audits,” and six states are at “low” risk because they use voting systems that deploy paper ballots or produce voter verifiable paper records and require audits.

It’s a good thing we still have time to do something about it election integrity in Tennessee. But we have to act fast. This week HB 1256 – legislation that will mandate that all voting equipment in Tennessee use or produce a voter-verified paper ballot and that statewide random post-election manual audits be conducted to verify the vote count – will be making it’s way out of the State and Local Government sub-committee and into the full S& L committee for a vote. Tennessee is one of the few states in the country where voter-verified paper ballots are not required by law. The full State and Local Government Committee will meet on Super Tuesday (2/5 – Presidential Primary day) at Noon in room 16. On the same day, at 10:30 in room 12, the Senate committee will hear the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) report, “Trust But Verify,” which recommends that to improve election integrity in Tennessee we move away from electronic voting machines and replace them with paper-based optical scan machines.

Please email and call each member of the Committee and tell them that we need voter verified paper ballots in Tennessee in time for the 2008 elections. Urge them to support HB 1256 (Rep. Gary Moore, D-the fightin’ 50th!), the Voter Confidence Act, which calls for this change no later than 2010. You can also email a link to this latest Common Cause report [pdf] to further send a message.

What’s remarkable about our state legislature is that Rep. Jason Mumpower and others want the balls back because they don’t trust computers to pick our lottery numbers, but they’re still willing to trust them to accurately count our votes.

Also, if you’re having trouble convincing your friends and family that election integrity is a worthwhile issue, please bring them out to the screening of UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections tonight at the Belcourt Theatre. There are two showings – 6:30 and 9 PM – so everyone who wants to see it should be able to get in.

As Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, says:

“It is senseless that after two presidential elections marked by voting machine failures that some states still use voting systems that do not produce a paper record that can be re-counted if there is a problem. Congress and the states must fix this problem by November. We can’t afford another national election in which voters don’t have full confidence in our election results.”

Amen, brother.