[nfb-talk] Fw: Great News!!! - PRESS RELEASE -

Fri May 4 15:47:38 CDT 2007

Good for you David.  These paper pushers cannot seem to remember all the
election fraud committed with paper.  The electronic systems are no more
or less vulnerable to fraud.  

So long as Florida does not implement a system that eliminates our
ability to vote independently, who cares.  Otherwise, sue their pants
off. 

William

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of David Evans
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 10:31 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List; nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Great News!!! - PRESS RELEASE -

Dear All,

This is both great , but also dangerous for the Blind.
We must now push for the "Mark Sense" voting machine system to be
certified 
for use in the State of Florida as it is the only known system capable
of 
being used in marking paper ballots that both the sighted and the Blind
can 
use.
This means that all DRE , touch screen machines, that are now accessible
to 
the Blind, will be banned and phased out for use in voting.
The Mark Sense machine is not currently certified by our State and it
will 
take effort to get it certified by next year.
I do not plan to be disenfranchised by the Florida State Legislature and

lose my access to the secret ballot.
I will sue the State if I have to to preserve my constitutional right
to 
that secret ballot.
We have been the last group to get it and now that I have had it, I
don't 
plan on giving it up.

David Evans, NFBF
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sherri" <flmom2006 at gmail.com>
To: <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>; <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 10:42 PM
Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: Great News!!! - PRESS RELEASE -

This is interesting. I hope we don't get left behind.

Sherri
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "alan dicey" <adicey at bellsouth.net>
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 10:57 PM
Subject: Great News!!! - PRESS RELEASE -

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3 May 2007

Contact:

Susan Pynchon, Cell: 386-804-3131

Pamela Haengel, Cell: 727-244-9064

Kindra Muntz, Cell: 941-266-8278

Dan McCrea, Cell: 305-984-2900

FLORIDA MOVES to paper ballots!

Florida Voters Coalition congratulates governor crist and the florida
legislature for ending PAPERLESS voting.

TALLAHASSEE: In a historic vote, the Florida House today unanimously
passed
CS/HB 537, already passed in the Senate, that provides almost all voters
paper
ballots in time for the 2008 Presidential election, and bans paperless
DREs
outright by 2012. The bill now goes to the Governor where he's sure to
sign
it since it's his initiative.

Counties will have the option to pitch DREs immediately and provide
ballot
marking devices for voters with disabilities. "FVC urges all 67 counties
to
convert
to uniform paper ballot systems without delay and leave no voter behind
voting on failed electronic voting machines," said FVC Co-Founder, Dan
McCrea.

The bill is funded with $27.9 million in HAVA funds and there's plenty
more
money in that account should more be needed next year. Counties will get
help
from the state to purchase optical scan equipment to count the paper
ballots; ballot-on-demand equipment to ease paper congestion problems in
Early Voting;
and ballot marking devices to serve the disabled.

While there was talk earlier in the legislative session about
retrofitting
printers to failed touchscreen DREs, that talk faded as legislators saw
it
would
be throwing good money after bad. Additionally, they are sure to have
understood that currently available "VVPAT" printers would not comply
with
proposed
federal legislation which, if passed, will supersede Florida law.
(Federal
bill HR 811, sponsored by Rep. Rush Holt, currently has 212 bi-partisan
co-sponsors
in Congress.)

The Florida bill also contains new audit provisions essential to the
security of paper ballot voting systems. There was agreement among
legislators that
the new audit provisions will need further tweaking next year before
becoming effective in July 2008. For now, the language requires that
after
every election,
at least 1% and not more than 2% of randomly selected precincts be
audited
by hand-counting the paper ballots in one randomly selected race. The
audit
will take place after certification and be reported 3 days before the
contest period ends.

"FVC supports 'statistically significant' audits that would yield a far
greater confidence level in election results and should be reported
before
certification.
FVC will be working with state and local election officials in the
coming
year to strengthen Florida audit language," said another FVC Co-Founder,
Kindra
Muntz, who led the successful charter amendment campaign in Sarasota
County
that requires both voter verified paper ballots and mandatory random
audits
in all elections.

"We thank Governor Crist and the Florida Legislature for their vision
and
diligence in improving Florida voting systems," said FVC Co-Founder,
Susan
Pynchon,
"and for working together in a bi-partisan, bicameral effort. The eyes
of
the nation have been and still are on Florida elections - and Florida
finally
got it right! We can now say Florida is leading the nation in election
reform."

In addition to the Governor and the Legislature deserving praise, FVC
thanks
the two dozen co-signers to our 2007 Position Paper on Voting Systems,
who
are listed below, and who worked very hard together at local, state, and
national levels on many different aspects of advocating for this
legislation.
Thanks to Senator Bill Nelson and other members of Congress who also
helped
at the national level. We also thank the Florida League of Woman Voters
and
the Florida Council of the Blind for their vital assistance.  Special
thanks
to Warren Stewart, Policy Director for VoteTrustUSA; Ion Sancho, Leon
County
Supervisor of Elections; Howard Simon, Executive Director of ACLU of
Florida; and Pamela Smith, President of Verified Voting for their
invaluable
contributions
to this effort.  Additional thanks go to Sam Bell, Doug Bell and Rebecca
Sager for their extensive assistance on the ground in Tallahassee. And
finally,
FVC thanks the thousands of volunteers and citizens who cared enough
about
Florida's elections to help rally support, send messages to the Governor
and
Legislature, talk to the media, and make their voices heard. "This was a
good day for democracy," said FVC Co-Founder Pamela Haengel.

National Organizations - Alphabetical by Organization

List of 6 items
. Ralph Miller, Executive Director,
Latinos for America
. Megan Matson, Director,
Mainstreet Moms
. Pamela Smith, President,
VerifiedVoting.org
. Dan McCrea, Florida State Director,
Voter Action
. John Gideon, Executive Director,
VotersUnite.org
. Joan Krawitz, Executive Director,
VoteTrustUSA
list end

State of Florida Organizations - Alphabetical by Organization

List of 15 items
. Howard Simon, Executive Director,
 ACLU of Florida
. Jeannette D. Wynn, President,
Florida Council of the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal
Employees (AFSCME)
. Cynthia Hall, President,
Florida AFL-CIO
. Ellen Brodsky, Executive Director,
Broward Election Reform Coalition
(BERC)
. Susan Pynchon, Executive Director,
Florida Fair Elections Coalition
(FFEC)
. Ion Sancho, Supervisor of Elections,
Leon County Department of Elections
. Trevor Harvey, President,
Sarasota County Branch, NAACP
. Susan Van Houten, Co-Founder, Palm Beach Coalition for Election Reform
. Brad Ashwell,
Florida Public Interest Research Group
(PIRG)
. Kindra Muntz, President,
Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections
(SAFE)
. Sevell C. Brown III, Florida State President,
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
. Jim Pillow, Political Coordinator -
Teamsters Local 385 Orlando
. Fred Seidl, Coordinator,
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, Florida
. Gene Jones,
Florida Veterans for Common Sense
. Pamela Haengel, President,
Voting Integrity Alliance of Tampa Bay
(VIA Tampa Bay)
list end

###

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