Dear Governor Rendell:

We wish to make a plea on behalf of many of your concerned constituents, regarding the vitally important issue of preserving the integrity of our votes.  As you may be aware, the introduction of touchscreen computer voting systems in recent years has resulted in an ever-increasing opaqueness to our electoral process.  We as voting citizens of Pennsylvania and the USA are entitled to the most secure, transparent voting system possible.

Due to the federal HAVA law, we are being pressured to choose systems we feel are inadequate to meet our vital requirements in the areas of security, ease of use, and reasonable cost.  Being forced to pick a system under pressure from an arbitrary deadline set by the government has placed an unnecessary burden on counties, especially when state and federal agencies were very tardy themselves setting standards and granting certifications.  These standards were then applied unequally and certifications issued with no regard to security, reliability, or usability in the future; to in effect make the whole process of offering the best voting systems possible to Pennsylvania counties a farce.  One of the actions the Coalition for Voting Integrity of Bucks County initiated early this year was to suggest to our Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick to introduce a resolution in Congress that would grant us an extension for complying with HAVA until the November election.  He also has made efforts to deal with the Department of Justice directly to achieve that aim, since moving things through Congress seems to go at a snail’s pace and time is of the essence with this issue.

There are counties large and small that are feeling forced to choose, or have already chosen with little time to research the pros and cons, voting systems that they will have to live with for a long time.  Unfortunately, many have chosen systems with extensive histories of security failures, unreliability issues, and no possible means to conduct recounts or audits.  For the citizens of Pennsylvania to realize that their votes are no longer meaningful because they are impossible to verify, and that they no longer have faith in the electoral process, would be a tragic and unacceptable situation.

We feel that, as the highest elected official in our great state, you are in the position and have the responsibility to advocate for your constituents.  We have seen Governor Richardson of New Mexico make a stand for voter-verified paper ballots in his state, making elections more transparent by throwing out unverifiable touchscreen systems.  Michigan uses optical scan systems exclusively.  Currently, there is legislation in 38 states to require voter-verified paper records; one can see this is where the future is, because voters are waking up.  We applaud what you’ve done recently regarding the voter ID issue; we are asking you to take the next step in the voting issue.

Please, contact the Department of Justice on behalf of Pa. voters and ask for no penalty or renunciation of HAVA money with the inability to meet the May 16 primary deadline.  Let’s work towards November to ensure an election without rush and havoc.  With all the doubts, nay, actual proof from our own Federal government of serious security and reliability issues with electronic voting, we must have a system of checks and balances. This means we need proof of our vote. This means we must have voter-verified paper ballots with audits. Which party will show leadership or are you going to act together? Will one lead and the other one be left behind? Our concern is that somebody acts fast before Pa. duplicates the problems of New Mexico, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, etc.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of supporters of Coalition for Voting Integrity (CVI), headquartered here in Bucks County, including the many citizens who have signed the petition on our web site and in person for voter-verified paper ballot legislation, as well as for Lehigh County CVI, Northampton County CVI, and Chester County CVI. In addition, so far, 20 Bucks County municipalities, plus the Bucks County Association of Township Officials, as well as seven former Bucks County Commissioners have signed onto voter-verified paper ballot Resolutions.

Thank you.

Coalition for Voting Integrity

www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.org

votingintegrity@aol.com

Doylestown, Pa. 18901