Harry Burn was a first-term Republican state representative from McMinn county, the youngest Tennessee state legislator serving in 1920 when women’s suffrage hung in the balance in our state. Back then, only one state was needed to ratify the Nineteenth amendment to the US Constitution, an amendment that would give women the right to vote. Like many legislators at the time, Representative Burn was under extreme pressure from sexist politicians back home to oppose the amendment, to keep women “in their place”. Some even believed that Rep. Burn was a safe bet to vote against suffrage, since he wore a red rose on his lapel, a color then (and now) that represented exclusion and disenfranchisement. But as the pivotal vote approached, the opponents of inclusion did not know that Representative Burn carried in his coat pocket a letter from his widowed mother urging him to vote for ratification. When his name was called, Harry Burn voted “yes”, the single deciding vote that ratified – for our entire nation – the Nineteenth Amendment.

Ben West was the Mayor of Nashville in 1960, when Black college students began a series of lunch-counter sit-ins in segregated department stores that were just among the many pillars of the Jim Crow South. For months, those students had been arrested and hauled off to jail. As a result, the Black community had boycotted Nashville stores and Whites had also stayed away, crippling the downtown Nashville economy. Tensions had risen to the point where the home and church of Reverend Alexander Looby, a civil rights leader, had been bombed, sending him to the hospital. Responding to that violence, thousands of Nashvillians marched to City Hall where Mayor West met them. One young Fisk student, Diane Nash, spoke quietly that day to Mayor West and pleaded with him to use the prestige of his office to end racial segregation. Mayor West’s response was simple and direct: “Yes, young lady, I will do that.” Years later, Ben West said that, at that moment, he had said the only thing that any moral person could say – that he had answered as a God-fearing man, and not as a politician. The next day, the Nashville Banner’s headline said it all “INTEGRATE COUNTERS – MAYOR”. Within a month, all Nashville lunch-counters were integrated and, with that positive role-model in the heart of the South, Jim Crow’s racist days were numbered.

That brings us to Senator Tim Burchett, a Knoxville Republican and the bravest and most patriotic man I know in our fair state today. For the past three years, Tennessee voters have been working hard to correct a serious error in how we conduct our elections here. In 2006, Tennessee wasted over $30 million in federal funds to purchase touch-screen voting machines (also called Direct Record Electronic machines, or DREs), voting machines that are slow, expensive and – worst of all – incapable of being audited or recounted. These machines have been implicated in a plethora of election fraud incidents across our country, and state after state has made the decision to ban these machines in favor of paper ballots. Tennessee was one of those states when we passed the TN Voter Confidence Act last year on a 92-3 vote in our House and a 32-0 vote in our Senate to replace those non-verifiable machines with paper ballots by the 2010 elections.

But when the Republican Party unexpectedly took control of our state legislature in 2008, one of the first things their leaders announced was that they intended to weaken, delay or repeal the Voter Confidence Act. For the past five months, a small band of Tennessee voters has traveled daily to our legislature and has witnessed a highly partisan and divided legislature, with most Democrats in favor of implementing the Voter Confidence Act as intended and most Republicans in favor of our continuing to vote on insecure and untrustworthy DREs. Since Republicans now control our General Assembly (for the first time since Reconstruction), we knew that the prospects for protecting our franchise were in peril.

Yesterday evening, as our Senate debated long and hard about a bill to delay implementation of the Voter Confidence Act until 2012 and to gut the law’s election audit provisions, it was clear that the vote would be close and split along party lines. When the final vote was cast, the tally was 16-14 to delay democracy by postponing the implementation of the Voter Confidence Act until 2012. At first, we were crest-fallen, thinking that we had lost. But then one of us remembered that it takes 17 votes in the Senate for a law to pass, and with only 16 votes, the measure had failed. When we looked up at the vote board, we could see that all Democrats had voted to keep the Voter Confidence Act on-track for 2010 (except one, who had abstained) and all Republicans had voted to delay and weaken democracy. All of them, that is, except one. Senator Tim Burchett, a man who has been steadfast and vocal in his support for free, fair and verifiable elections for the past three years; and whose singular vote last night in opposition to the rest of his party allowed democracy to prevail in our state.

Thank you, Senator Burchett. Your intelligence, courage and sense of honor and fairness are what this country was built on, and what we must have in order for this nation to survive. Like Atticus Finch in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, your singular bravery has helped keep us free. And like the Black citizens who filled the courtroom gallery in that long-ago movie, I will, from this day forward, stand up when you enter a room. Because I will know that I am in the presence of a modern-day patriot, the latest in a long line of American heros who sprang from the hills of our Tennessee when they were needed to help keep our nation strong and safe — and free. Yesterday, you saved our democracy.

Bernie Ellis, Organizer
Gathering To Save Our Democracy

Some long-time Democrats become “Incurably Uncertain” about remaining in their own party after Kurita’s election win was discredited on September 13. The eight hour session which seemed to most observers to be a sure win for Kurita ended with a 33-11 vote to null and void Kurita’s Senate election win.

When this decision was announced, APSU Associate Professor of Biology, Dr. Joe Schiller, told the officials in the room that “they had been instructed to vote based on the evidence and facts, not on retribution and revenge”. He was asked to leave the room. Feeling disenfranchised, he told me that the whole event was a miscarriage of justice and he is seriously reconsidering his party affiliation. “If it is a Republican conspiracy when Republicans vote for Democrats, that’s a conspiracy I’d like to have.”

“There was no proof. It was a Scopes monkey trial. It was embarrassing”, said Beth Robinson, a Clarksville computer systems analyst and member of The Climate Project. “This reminds me of the Supreme Court ignoring the voting public and handing Bush the White House despite the fact that Gore received more votes.” Beth said she’d like Senator Kurita to explore a write-in campaign and possibly run as an Independent.

Standing room only as the Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee hears evidence in the Kurita/Barnes primary election case

R. Neal wrote his view on the case in the Tenn Views web site. He includes a link to Kurita’s attorney’s response to the Barnes challenge, which you can read here or at http://www.tennviews.com/files/kuritachallengeresponse.pdf Neal writes that Barnes filed a challenge, citing a litany of alleged irregularities. Kurita filed a response refuting them point by point. Read the rest of Neal’s article at http://www.tennviews.com/node/3882.

Retired attorney, Alma Sanford was in shock and declared publicly that she is leaving the party and will vote for McCain. In a later interview, she admitted that she would never vote for McCain, but she will also not vote Democratic. For the people who know Sanford and her 49 years of dedication to the Democratic Party, this is indeed a sorry blow.

Alma Sanford with Attorney Robert Rochelle

Democrats scurry to discredit Alma Sanford, who is a Tennessee native.  She won a Humanitarian Award in 1994 for her efforts in defending the elderly from evictions from their homes. Sanford did extensive volunteer work on the Gore and Kerry campaigns, raising thousands of dollars for Kerry. Starting in 2004, she co-founded the Tennessee group, Gathering to Save our Democracy, and she lobbied two or three days a week for four years seeking improvements or alternatives to Tennessee voting machines, from which votes cast are  not verifiable. (Ed: In January, 2010, Tennessee will launch a verifiable voting system.)

Here is Alma Sanford’s letter to Clarksville Online:

“As I sat beside my friend who is also a retired attorney, at the eight hour long hearing of the Tennessee Democratic Party on Saturday, I kept remembering the years I practiced law in front of Judges in a real court setting.  My friend agreed with me after a couple of hours of testimony from witnesses called by Tim Barnes, the complainant, that any judge before whom we had ever appeared would have thrown out the case.  The so-called “evidence” was based on thinly disguised vengeance and the anguish of a ’sore loser.’

The Executive Committee

“We wish we could have heard the Executive Committee members discuss the evidence – or the lack of evidence.  Only three members ever spoke to the ‘heart of the case,’ i.e., discussed the evidence.  One member stated emphatically that he was concerned about setting a bad precedent by throwing out an election because Republicans had voted in the Democratic Primary, when Tennessee is a state that allows open primaries.  He stated that if the election of the voters of District 22 was set aside, that at the next meeting of the Executive Committee, the members should determine how many Republicans will be allowed to vote in a Democratic Primary before the threshold is reached.

“Instead of a decision based on evidence and facts (as Sen. Kurita’s attorney was able to get Tim Barnes to say he wanted), one member after the hearing told me, “The decision would have been the same had the vote been taken at 9:00 a.m. (when the hearing began).”  She said the members had made up their minds because they were still so angry about Senator Kurita voting to unseat Sen. John Wilder as the speaker of the Tennessee Senate.

“Where was the anger of the members of the Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee when, in 2004, so many elections for State Senate candidates were lost that the Senate no longer was in Democratic control?  Did any one of them ever express anger at the Chair of the Party?  Did one member express anger at the Chair of the Coordinated Campaign who was charged with the duty to elect all Democrats?  Did any one express anger at the Senate Democratic Caucus Leader because he failed in his job.

Left front: Attorney George E. Barrett and Tim Barnes, second from right

“To date, I have never heard any member of the TNDP or anyone else for that matter, find fault with any of the MEN who held the aforementioned positions.  No one ever challenged Sen. John Wilder when he regularly appointed Republicans as Chairs of Senate committees, passing over Senator Kurita (and other Democrats) as she continued to rise in seniority with the numbers of years she served in the Tennessee Senate.

“I talked with Senator Kurita on Thursday, September 11th, and she had just read my e-mail asking people to come to yesterday’s hearing to support her.  In that e-mail, I had stated that Tim Barnes’ campaign manager told me that Tim Barnes is anti-choice.  Senator Kurita said, “Well he managed to keep that a secret because no one ever asked and he never did state his position on ‘choice’ during the campaign.”  She stated emphatically that she had no idea Tim Barnes was anti-choice.

“I noticed in Sen. Kurita’s statement at the hearing yesterday, she stated clearly, “I am a pro-choice Democrat.”

“The reason I have been so adamant in my support of Senator Kurita is because of a certain hearing before the Tennessee Senate in 2006.  There was a bill (SJR 127) before the Senate that would have sent to the voters a constitutional amendment banning all abortions in Tennessee, even to save the life of the mother.  Senator Kurita made a very impassioned speech, as a Registered Nurse, about how important it is to have that personal decision made by the Mother and her Doctor without interference of any governmental agency.

“As a pro-choice voter, if I lived in District 22, I would much rather have Senator Kurita represent me than Tim Barnes.  However, the Tennessee Democratic Party has probably made sure that will never happen again.

“What a sad day for all who have spent years and many dollars defending democratic principles and who thought that the Democratic Party agreed with those principles.  It appears we were wrong.”

~~ Alma Sanford, J.D. , Antioch, TN

A packed house for the Kurita/Barnes hearing on Setember 13

Other Kurita supporters who came to the session:

Penny Brooks of Ashland City, State Chapter Co-Legislature Chair and Co-Political Chair of the Sierra Club, said that she came in support of Kurita because of Kurita’s outstanding environmental record, especially on energy. Brooks supported Kurita’s election win because she does not believe there were deliberate illegal tactics to determine the election in her favor.

Cynthia Bennett, National Board Member, of Tennessee National Organization of Women (NOW) in Nashville, said that Kurita has been a strong supporter of women’s rights in Tennessee. Bennett came to this panel hearing to show the support of the women of Tennessee for someone who has actually stood in the well of the Tennessee Senate and spoke eloquently against changing Tennessee’s constitution, which was an action to take reproductive rights away from Tennessee women. “Kurita stood strongly for us and we stand strongly for her.”

Shane Ray, Fire chief of the Pleasantview Volunteer Fire Department, came in uniform. He said “She’s hard working and dedicated; a good woman who is open and willing to listen, even when we disagree. She’s honest.”

Kathy Parker of Clarksville said that Kurita stands up for State employee’s raises.

David Borden Kircher of Nashville said Kurita won the majority of votes and to take victory away from her would be unfair.

Russell A. Cain of Clarksville came to support Senator Kurita and his vote. Issues raised are alarming and tend to indicate serious political and ethics concerns, he said.

Holly Quick and Floyd Poston, from Nashville, said they came in support of Kurita’s win and said the election was certified by the state. In addition, they are both staunch supporters of women’s rights including the right to a safe and legal abortion. They feel strongly about  election integrity. Holly was an early and strong supporter of verifiable paper ballots for all Tennessee voters. She is the secretary of Gathering to Save our Democracy.

Also appearing in support of Kurita:

• Marietta Shipley, Attorney at Law, former Judge in Nashville
• Margaret Behm, Attorney at Law, Nashville
• Toby Abrams, Tennessee State President N.O.W.
• Martha Wettemann, employee of TN Dept. of Labor and Pres. of Davidson County Chapter of TN State Employees’ Assn.; Treasurer of Cheatham County Democratic Party
• Dr. James Powers
• Roger Schecter, retired attorney
• Jean Sanford McGee
• Deborah Narrigan, Nurse – Chair of Gathering To Save Our Democracy, Legislative Committee
• Matthew Taylor, Cheatham, Student & worker in Rosalind’s campaign, and his mother County
• Linda Swindle and Penny Brooks from Cheatham County
• Holly Spann, Active in Nashville Women’s Political Caucus and & Davidson Democratic Women County
• Mary Parker, Attorney at Law

I was only able to find and interview a few Barnes supporters at this session:

• Mark Olson of Clarksville came supporting Barnes because Rosalind, in his opinion, is a Republican. She voted for a republican for the senate speaker post.
• Mike Williamson of Clarksville came supporting Barnes because Rosalind’s attitude toward the legal profession and the rights of the accused during the election offended him.
• Tommy Vallejos from Clarksville came in support of Barnes saying it is time for change and that  Kurita sold out the people who voted her in.

My observations: During the session we heard about “potty-gate”: Kurita crossed the line at a polling place to use the bathroom. Witnesses saw her go into the school building where the gym held the polling booths. Kurita admits this occurred, but said she saw and talked to no one and did not enter the voting area. Barnes’ attorney said policy says this could be taken as trying to harass or intimidate voters. Kurita’s attorney produced the policy, which did not use those words.  It said that entering the poll could be trying to improperly influence the voters. Barnes produced no one who saw Kurita inside the building.

We heard testimony from a man who didn’t get to vote for Barnes. Part of his story was that when he went to vote he did not want to choose either the Democrat or Republican Party for voting purposes. Later we heard testimony from the poll workers about the man which gave us a different view entirely. Anyone who has voted in a primary knows you are required to declare your party affiliation.

A big part of the accusation was that the Republicans had deliberately set out to upset the election and its results. We heard testimony from APSU student Democrat leader, Adam Haynes, who said he went to the Republican headquarters where a woman suggested that Republicans should try to upset the Democrat election. Adam had no names and defense declared it hearsay. When questioned Adam admitted his golf club was used in a video on Facebook and YouTube showing a man beating an image of Kurita with a golf club. On YouTube it was titled “A young Democrat takes out his frustrations on Senator Kurita.” The video had been removed from the site soon after it was posted.

Senator Kurita, with her husband, George (l), speak with a constituent at the recent opening of Democratic Headquarters

One of the most serious charges made was by a woman who voted at the fairgrounds polling place. She testified that the poll worker told the man in front of her that Barnes was a Republican. Then she testified that another poll worker told her that “they are saying that to everyone” (that Barnes is Republican). Defense produced written testimony of a second poll worker who corrected the first poll worker’s mistake immediately. The woman in line corrected the first poll worker immediately. The Poll worker who was supposed to say, “They are saying that to everyone”, testified that she did not say, under any circumstance, that statement.

Also provided were written testimonies about an annoying phone call to someone telling them Barnes is Republican, and an annoying prank phone call at an early hour saying only “Barnes”. The “evidence” was given as speculation that his opponent was somehow involved in these pranks.

In testimony from Barnes, we learned that his animosity for Kurita started when he ran for office several years ago. Kurita did not attend his fundraisers and did not raise money for his campaign. Barnes said she did not support other Democrats either. Barnes brought up the fact that Kurita had voted out Democrat Wilder, (91), from his Senate seat, (an issue that put a lot of the wind in his campaign). Barnes also talked about the negative ad campaign that Kurita ran about his job as a lawyer.

The defense attorney asked Barnes if he knew as an attorney that unless evidence was submitted before the case as testimony it could not be considered in a case. Barnes said yes. Did he also know that everything he just said was not submitted and could not be used in the case? Barnes said yes.

People who went to support Kurita by showing up were encouraged by the seeming lack of substantial evidence against her and were subsequently appalled at the conclusion. In the aftermath, there is talk of a write-in vote for Kurita. In the wake of this primary election fiasco, a deep rift has developed within the Democractic Party in Clarksville, and throughout the three counties — Montgomery, Cheatham and Houston  that will be represented by on of these two candidates.

Democratic Executive Committees are meeting Wednesday, September 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the Riverview Inn, to decide which name will appear on the November ballot. That decision could be the final verdict on this state Senate seat, since there is no Republican contender for the seat. The wild card in November would be Kurita running as a write -in  or independent candidate.

Please take 30 minutes to voice your support to replace our non-verifiable touch-screen voting machines in Tennessee with paper ballot-based voting systems in time for the November election. To help you do that, I am sending you the latest call to action from Gathering To Save Our Democracy (www.votesafetn.org), and I am appending on that action call a few more steps you can take if you believe as strongly as I do that free, fair and verifiable elections matter in this country.

No matter your political persuasion, please email some or all of the Tennessee leaders whose email links are provided below. Tell them you support anything they can do to move the TN Voter Confidence Act (HB 1256; SB 1363) forward to immediate passage. (If you copy-and-paste the grouped email addresses into the address line of your message and
“blind-copy” all the recipients, you need only write one message to reach each entire group.)

Now I must finish planting the first tomatoes and preparing for a drive to Knoxville this afternoon. Tomorrow, when my Garden is enjoying a 70% chance of rain here in the holler, I will join a few of you again to watch and discuss “UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections”, this time with the TN Federation of Democratic Women, U. Tennessee faculty and students and others.

If you live in Tennessee, your voice has to be heard NOW for free, fair and verifiable elections. If you live elsewhere, let TN’s leaders know that secure elections here matter where you live too.

Currently, the bill is in the House Budget Subcommittee, where the Chairman wants to keep it until the end of April, at least. There is no reason for the bill to remain in subcommittee waiting for the state budget to pass—all the money we need is already available—federal money. But time is short—we don’t want to wait that long to get the ball rolling. We need your help again!

What you can do right now: E-mail the House Budget Subcommittee members and ask them to act now, and pass the bill (H.B. 1256), so it will go to the full Finance Committee. If any of the members is your Representative, please mention that, and include your address.

House Budget Subcommittee members:

rep.harry..tn.us,

rep.joe..tn.us,

rep.lois..tn.us,

rep.craig..tn.us,

rep.mike..tn.us,

rep.steve..tn.us,

rep.gary..tn.us,

rep.doug..tn.us,

rep.randy..tn.us,

rep.dennis..tn.us,

rep.johnny..tn.us

Senators:

Senate Finance Committee members:

sen.randy..tn.us,

sen.douglas..tn.us,

sen.tim..tn.us,

sen.diane..tn.us,

sen.raymond..tn.us,

sen.joe..tn.us,

sen.rosalind..tn.us,

sen.jim..tn.us,

sen.mark..tn.us,

sen.bo..tn.us,

sen.john..tn.us

The house state & local government committee rolled our bill (HB 1256) from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12 – this coming Tuesday. It will be heard at 10:30 in Room 16 at Legislative Plaza.

The senate state & local government committee will be hearing our bill (SB 1363) that same day at noon in Room 12.

We expect (but aren’t sure) that both bills will pass out of the committees. The next stop is the Finance, Ways & Means committee where the members will consider how the bill would be funded. This is where we anticipate the most difficulty.

However, there are reasons to be hopeful

1. The U.S. Congress has directed the Election Assistance Commission to allow leftover HAVA money (the money that funded the original purchase of voting equipment in 2006) to be used to buy optical scan machines to replace the paperless DREs. The EAC has not provided that permission to the states yet. We are in direct communication with the EAC and are hopeful that permission will be granted soon.
2. There is a new emergency bill being introduced by Rep. Rush Holt to the U.S. Congress giving money to states who wish to purchase optical scan machines in time for the November election.
3. Acknowledging the importance of fair elections, the TN Legislature or the Governor could choose for the state to fund the $25 million needed to make the change, hoping but not knowing that the money might be repaid by federal dollars.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The other hurdle

The people in charge of making this change to optical scan machines are not in favor of it. Brook Thompson, Coordinator of Elections says that there is insufficient time to make the change before the 2008 Presidential election and he doesn’t even acknowledge that the change is needed.

What you can do

In addition to the main message that “Tennessee must have paper ballots by the 2008 Presidential Election”, other points you may wish to make to strengthen your argument:

1. Federal funds are likely to become available in the near future.
2. Even if federal funds are not available, you are in favor of using state funds.
3. The transition in 2006 to the unreliable DREs was done in less time that we now have and other states have made this change in the amount of time we have – so the change to optical scan is possible.
4. You personally believe in the importance of this change (and why).

Where to send your emails

State & Local Government Committee – House

• Representative Ben West
• Representative Bob Bibb
• Representative Curtis Johnson
• Representative Eddie Yokley
• Representative Gary Moore
• Representative Harry Tindell
• Representative Jim Coley
• Representative Jimmy Eldrige
• Representative Jimmy Matlock
• Representative Joe Pitts
• Representative Joey Hensley
• Representative John Litz
• Representative Larry Miller
• Representative Mary Pruitt
• Representative Parkey Strader
• Representative Randy Rinks
• Representative Steve McManus
• Representative Todd Curry
• Representative Ulysses Jones
• Representative Vince Dean

State & Local Government Committee – Senate

• Senator Bill Ketron
• Sentator Bo Watson
• Senator Joe Haynes
• Sentator Lowe Finney
• Senator Mark Norris
• Senator Steve Roller
• Senator Thelma Harper
• Sentator Tim Burchett

You should also consider contacting: Speaker of the House, Jimmy Naifeh; Lt. Governor – Ron Ramsey; and Governor Phil Bredesen.

There will be a meeting of the Gathering to Save Our Democracy group on Wednesday, February 13, at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville, TN – downstairs in the meeting room of Bronte Bistro. The meeting will be from 6:30 – 8:00 PM and we will be discussing the next actions needed. Please come if you would like to become more involved!

Gathering to Save Our Democracy
http://www.votesafetn.org/

VoteSafeTN and Gathering to Save Our Democracy are making a final push to support this measure, and are encouraging Tennessee voters to the same by doing the following:

• Email members of the House and Senate State and Local Government committees. Tell them we still have the time to make the changes necessary to scrap unsafe, unverifiable, insecure and problem-prone DREs in Tennessee for opscan voting systems or hand-counted ballots in time for the November 2008 election.

• Email or call your own state House and Senate representatives, even if they are not on the above committees. Tell them to support HB 1256 to take effect for November 2008. Let them know that you strongly support paper ballots that can be hand-counted or read electronically and then manually audited or recounted. Ask them to speak up for free, fair and verifiable elections – to let our votes count in ‘08.

• Email, or call our Governor, as well as House and Senate leaders. Tell them that securing our elections by November 2008 is something that must be done. Governor Bredesen, House Speaker Naifeh and Senate Speaker Ramsey need to know that 35 other states have already figured out – voting on insecure equipment is no longer acceptable. Ask them to please use their power and influence to help us make the necessary change away from paperless DREs and to opscans or hand-counted ballots. Tell them we have the time. All we need is the will.

• Email or call our Secretary of State Riley Darnell and State Election Coordinator Brook Thompson. These are our two public officials directly responsible for implementing this critical change from paperless, unverifiable, insecure elections, to optical scan paper ballots. Let them know that as a voter, this upcoming national election in November 2008 is too important to leave to chance… Or worse. They claim they can’t fix this problem until 2010. Let them know that this is not acceptable.

This grassroots movement calling for verifiable ballots has made important strides recently but needs to keep the momentum building through Tuesday’s vote. It is certainly not too late to restore election integrity in Tennessee.

We can’t afford another insecure election in our state. Not when the solution is achievable NOW.

Editor’s Note: This notice was submitted by Thelma Kidd of VoteSafeTN, an activist group working to ensure the implementation of verifiable voting records in the state of Tennessee.

These changes were required in every state for the 2006 federal election. Millions of tax dollars were allocated and dispersed to the states to upgrade and buy new equipment that would incorporate these requirements.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines are touch screen machines with no paper ballot. In Tennessee manufacturers of electronic voting systems including Diebold (a Diebold Voting Machine is shown above right), ES&S, Hart, and Microvote, eagerly marketed their Direct Recording Electronic machines to county election officials, although most of these manufacturers also produce optical scan voting systems. Optical scan systems are less costly, more efficient, and most importantly use paper ballots, marked by each voter, then optically scanned to record and count the vote.

Problems with DREs

DREs are essentially notebook computers programmed to display ballot images, record and count voter choices, and store this information on removable memory cards. Like any computer, the DREs can get a virus, be incorrectly programmed, or malfunction, either through innocent mishap or malicious intent. It is important to remember that when problems occur with the DREs, there is no independent record of each vote, so no meaningful recount or audit is possible.

Thousands of problems with electronic voting systems have arisen in dozens of states, including votes “flipped”, votes not counted, and malfunctioning memory cards. While most problems have been machine malfunctions from programming errors or poll worker inexperience, some less savory problems have occurred, including in 2006 in Memphis, where evidence revealed tampering had occurred in the central vote tabulator. It is clear that DREs are vulnerable to errors, malfunctions and tampering. As a result, it’s impossible to safeguard votes on such equipment.

In early 2005, I organized Save Our Democracy, a grassroots group that has continuously learned about voting issues and equipment. In 2006 SOD formed a coalition with Common Cause TN. The group’s members have also worked with county and state election commissions, legislators, the state coordinator of elections and other citizen groups to encourage county commissions to purchase optical scan voting systems, NOT DRE’s.

Finally in 2006, 93 of the 95 Tennessee counties chose DRE systems. Only Pickett county bought an optical scan system, while Hamilton County converted to optical scan voting nine years ago.

The current reality in the US and Tennessee

In 35 states, all votes are cast on voter verifiable paper ballots. Only five states still use DREs exclusively. Tennessee lags behind, with only two counties safeguarding their elections. We must have legislation that mandates paper ballots.

What’s the answer? The simple fix is making sure all voters vote on electronic voting systems that start with a paper ballot that they mark. Throw out the DREs and replace them with optical scan voting systems. Election officials will tell us there is not time to switch to optical scan machines before the November 2008 election. In 2006,however, the counties ordered and installed completely new equipment in seven months, so there is time to make the change to optical scan systems by November.

What’s happening in the Tennessee Legislature?

In 2005, Rep. Susan Lynn and Sen. Bill Bryson introduced the first bill to mandate paper ballots. In the 2006 legislative session, we worked closely with Rep. Gary Moore and Senator Joe Haynes to craft a comprehensive bill, The Voter Confidence Act that would mandate paper ballots, post election audits, and high level security for the voting systems. After the 2006 election, legislators began to appreciate the problems with the DREs: 12 bills were introduced in 2007 that would increase voter security. All of these bills, including The Voter Confidence Act SB 1363 HB 1256, are currently being reviewed by a joint Senate-House Study Committee that will report its recommendations to the General Assembly by Feb. 2008. The next meeting will be Dec. 18.

A second examination revealing the flaws and dangers of electronic voting issues is also underway. The TN Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations -TACIR – is conducting a sweeping examination of voting and election issues. Their two interim reports, written by the staff and issued in June and September, 2007, urge the state to move to optical scan voting systems as soon as possible.

Sign up at www.votesafetn.org to receive our email alerts.

Reprinted from Gathering to Save Our Democracy (11.12.07)

“The lawsuit aims to establish that all computer systems (or other systems) which hide the ballots from the people for even a short period of time before the count is accomplished and the results are posted – are unconstitutional…The lawsuit argues persuasively … that the use of computer and machine election systems violate each citizen’s right to vote, as defined at least twice by the Supreme Court of the United States. ”

– Jim Condit Jr., NetworkAmerica.

The reason for the push to have paper verified elections is evident in the recently released documentary, UNCOUNTED, by David Earnhardt. The film will make its Clarksville debut Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. the Unitarian Universalist fellowship on Highway 41A South. The event is free.

Uncounted proposes that the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 – and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This controversial film examines in factual, logical, and startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S. Noted computer programmers, statisticians, journalists, and experienced election officials provide proof.

The film also reviews extensive cases of mechanical errors, lost votes, voters turned away from polls, incomplete ballots and the installation of uncertified software into voting machines reported from across the nation.

“I cannot think of anything more important than to save the core of our democracy — the vote!” — David Earnhardt

Clarksville is hosting a premiere showing of UNCOUNTED, the movie. It is an explosive documentary that aims to change how we feel about the way votes are counted in America. After the film, there will be questions and answers with filmmaker David Earnhardt and Bernie Ellis.

Bernie Ellis started the group, Gathering to Save our Democracy, in 2005 with the purpose of making elections verifiable. Without a paper trail, computer voting machines have no way of being checked. The movie offers testimony by computer programmer, Clinton Curtis, who was employed to write an undetectable voting machine hacking program. It provides reasonable doubt as to the protection of our electronic votes.

“I heard Bernie Ellis talk in 2005 and I wouldn’t miss this opportunity to hear him again”, says Jim Palmer of Clarksville.

Unitarian Universalist and Clarksville Freethinker Beth Robinson says about this issue, “Denying people the right to vote is something that has to be battled all the time”. Beth is one of the people bringing this premiere to Clarksville.

The show is hosted by Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, ClarksvilleOnLine and the Clarksville Freethinkers, this movie premier with Questions and Answers will be held at 3053 Highway 41A South (Madison South, 1.9 miles past Wal Mart) in Clarksville. The event is free. DVD’s will be available for purchase . Call (931) 920-5390 for info.

The announcement was made in a panel discussion following the sold out Nashville premiere of the David Earnhardt film, Uncounted [The Movie], which ended with a standing ovation for its writer/director. The documentary film addressed the issue of voting machine error/failure, the need for a paper trail of votes, the political and business ties between government officials and manufacturers of these DRE (Direct Recording Electronic) voting machines, and the ease of tampering with such machines and “flipping” votes that are electronically counted.

“I cannot think of anything more important than to save the core of our democracy — the vote! — David Earnhardt

The film also reviewed extensive cases of mechanical errors, lost votes, voters turned away from polls, incomplete ballots and the installation of uncertified software into voting machine reported from across the nation.

“The lawsuit aims to establish that all computer systems (or other systems) which hide the ballots from the people for even a short period of time before the count is accomplished and the results are posted – are unconstitutional…

“The lawsuit argues persuasively … that the use of computer and machine election systems violate each  citizen’s right to vote, as defined at least twice by the Supreme Court of the United States. ”

– Jim Condit Jr., NetworkAmerica.

The lawsuit is aimed at prohibiting the use of all types of vote counting machines, and requiring hand-counting of all primary and general election ballots in full view of the public. The lawsuit has raised significant constitutional questions challenging the generally accepted practices of state election officials of relying on “black box” voting machines to record and count the votes at each polling station, and allow tallying of votes by election officials outside the view of the general public. In many cases, states have officially authorized voting “systems” that leave virtually no paper trail from which to audit the vote. [We The People Foundation].

Ellis said that regardless of what voters are being told, there is still time to pass legislation that would mandate voter verifiable paper ballots in 2008. The Tennessee Voter Confidence Act of 2007 [Senate Bill 1363/House Bill 1256], sponsored by Senator Joe Haynes and Rep. Gary Moore, mandates a paper trail.

“Today in Tennessee, 93 of our 95 counties use nonverifiable, paperless touch-screen voting machines . In 2006, over one in every six Tennessee counties reported problems with this equipment. Our state is not alone, but (sadly) it is now one of the worst states for voting security and accountability in this nation.” — Bernie Ellis

What began as lawsuits in ten keys states including Iowa, Ohio, New York and Florida has burgeoned into a nationwide effort. Earnhardt’s film, which was ignored by corporate media during this world premiere, exposes the vulnerability in current technology of voting machines, or at least, the lack of oversight in acquiring and using them without hacking, flipping or under/overcounting votes, and other problems. Earnhardt asked why, when it is so easy to get a printed receipt from anything from an ATM machine to the drive-through register at a Krispy Kreme, it should be so difficult to get a verifiable voting machine receipt.

The lawsuit seeks an Order from the Court prohibiting the use of all voting machines and to force election officials to instead utilize paper ballots and to count and total all votes by hand, always in full view of the public. Plaintiffs from all fifty states have signed on to the lawsuit.

In the question and answer period following the screening, an Iraq veteran said he had pledged to protect his country “from all enemies foreign and domestic” and viewed the issues of voting machines as a domestic threat to voters across the country.