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Legislature
Moving to Destroy Fair Elections TODAY!
(Alert for 8/18/04
— Last updated on 8/28/04)
 Update
for 8/28/04: At the August 18 hearing, legislators
did not end plans to purchase electronic voting machines
fraught with fatal security problems. Another hearing will be
held in the next 1-2 months. We recommend that you
continue to press your officials to take action stop this
scam.
Summary: According to
Utah
Count Votes, despite warnings from many citizens and
organizations, the legislature is planning to press forward
and purchase electronic voting machines fraught with fatal
security problems. Act now or surrender your hopes for a
fair and verifiable election process.
Topics:
1. Damn the
Citizens: Full Speed Ahead!
2. TAKE ACTION!
1. Damn the Citizens: Full Speed Ahead!
Last year, Accountability Utah
sent out a
Fraud
Advisory warning citizens against the coming siege to
implement fraudulent electronic voting machines.
Citizens have increasingly voiced their objections to the
complete lack of security inherent to current proposals.
Notwithstanding all this,
Utah
Count Votes reports in an e-mail alert that:
"Despite all our excellent
testimony on 8/12, it seems that the cmte [committee] plans
to go ahead and select voting equipment from among the two
proprietary (if not paperless, then at least a completely
inadequate paper ballot for storing or recounting) DRE
voting machine proposals of Diebold or ES&S. (See http://votersunite.org
Info page for partial lists of problems with these two DRE
vendors' machines)."
Note: For an excellent
piece on why current plans are unacceptable, see their
piece, "Eight
Reasons to Set Aside Utah's RFP".
The committee referred to is the
Government Operations Interim Committee, and the meeting will
take place TODAY, Wednesday, August 18, 2004, at 2:00 p.m. in Room
W020 of the House Building. See the
agenda and
committee membership.
This is par for the course.
As we mentioned in our Fraud Advisory,
Gov. Walker has craftily opposed a true, verified paper trail
all along.
Back to Topics
2. TAKE ACTION!
We strongly recommend
the following actions:
1. Attend the hearing,
witness their actions, and give officials a piece of your
mind.
2. Call (and, if possible,
fax and email) the officials below:
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Your own state
representative and state senator
For help finding your
legislator, visit our
elected official contact page.
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Members of the Government Operations Interim Committee.
Representatives: Jim Ferrin (Co Chair); Douglas Aagard;
Ron Bigelow; Bud Bowman; Don Bush; Neal Hendrickson; Eric
Hutchings; Rosalind McGee; Karen Morgan; Peggy Wallace.
Senators: Bill Hickman (Co Chair); Ron Allen; Beverly Evans;
Alma Mansell; Michael Waddoups.
Again, see the house and
senate general contact information at our
elected official contact page.
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Governor Olene Walker
Phone: 801-538-1000
Toll-free: 800-705-2464
Fax: 801-538-1528
E-mail (form):
http://www.governor.utah.gov/goca/form_governor.html
For talking points, see our
Fraud
Advisory and Utah Vote Count's piece, "Eight
Reasons to Set Aside Utah's RFP". Please inform us of any
responses you receive at
info@accountabilityutah.org.
3. Forward this message
to your family, friends, and any activists you know. Encourage
them to voice their concerns and get involved.
4. Volunteer to participate
with Accountability Utah's new "Election
Integrity Task Force". This may include
fliering the districts of collaborating officials.
5. Monitor this site for
new and updated information and join our alert list by
e-mailing us at
info@accountabilityutah.org.
Back to Topics
Accountability Utah
recipe: Take our information and opinion, research their
information and opinion (if it is available), and then examine
the law and draw your own conclusions. For more information on
similar issues, see the
Voting/Elections
section of our Issues & Alerts page.
If you have comments or suggestions, please
email us at info@accountabilityutah.org.
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