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  • From: Rob Richie <FairVote AT compuserve.com>
  • To: tom poe <tompoe AT amihost.com>
  • Cc: Community Studios <community_studios AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Community_studios] re: can you help Open Studios with quote?
  • Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 09:40:14 -0400

Tom,

Thanks for writing. That's an interesting topic. Hard for me to
give a clear soundbite quote, but here's a crack at one that's
relatively long.

"The controversial 2000 presidential election exposed how
antiquated many of our electoral rules and ways of counting
votes have become. More than three decades ago we could
land a man on the moon, but in 2000 we used voting equipment
that contributed to nearly two million Americans not casting
effective votes at the polls and millions more not voting due
to snafus over voter registration. We had an Electoral College
system that led to presidential candidates ignoring most
states and a loss for the candidate with the most votes.

"In 2004, don't expect much change. A number of counties
have adopted new touchscreen voting equipment that should
decrease voter error and improving voting for people with
disabilities and people with low rates of English literacy,
but new national standards won't be enforced in most states
until 2006. Furthermore, charges that new touchcreen equipment
can't be trusted will undermine voter confidence, particularly
in the current highly-charged partisan climate where large
numbers of partisans fear and distrust backers of the other
major party. Finally, the Electoral College will again lead to
most states being ignored by the presidential campaigns.

"If turnout increases in 2004, it will be primarily because of
he importance people ascribe to the election, not new
rules and procedures."

- Rob Richie, Executive Director, Center for Voting and Democracy

Message text written by tom poe
>
Hi: Open Studios is engaging a project, a tv show on local access tv,
called, "The Right To Vote". One topic discusses the need to strengthen
our voter turnout at the polls. Here's how we set up the issue:

Advocates of the Help America Vote Act [HAVA] believe the implementation
of Direct Recording Election (DRE) voting systems will make a positive
impact on voter turnout, citing initial interest in the new technology,
and the long-term move to Internet voting for convenience.

Opponents believe the DRE voting systems eliminate our right to vote.
They cite the deliberate attempt to exclude voter-verified ballots, and
the increased opportunity for fraud and manipulation of the vote count
without detection.

Question: What impact will the DRE voting problems have on voter
turnout in the 2004 election?

We'd like to quote you on this question in our show.
Thanks,
Tom Poe
Open Studios
Reno, NV
http://www.studioforrecording.org/
blog: http://www.studioforrecording.org/mt/Pubdomain_Bread/


<



Rob Richie, Executive Director
The Center for Voting & Democracy
rr AT fairvote.org, www.fairvote.org

6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610
Takoma Park, MD 20912
(301) 270-4616

"Make Your Vote Count!"



  • [Community_studios] re: can you help Open Studios with quote?, Rob Richie, 09/05/2003

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