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Democratic Leader Pushes Voting Paper Trail

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that the Voting Integrity and Verification Act of 2004 (VIVA) will be reintroduced in the new Congress. The Act would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to by requiring “a voter-verified permanent record or hardcopy” of votes cast.

Senator Reid made his announcement during last week’s debate which resulted from an objection to the Ohio presidential election results. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) joined with Representative John Conyers (D-MI), and Representative Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH), and other Democratic Members of the US House in the challenging the Electoral College’s vote and forcing the debate in both the House and Senate.

Citing numerous problems in Ohio and other states in 2004, Reid said, “One of the most significant problems in Ohio and in many other states was an inability to ensure the integrity of electronic voting machines.” Reid’s home state of Nevada was the only state in the nation in 2004 to use electronic voting machines that provided a paper trail. “The use of these machines helped ensure the integrity of the election in Nevada and gave voters peace of mind that votes cast were counted,” said Reid as he announced that he and his colleague Senator John Ensign (R-NV) will reintroduce the bipartisan Voting Integrity and Verification Act in the 109th Congress.

TAKE ACTION Thank Reid for his support of election law reform.

LEARN MORE about election law reform and the challenges to Ohio’s election results.

Sources:

Congressional Record 1/06/05; Feminist Majority News Wire 1/07/05; Statement of Senator Harry Reid 1/06/05

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