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February 6, 2007

Petri Helps Introduce Voter Confidence Bill


WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Tom Petri today joined with Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) to announce the introduction of legislation to ensure physical documentation for votes cast on electronic machines.

"The fact of the matter is that you can design all the systems in the world, but you can't make them foolproof," Petri said at a press conference in the Capitol Building. "We want to have confidence in our elections and the accuracy of the count. And the only way you can do that is if you have a system that can be independently verified through an actual recount."

"States are increasingly going to these verifiable systems, and it's time the federal government got with the program," he said.

The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, H.R. 811, would require a voter- verified paper ballot for every vote cast, which would become the ballot of record in the event of any recount or audit. It would require routine random audits of paper ballots by hand count in a percentage of voting precincts in each congressional district.

The bill would also take steps to make elections more publicly transparent by allowing for the inspection of voting system software. It would require documenting a secure chain of custody for voting systems and prohibit conflicts of interest involving vendors. It would keep the election process accessible to voters with disabilities, and authorize federal funding to help states meet the requirements.


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