March 12, 2007

 

Dear Rep. Patrick Murphy,

 

I am sending you information about the Coalition For Voting Integrity’s position on HB 811, legislation recently proposed by Rep. Rush Holt, and for which you have indicated your support.  We, of course, know you feel strongly about correcting the mistakes that HAVA has wreaked upon our election system. We appreciate all the support you have given our group in the past, and think you may be better educated about the underlying problems than many of your peers in Washington D.C.

However, we fear that many well-intentioned representatives are supporting this bill without having the time to truly read or understand many of the potential loopholes that could ultimately undermine its intended purpose—that of correcting the problems created by HAVA.  Because many of us in the voting activist community have made it our mission to understand this issue very thoroughly, and I believe you personally can trust that we do because you have worked with us, I am hoping that you will seriously consider our concerns as valid.  We know how difficult it is to study much of the legislation that you will be asked to take action on.  What we ask is that you take some time to go over highlights of our research, and we think you’ll find our position has merit. 

Our duties as citizens, and yours as our representative, compel us to try to find the best solution together for threats to our liberties and safety.  You are in the position to educate your peers, the ones supporting this bill with limited knowledge of what its true implications are for future elections and also ones who haven’t made the effort to realize that any kind of electoral reform is necessary (they must be living in a hole to not realize that, but I digress….).

 Because certain provisions in HB 811 will still allow Direct Record Electronic  (DRE) voting systems, like the Danaher system chosen by the commissioners for Bucks County, this directly affects your constituents, now and for many years to come.  We still maintain that getting rid of DREs as quickly as possible, and replacing with a voter-marked paper ballot system makes sense in every possible way:  to preserve the integrity of our elections, in the easiest and most cost-efficient way.  To drag this out for any more elections, or to codify well-intentioned but ill-conceived provisions into law, is unnecessary and wrong.  We are asking you to take a strong stand for us and for the preservation of democracy, by fighting to preserve the integrity of our elections.

Should you have any questions, or need more research or information, please do not hesitate to contact me or Mary Ann or Ruth.  Patrick, on a personal note, we are thrilled for you, your new wife and beautiful little girl.  We are proud that you are our representative, wish you all the best, and look forward to seeing you in the near future.

 

                                                       Sincerely,

 

 

                                                      

                                                      Representative of Coalition for Voting Integrity

                                                      215-345-5503 or 267-218-3760