by Nancy Tobi
January 8, 2007

You have undoubtedly been solicited by several large organizations and others to sign petitions for election reform at the national level. There are many legislative proposals to amend the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

There are divergent opinions on how to make our way out. We represent an affiliation of citizen election reformers working in a direction that we know can WORK and can restore democratic elections to our country.

We are asking for your support of our Request by Voters, and for permission to add your name to our letter to Congress. Please respond with your affirmation of support today. Send your name, state, and organization (if applicable) to patriotism@earthlink.net.

Then, pass on this request to everyone you know. Contact your Congressional representatives and ask them to help amend the Holt Bill to include the remedies and recommendations found in the Request by Voters. Contact Congressman Rush Holt, and tell him you support the Request by Voters. Contact Congressman Holt here: (http://holt.house.gov/contact.shtml)

Whereas HAVA and currently proposed legislative amendments enable technology-based elections, our remedies enable democratic elections. We believe the question of if and how technology is integrated into elections must build off of this foundation, and not vice versa.

We do not support any of the legislative proposals as currently written, but we believe that an amended H.R. 550 (the "Holt Bill") could support the principle stated above. We strongly oppose those, such as S-450, which attempt unrealistically to turn our elections into high-tech, high-cost, low-democracy events. As well, we strongly oppose and will fight against passage of H.R. 550 as written. We are pressing for open debate and amendment to transform it into the "democratic elections" bill rather than the "voter confidence" bill.

Confidence does no good unless you are a con man. What we need are democratic elections.

The time for action is NOW, and it is urgent. The new Democratic majority in Congress wants to act swiftly on election reform, but they are going down the wrong path. This is a dangerous path. It is up to us to help them out of the woods. We can provide them with the necessary cover to do the right thing by bringing public pressure to bear, and letting them know that it is okay to follow the right path this time around. They can safely take a new tack and appropriately blame the lobbyist- and industry-supported HAVA on its original architect, Bob Ney, now serving time in Federal prison.

Please review our proposal for legislative reform found here: www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/files/requestbyvoters.pdf

We need your help. We need the true grassroots, the patriots of the Republic, to affirm your support, sign on, and help save our Republic.

The remedies and recommendations in the Request by Voters are simple and straightforward. They have been reviewed by some of the most experienced and intelligent election officials in the nation, and we have received their blessing and support for our approach, because they know it will work.

Our Request by Voters will be sent to members of Congress, together with a copy of the book HACKED!

Before making up your minds, please read the following article, co-authored by DFNH Chair Nancy Tobi and Election Law Attorney Paul Lehto, and please consider bringing our Request by Voters to your organization for co-sponsorship.

http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/3084

There are many forces united behind maintaining the technology-based election industry that was spawned in full force with the passage of the Help America Vote Act in 2002. We need an equal force to support democratic elections.

Please help. Please affirm your support today and that of your organization if applicable. We can no longer do this alone. We need you.

As Bev Harris says, we can do this thing. But we need you to help us get it done.
Early sponsors of our Request by Voters include the following organizations and individuals:

Nancy Tobi is Chair of Democracy for New Hampshire

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