Your help is needed to keep Iowa moving toward verified voting. House File 682, the work of a task force of citizens, election officials, and lawmakers, would require Iowa to conduct hand-counted audits of election results. HF 682 passed the House unanimously on Monday evening, but the Senate is not moving the bill forward.
Audits are done by comparing a hand-tally of paper ballots to the machine tally, in a number of precincts selected at random. If the results don't match, further checking can be done. Unlike recounts, audits happen every time as a check and balance on the system — not just when a particular contest is at stake. It's not difficult to do; in November 2008, audits were done in 22 states and the District of Columbia. And for good reason: computer scientists who know our voting systems, including Iowa's Douglas Jones, view audits as no less important than voter-verified paper ballots.
You can use Verified Voting's Action Center and send a message:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26937
Thanks for your help!
Sean Flaherty
3 Comments
do you have any idea why
the Senate is not moving the bill forward? Are they concerned about the expense?
desmoinesdem Fri 27 Mar 7:01 AM
It's definitely not expense
The fiscal note on the bill states: “House File 682 is estimated to cost counties between $11,000 and $21,000 every two years beginning in FY 2011. The Bill will not have a significant fiscal impact on State expenditures.”
http://www3.legis.state.ia.us/…
sean-flaherty Mon 30 Mar 9:14 AM
the counties are always lobbying
heavily against anything that would cost them anything extra (same with local governments).
I would like to know why this bill isn’t moving in the Senate and who is standing in the way.
desmoinesdem Mon 30 Mar 10:25 AM