a shot at a verified vote in the u.s. election

In the US, activists for democracy have reached a potential milestone. Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on HR 5036, "The Emergency Election Assistance for Secure Elections Act".

We already know electronic voting cannot be trusted. Currently, only 17 states have a voter-verified paper trail with a mandatory audit. Without a paper record, the vote cannot be audited.

HR 5036 would provide funds for voter-verified paper records and audits of the vote on Election Day. However, the bill does not require states to have paper trails or audits. Participation is optional, so voters would still have to fight for paper audits on the state level. Big bad feds not allowed to require poor little ole states to do anything.

Howard Stanislevic, who writes a blog about the dangers of electronic voting, sees some welcome language in this bill.

US voters should contact their Congresspeople and urge them to support HR 5036.

This bill represents a long campaign by a lot of dedicated activists. It will be interesting to see if it goes anywhere.

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