Good News BBV

[Joanne98]

Hi Folks,

The California Legislature is poised to pass an historic election
reform bill, SB 1438. This bill, co-authored by Senators Ross
Johnson (R-Orange) and Don Perata (D-Alameda), will require that:

* All electronic voting machines produce an accessible, voter
verified paper record of every electronic ballot in time for the next
statewide election (which is the 2006 Primary); and

* No new paperless, electronic voting systems be certified by the
Secretary of State after January 1, 2005.

This bill, proclaimed dead just two weeks ago, is now on its way out
of the Legislature due to a successful, 11th-hour revival effort led
by Senators Johnson and Perata.

SB 1438 passed out of the Assembly last night on a unanimous, 71-0
vote. It now heads to the Senate for a final vote today, where
passage is expected. Once passed by the Legislature, SB 1438 goes to
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who then has thirty days to sign or
veto the bill, or let the bill become law without his signature.

SB 1438 essentially codifies California Secretary of State Kevin
Shelley's November 2003 order to require a voter verified paper trail
and advances that requirement by one election (Shelley's order
imposes the VVPT requirement in advance of the 2006 General election).

Placing a voter verified paper trail requirement into California
statute will ensure that this fundamental reform becomes law. (As
you may recall, the Secretary of State's e-voting security orders
have previously been challenged, unsuccessfully, in court by four
California counties.) This bill will not impact this November's
election.

Support for the voter verified paper trail has been building across
the state and nation for over a year now, as awareness of
computerized voting risks have spread. Requiring a voter verified
paper record of each electronic ballot ensures that the public can
verify the accuracy of software used to cast and count ballots.

While SB 1438 has enjoyed strong, unanimous, bipartisan support in
the Legislature, there are still many groups that oppose this bill,
and not very many listed in support. Some of the groups currently on
record opposing SB 1438 include the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors, the ACLU, the county registrars' association, and
several groups representing the interests of blind, disabled and
minority language voters.

Those wishing to contact the governor regarding this or any other
bill can do so in a number of ways, but the most effective means will
be using his online web form, at:

http://www.govmail.ca.gov

or sending a letter via U.S. mail to:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

More information about SB 1438 is online at
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_1438&sess=CUR&house=B&author=johnson
.

Have a great weekend,

-- Kim Alexander, President
California Voter Foundation
[e-mail], http://www.calvoter.org, 916-441-2494
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phone - [phone]
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email - [e-mail]
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The bad news, it's not in time for November 2nd. I can't understand why the ACLU is on the wrong side of this?