The Holt Bill: The media rarely mention it; you’ve maybe never heard of it. Yet, it may be the most important bill in Congress this year.
The Holt Bill was about election reform. The Holt Bill now disenfranchises us.
It was supposed to fix the problems of the 2000 and 2004 elections. It started out simple and straightforward: It required a paper trail so that recounts were once again possible.
Over time, it has become a “Jekyll-Hyde” bill where, in return for supporting the bill, its many sponsors added their own agenda items. The bill is now thick as a phone book, and instead of requiring a simple way to safeguard our elections, it sets up a simple way to steal elections.
It mandates computerized voting machines and sets up a committee hand-picked by the president to oversee the law. Its original purpose is gone: to establish the simplest, most secure and transparent method of voting—hand-counted paper ballots with citizen oversight.
The codes that run the voting machines are written and owned by voting machine corporations. No one, including our election officials, is allowed to look at the code, check it for fraud or mistakes, or change it. This means that ES&S and Diebold are our new dictators. Slick! Our democracy is stolen and nobody noticed.
In Burma [Myanmar], people die for democracy. What are we doing in America?
Please educate yourself (www.blackboxvoting.org) and spread the word to your friends. Contact Heath Shuler and ask him to vote “No!” on HR 811 (512 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515; phone 202-225-6401 or fax 202-226-6422.)
— Caryl Brt
Waynesville
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