North Carolina Dem Senators gut paper ballot bill of voter verified paper ballots

(Betrayal by some of our Democratic Party elected officials- Read entire text Immediately)

The North Carolina Senate Judiciary I committee (almost all democrats) gutted our election reform bill. They have stripped the greatest protection against fraud and inaccuracy: Voter-Verified Paper Ballots. Without the voter being able to verify a paper ballot no meaningful audit or recount can occur. This leaves our elections up to voting machine companies and not up to the voters.

We cannot sit by idle while our elected Democratic leaders continue to ignore our call for the right actions. We have been working tirelessly on this project and I thank everyone for what they have been doing, but despite all of our efforts some Democratic Party elected leaders (named below) continue to ignore us and take us for granted. They believe we the grassroots activists will just forget about this before the Democratic primary in 2006. We vow that we will never forget those who betrayed the Democratic Party and the people of this state.

However, there is still time for these leaders to get right with the people. We need to urge those people listed below to support elections free from fraud, malfunction, and inaccuracy. Urge them to support Senate Bill 223 WITH VOTER VERIFIED PAPER BALLOT LANGUAGE REINSERTED.

We need to call on Democratic Senate leader Marc Basnight to pull the Democrats in to line.
Senator Marc Basnight
(919) 733-6854
marcb@ncleg.net

We believe the motivation for the change to the bill came from Judiciary I Chairman Sen. Daniel Clodfelter. He may be trying to make sure Mecklenburg County’s machines (some of the worst in the state) do not have to be replaced. However, the machines will have to be replaced at some point because they do not comply with federal standards that take effect in 2006. Once again we have failed, misguided, and outright stupid leadership from the "old guard" of the Democratic Party.

IT IS TIME TO SEND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ELECTED OFFICIALS A MESSAGE: "Either support the grassroots base of the Democratic Party or face them campaigning against you next year."

These are the name of those who have betrayed the Democratic Party so far:

Senator Daniel Clodfelter D-Mecklenburg County
Phone: (919) 715-8331
Email: danielc@ncleg.net
He is the main person behind the removal of language designed to protect our votes.

Senator Julia Boseman D-New Hanover
Phone: (919) 715-2525
Email: juliab@ncleg.net
She was the chair of the subcommittee that gutted the bill.

SO FAR, NOT A SINGLE DEMOCRATIC SENATOR IN JUDICIARY ONE HAS STOOD UP FOR OUR RIGHTS AGAINST THESE ANTI-DEMOCRATIC MEASURES. DEMAND BETTER.

Here is a list of those who have failed to stand up for our rights so far:

Senator Soles, 919-733-5963, rcsoles@ncleg.net
Senator Albertson, 919-733-5705, charliea@ncleg.net
Senator Malone, 919-733-5880, vernonm@ncleg.net
Senator Lucas, 919-733-4599, jeannel@ncleg.net
Senator Hoyle, 919-733-5734, davidh@ncleg.net
Senator Cowell, 919-715-6400, janetc@ncleg.net
Senator Jenkins, 919-715-3040, clarkj@ncleg.net

Enough is Enough. Please act today to save our Democracy.

More about electronic voting issues in North Carolina at www.ncvoter.net