To protect the status quo, “bought and paid for” incumbents are kept in power by district gerrymandering along with complicated local, state and national election rules put in place to prevent the rise of alternative candidates and parties.

In recent years the integrity—and accuracy—of our voting system have come into question. We’ve seen it in the recent rash of voter ID laws, in election-day restrictions designed to prevent many Americans from casting votes—even allegations of fraud in actual vote counting.

This threat exists in our all-digital voting systems. Though touted as a solution, these systems—which include internet voting—are vulnerable to error and manipulation. They also prevent public verification of results. To protect our right to vote we need auditable paper ballots—or at the very least a printed confirmation of every vote cast—along with a backup system we can use to routinely test and verify electronic tallies.

The Election Integrity Team is part of PDA's Civil Rights/Civil Justice platform. We work on the following issues:

• Voter Access/Voter Protection
• Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform
• Elimination of Electronic Voting Machines/Return to Verifiable Paper Ballots
• Mandatory Audits of Election Results
• Restoration of Voting Rights
• Public Financing of Elections/Free TV Time for Candidates
• Instant Runoff Elections

Election Integrity Facts and Statistics

• 30% of eligible Americans are not registered to vote
• In 2012 the Republican National Lawyers Committee reported that 200 individuals nationwide had been charged with voter fraud since 2000; however 24 states
  have enacted Voter ID legislation to prevent voter fraud and 6 states are considering legislation
• 10% of the voting population has no Photo ID which will be required by the new
  restrictive state laws
• Over 40% of Americans vote on machines with no paper trail; no valid audit is possible
• Only 12 of the 50 states have reliable post-election audits
• More than 5 million US citizens have lost their right to vote due to a past
  felony conviction

Legislation Our Team Has Endorsed

• HR 12 (Lewis - D-GA05)/S123 (Gillibrand - D-NY) - Voter Empowerment Act
  S1139 (Klobuchar- D-MN) - Same Day Registration Act
  HJ Res 25 (Pocan - D-WI02) - Voting is a Constitutional Right
  HR 317 (Norton-DC)/S1688 (Carper-DE) New Columbia Admissions Act
  HR 1459 (Conyers-MI13)/S772 (Cardin-MD) Democracy Restoration Act
  HR 411 (Cohen-TN09) SIMPLE Voting Act

Team Accomplishments

• BlogTalk Radio Show - Voter Suppression - What's Happening in your State
• BlogTalk Radio Show - Restoring the Vote to People with Past Criminal Convictions
• BlogTalk Radio Show - Fighting Voter Suppression Legislation (Dr. William Ferguson Reid)
• BlogTalk Radio Show - Voter Empowerment Act
• BlogTalk Radio Show - Protecting the Vote with Mimi Kennedy

How You Can Get Involved

• Join our Monthly Conference Calls (4th Tuesday)
• Join our Google Group
• Suggest Coalition Partners and Allies
• Like our Facebook Page
• Follow us on Google Plus
• Visit our Community Action Page

Coalition Partners
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Brennan Center for Justice, The Advancement Project, Black Box Voting, NAACP, Election Defense Alliance, National Election Integrity Coalition, Hip Hop Caucus, Vote Riders

Team Leaders
Mimi Kennedy
Andrea Miller
Claude Conkrite
Andrew DiLiddo
Randall Holmes
Rev. Terence Dicks
Paul Stokes
Dave Sonneborn