Saturday, 05 March 2016 00:00

Let Me Vote/Count My Vote

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The U.S. election system—and the democracy it was formed to protect—are under siege. If we want to save the promise of “government by the people” we need to do something—and fast.

In case you missed the memo, here’s where we are: U.S. public policy and most of our legislation no longer serve the people. That’s because U.S. politics is dominated by Big Money. Social and environmental progress is being blocked by elected officials who cater to big donors and the corporate-backed special interest groups who control re-election funds.

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

How You Can Get Involved

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

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Andrea Miller

Andrea Miller, Co-Executive Director and IT Director, was the Democratic Nominee in 2008 for House of Representatives in the Virginia 4th District. Running on a Medicare for All and clean energy platform, Andrea was endorsed by PDA, California Nurses and The Sierra Club. Prior to running for office, Andrea was a part of Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s presidential campaign, first as Statewide Coordinator for Virginia and subsequently as Regional Coordinator. From 2006 until leading the VA Kucinich campaign Andrea was MoveOn.org’s Regional Coordinator for Central, Southwest and Hampton Roads areas of Virginia and West Virginia. Andrea is also the PDA Virginia co-chair as well as the Technical Director. Andrea co-hosts, organizes and programs PDA's Blog Talk Radio show. She is also the lead designer and production team leader for PDA's websites and printed materials. Andrea co-directs PDA's Capitol Hill letter drops and Hill meetings. Her problem-solving skills are essential to PDA's operations.

Latest Voting Rights/Election Integrity News

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Let Me Vote/Count My Vote

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Latest News

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Featured Voting Rights/Election Integrity News

  • Trump administration's voter suppression attempts ahead of midterms are not only 'morally wrong,' they're illegal +

    Trump administration's voter suppression attempts ahead of midterms are not only 'morally wrong,' they're illegal Imagine going to the polls on Election Day and discovering that your ballot could be collected and reviewed by the Read More
  • Democrats Just Won a Major Victory in Virginia +

    Democrats Just Won a Major Victory in Virginia On a night of Democratic victories, one of the most significant wins came in Virginia, where the party held onto Read More
  • Repealing the Jim Crow law that keeps 1.5 million Floridians from voting. +

    Repealing the Jim Crow law that keeps 1.5 million Floridians from voting. A seismic political battle that could send shockwaves all the way to the White House was launched last week in Read More
  • The System IS Rigged!—The Electoral College and the 2016 Election +

    The System IS Rigged!—The Electoral College and the 2016 Election Donald Trump was right: the system is rigged! But it is rigged for the Republicans, not the Democrats, for conservatives, Read More
  • Clinton Campaign Joins Jill Stein’s Recount Of Votes In Wisconsin +

    Clinton Campaign Joins Jill Stein’s Recount Of Votes In Wisconsin Hillary Clinton’s campaign on Saturday announced they would participate in former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s recount of the Read More
  • Virginia Supreme Court slaps down Republicans’ attempt to block ex-felons from voting +

    Virginia Supreme Court slaps down Republicans’ attempt to block ex-felons from voting The Virginia Supreme Court rejected a petition from Republican leaders on Thursday that sought to hold Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Read More
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    Keep Politics Out of Virginia Voting Rights Restoration On Tuesday the Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments in a suit challenging Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s (D) April order that restored Read More
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    Use it or lose it: Occasional Ohio voters may be shut out in November When Larry Harmon tried to vote on a marijuana initiative in November in his hometown of Kent, Ohio, the 59-year-old Read More
  • Virginia governor signs order restoring voting rights for felons +

    Virginia governor signs order restoring voting rights for felons Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signed an order on Friday restoring the voting rights of more than 200,000 convicted felons who Read More
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