Gov. Richardson Signs Law: Only paper ballots for elections in N. Mexico.

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Thu, 2 Mar 2006 00:10:37 -0800 (PST)

Gov. Richardson Signs Law: " Only paper ballots for elections

in N. Mexico. "

 

 

 

 

http://www.billrichardson2006.com/reform/paperballots/

 

 

Open Letter from Governor Bill Richardson

 

To the State Officials of the 50 United States of America

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

The hallmark of American democracy is one person, one vote.

 

The reason refugees and immigrants, students and professionals from

around the world continue to flock toward our shores is because we

fundamentally believe in the worth of each person. We believe " all men

and all women are created equal. " We believe that regardless of

gender, race, class or creed – all voices deserve respect; all voices

deserve to be heard. And when it comes to elections, all votes deserve

to be counted.

 

But is our democracy, is our hallmark principle of one person, one

vote, on solid ground?

 

Recent elections would suggest that democracy, the greatest system of

government in the world, can be broken. As the world witnessed in

2000, the sanctity of the ballot box and the integrity of our

government are vulnerable. The people of the United States lost faith

in the electoral process, and the covenant between citizens and

elected officials deteriorated. Those national officials scrambled to

pass legislation to restore voter confidence, but in 2004, inaccurate

exit polls raised further doubts about electronic voting machines

without a verifiable paper record.

 

In New Mexico, a coalition of concerned citizens demanded action.

Working together with these citizens and the state legislature, I

signed several laws which guarantee that every ballot is counted. New

Mexico improved and standardized training for poll workers. We

established statewide standards for provisional ballots to ensure that

voters in low-income areas will not be disenfranchised. We made

absentee voting fair, simple, and uniform.

 

And we took one more critical step to ensure one person, one vote.

On March 2, 2006, I will sign a bill that will transition New Mexico

to an all paper-ballot system using optical scanners to count the

vote. Paper ballots are the least expensive, most secure form of

voting available. Having marked their votes with pen and paper, voters

will walk out of the booth and know their voices have been heard.

Optical scanners will quickly and accurately provide results, while in

the event of a recount, the ballots themselves will be a permanent,

verifiable record of the people's directions to their government.

 

Some believe that computer touch screen machines are the future of

electoral systems, but the technology simply fails to pass the test of

reliability. As anyone who uses one can attest, computers break down,

get viruses, lose information, and corrupt data. We know this to be

the case, and so we back-up our files to ensure nothing important is

lost. Paper ballots serve as the ultimate back-up for our elections,

providing secure and permanent verification of the will of the people.

 

New Mexico has chosen paper ballots as the best system to secure our

election process. With the new system in place, future elections will

be secure, honest, and verifiable. Every vote will count and the

citizens of our state will know that their government belongs to them.

 

One person, one vote is in jeopardy if we do not act boldly and

immediately. American citizens once took for granted that every vote

mattered, but no longer. It is time that we, the elected state

officials, work to restore American's confidence in our electoral

systems and undertake reform that moves to eliminate skepticism and

uncertainty.

 

When a vote is cast, a vote should be counted. With paper ballots we

will have a record. With paper ballots the fundamental principle of

one person, one vote is safe.

 

Sincerely,

Bill Richardson

 

Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico

 

 

Sign the petition to get your state, and the rest of America, to make

every vote count.

http://www.billrichardson2006.com/petitions/paperballots/