| December 22, 2003 To: Secretaries of State Copy To: Members of Congress Federal Election Regulators Voting Rights Advocates Disability Rights Advocates Election Equipment Suppliers From: David Biddulph, Inventor “Perfect Voting System” Subject: Can We Restore Citizen Confidence In Our Electoral Processes? Like most Americans watching the 2000 Presidential contest, I became deeply troubled by the fact that judges were involved in deciding the election outcome. Until then I had naively believed elections were decided by the unmistakable will of the people. I felt there must be a way to conduct an election without questions as to the winner. My research led me to file a patent application for a new voting process that, for the first time, gives citizens the opportunity to make sure their vote was counted exactly as they intended. I suggest you consider incorporating my Perfect Voting System (PVS) into your state’s election equipment if the restoration of citizen confidence in your states electoral processes is of significant interest. Is There Room To Improve Citizen Confidence In Elections? Citizen confidence in our ability to accurately tabulate elections has been eroded. While significant resources have been expended in upgrading equipment and procedures since November 2000, many citizens continue to doubt that their vote is counted exactly as intended. A Georgia Peach poll taken after the 2002 election using new paperless touch screen machines found that 21% of white voters and 60% of black voters were not “very confident” that their “vote was accurately counted.” (http://www.cviog.uga.edu/peachpoll/2003-02.pdf) Would Citizens Have Greater Confidence If Elections Were Open To Public Audit? I suggest that citizen confidence in our electoral processes can, over time, be significantly improved by making election tabulations open to public inspection and audit. While open and transparent government has been a principle of good governance since the beginning of the republic, no citizen has ever had the right or ability to actually audit their vote in the official vote tally database. My PVS makes it possible for every citizen, including those with disabilities, to independently confirm that his or her vote was counted exactly as intended (See: News Release attached.) The PVS maintains the secrecy of the ballot and may be incorporated into any existing or new election machine that includes a printer. The licensing cost is $0.10 per vote cast. Any election jurisdiction employing the PVS will be provided with a bond to help defray legal expenses should there be vote tally litigation. If you share my interest in conducting elections without questions, please contact David Biddulph, Inventor “Perfect Voting System”, 386-423-4744, ODemocracy@aol.com, P.O. Box 193, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32170, or visit our web site at: www.PerfectVotingSystem.com. |
