We're in better shape then we were yesterday, but much vigilance will be required. Two amendments were passed today in Judiciary I that should protect our Public Confidence in Elections Law, ensure that standards and safeguards are developed, and require that instant runoff experiments cannot be forced on governing bodies in North Carolina if they do not want them. Our hope, followed by our continued vigilence is that the standards will be the highest and that no pilot program will be undertaken lightly.
Thanks to Janice Sears for preparing this message:
Dear Voting Integrity Advocate,
Two amendments were passed today, and they represent a nice compromise. The Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) pilot can proceed, but with some very important added requirements.
The first amendment requires that the governing body that will be up for IRV election has to agree to it instead of just the local board of elections, and that educating voters must be part of the plan so that people will know how to mark their ballots and the boards of elections will not have to depend on the kindness of any advocacy groups. This is important because the voter education can be standardized and the legislature will get a true picture of the costs for effective voter ed. It is difficult if not impossible to tell how much money is needed to educate voters over the long term when groups with a vested interest step in to help for free temporarily.
The second amendment that requires the State Board Of Elections and the Institute of Government to develop goals, standards, and criteria consistent with current election law by Jan. 1 for implementation and evaluation of pilots. This should insure that we have uniform measurements of success, failure, advantages and pitfalls of any pilots conducted across the state in different communities. We have a very important and pleasant job to do now! Please ask everyone you know who cares about voting integrity to send thank you e-mails to the members of the Judiciary 1 Committee with “Thank you” in the Subject line.
Please thank Chairman Debra Ross for allowing a hearing, debate and amendments on the issue. She did not have to do that, and in many ways was counter to what she was working to accomplish, which was moving the bill.
Please thank Melanie Goodwin, the bill sponsor for supporting a reasonable compromise amendment.
And please give special thanks to Rep. Insko and Rep. Bryant for standing up for voters and the Public Confidence in Elections Act, and say thanks to the other members for supporting goals, standards and criteria consistent with current election law for implementation and evaluation of pilots.
Here are the members of Judiciary 1 and their email addresses for your convenience:
Chairman: Representative Deborah Ross email address Deborahr@ncleg.net
Vice Chair: Rep. Melanie Goodwin email address melanieg@ncleg.net
Vice Chair Rep. Paul Stam email address Pauls@ncleg.net
Vice Chair Rep. Bonner L. Stiller email address Bonners@ncleg.net
Members: Rep. Martha Alexander email address marthaa@ncleg.net
Rep. John Blust email address johnbl@ncleg.net
Rep. Angela Bryant email address angelab@ncleg.net
Rep. Debbie Clary email address debbiec@ncleg.net
Rep. Larry Hall email address larryh@ncleg.net
Rep. Pricey Harrison email address priceyh@ncleg.net
Rep. George Holmes email address georgeh@ncleg.net
Rep. Verla Insko email address verlai@ncleg.net
Rep. Grier Martin email address grierm@ncleg.net
Rep. Annie Mobley email address anniem@ncleg.net
Rep. Roger West email address rogerw@ncleg.net
I am including samples of my thank you letters to each below that you can personalize for your own use or just write your own! And last but not least, I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for all of your hard work on this matter. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, [the price of voting integrity is constant vigilance] and thanks to the vigilance of each and every one of you, we have encouraged and supported the legislature to preserve the protections of the Public Confidence in Elections Act.
Very truly yours,
Janice Sears
Member NC Coalition for Verifiable Voting
Member For All NC
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Subject: Thank you for the fair and equitable compromise on SB1263--Thanks a million!
Dear Chairman Ross,
I want to express to you my utmost gratitude for your patience and willingness to hold a hearing, debates and amendments on the IRV section of SB1263. You did not have to do this but you wanted us to all have a chance to be heard. I know that this hasn't been easy for anyone on the Judiciary 1 Committee, especially you, having to deal with such a polarizing issue where the emotions of the voters run high, especially when it was just one part of a much bigger bill that is going to do so much good for the voters of North Carolina, especially since time is running out in this legislative session.
After attending two sessions of your committee, I saw how hard your committees have to work to construct and refine our laws for the best interests of the citizens of this state within very real time constraints. You never seem to lose your smile or your composure or your vision of a better future for the citizens of our state. Thanks again for being such a wonderful representative of all of the people and a great committee chairperson, too. And most of all, thanks to you and all of your committee for preserving Public Confidence in Elections.
Very truly yours,
Janice Sears
Member North Carolina Verifiable Voting
Member For All NC
Precinct Chair Wake County
Subject: Thanks a million for supporting a reasonable compromise amendment to SB1263 and preserving Public Confidence in Elections
Dear Representative Goodwin,
I wanted to give you my heartfelt thanks for supporting the compromise amendments to SB1263 that will ensure that we will still have Public Confidence in Elections. I know that you have the best interests of all of the citizens of North Carolina at heart, and SB1263 will provide some very real enhancements and protections. Thank you for your patience and willingness to listen and help work out a compromise on such a polarizing issue.
There are many of us who put our hearts and souls into working to help pass the Public Confidence in Elections law. I realize that there are many people now who are pinning their hopes on the IRV pilot for many reasons. You have made it possible to preserve election integrity while allowing this new voting method to be tested. Thank you so much for a fair and equitable solution to this very emotional matter.
Very truly yours,
Janice Sears
Member North Carolina Coalition of Verifiable Voting
Member For All NC
Precinct Chair Wake County
Subject: Thank you for preserving Public Confidence in Elections and standing up for voters with the great amendments to SB1263!!!
Dear Representative Bryant:
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for protecting the rights of the voters and Public Confidence in Elections with the great amendments to SB1263. If we are going to test a new way of voting, we must be very sure that we do not disenfranchise our voters in the process and we do not want to weaken any voter protections that are already in place. Thank you so much for realizing the possible dangers of the IRV pilot right away and insisting on making provisions to protect all our voters to make sure that their ballots are not spoiled and their voices are heard.
You have a lot of courage and insight and the voters of North Carolina are lucky to have you representing us in the General Assembly. I hope to get to work with you again in the future, because I admire and respect your wisdom and your sense of responsibility for well being of the citizens of this state.
Very truly yours,
Janice Sears
Member North Carolina Coalition for Verifiable Voting
Member For All NC
Precinct Chair Wake County
Subject: Thank you a million times for protecting Public Confidence in Elections and finding a way to a good compromise on SB1263
Dear Representative Insko,
I feel deeply indebted to you for your tireless work to protect voting integrity in North Carolina. Four years ago I was horrified to learn that the Board of Elections wanted to move toward the use of all touch screen voting machines with no means of voter verification or meaningful audit. Thanks to you and Senator Kinnaird and many others, we have a wonderful law that protects voter verified paper ballots, federally certified software held in escrow, meaningful random audits of vote counts, and safeguards against voting software revisions without certification.
It was very frightening to learn of the IRV amendment as it first appeared in SB1263, because we had already seen with the first pilot that there were problems due to the lack of federally certified software, the inability to conduct all of the vote counting at the polling place, the very small amount of officially funded voter education, and the seeming lack of a standardized way to measure the success, failure, advantages and pitfalls of such an experiment.
Thank you for being so wise and brave and standing up for our right to vote and have our vote count!
Very truly yours,
Janice Sears
Member North Carolina Coalition for Verifiable Voting
Member For All NC
Precinct Chair Wake County
Subject: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For your support of the very important amendments to SB1263!
Dear Representative xxxxxxx:
Thank you for your willingness to listen to our concerns and your patience in working out a compromise that preserves Public Confidence in Elections while providing a safer way to test a new method of voting and vote counting without sacrificing important voter protections.
I appreciate your work on the Judiciary 1 Committee in crafting not only SB1263 but many other laws that improve the well being of every citizen of this state. It must be very stressful to go through such a heavy work load of bills, especially as you near the end of a legislative session, so I am doubly grateful for your willingness to let us be heard and your help in working out this very good solution.
Very truly yours,
Janice Sears
Member North Carolina Coalition for Verifiable Voting
Member For All NC
Precinct Chair Wake County
