Let Me Vote/Count My Vote

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