Lois Capps: “as a cosponsor of the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act, I rise in strong support of the bill. Voting is the…”

“as a cosponsor of the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act, I rise in strong support of the bill. Voting is the most fundamental element of democracy. It is the mechanism by which citizens hold their government accountable for its actions. This most critical of democratic actions depends, however, on voters' confidence that their votes are counted fairly and accurately. Voters have lost this confidence. Election after election, year after year, millions of voters cast votes not knowing if their votes will count because the machines produce no paper records. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 was supposed to resolve these problems. However, it failed to address several major issues that continue to plague the system and undermine the legitimacy of our elections. This so-called response to the 2000 election debacle in Florida failed to implement accountability measures to ensure that every vote is cast and counted accurately. The Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act would address this problem by providing funding for states and counties to implement safe, secure and auditable voting systems in time for the 2008 general election.”