Update on Voting in Iowa's 2006 Election
By Iowans for Voting Integrity

Dear Iowa Voter,
 
 Congratulations on making it through the season of campaign television ads. We offer two important notes on yesterday's elections.
 
 First, in Iowa's State Senate District 5 will have a recount, apparently because the paper ballot scanners did not register the name of candidate Rich Olive in some instances. The counties in District 5, Story and Wright, are "blended" counties that use both paper ballot scanners and touchscreens, both from Diebold Election Systems.
 
 With optical scanning there are paper ballots to check for problems registering votes. Not so with paperless DREs; once the voter finishes their vote, you cannot know if the computer is recording it accurately.
 
 Our second note: elections in Virginia and Iowa have something in common. In both states a large percentage of voters cast their votes on touchscreen machines that offer no record of a vote independent of the computer records.
 
 It appears this evening that Virginia's U.S. Senate election may be headed for a recount. For the majority of counties in Virginia, that means printing out a digital record of the touchscreen machines' vote results and hoping that computer recorded the votes correctly. Johns Hopkins University computer expert Avi Rubin said it best: a meaningful recount in Virginia is not possible.
 
 Whether or not a recount occurs in Virginia, the election was so close that most citizens can agree that it is reasonable to consider one. Control of the United States Senate hinges on the votes recorded on these machines in Virginia. The Pottawattamie County election last June already gave Iowa powerful reminder of the need for verifiable elections. Iowa, along with the entire nation, just got another reminder from the 2006 Virginia Senate election.
 
 Who wants to see a statewide Iowa election this close that can't be truly recounted? When the Iowa General Assembly convenes in January, it should act immediately to end the era of paperless voting. We will be pushing for election integrity legislation in the coming months, and we will keep you informed of this effort and how you can help.
 
 Best regards,
 Iowans for Voting Integrity
 iowansforvotingintegrity.org
 "Working For Voting Systems Worthy of the Public Trust"