Introduction:
Nothing is more basic to our country than the citizen's right to vote. Technological developments and real concerns about voting systems' reliability created an environment where the Federal government, through the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), has intervened in the State and County level to create a more standardized environment in selecting voting systems.

HERE'S HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Many advocates of election transparency and reliability have raised questions and led reform efforts to ensure that voting systems do not become reliant on private vendors and obscure computer technology. In 2005 the Colorado State Legislature passed legislation (SB05 198/206) that provided for voter-verified, paper-based printed records of all votes cast in Direct Recording Electronics (DRE) voting systems after 2010 along with other reforms to remove political interference from the voting process.

Several Colorado-based groups representing grassroots activists across the political spectrum have decided to create a joint effort to seek further needed reforms related to electronic voting, beginning with some information gathering on new machine purchases by counties and new election procedures such as audits. It is critical that citizens, at the local level, become involved and informed about these changes. This effort is called The Voter Initiative.

As a part of the Voter Initiative these groups have agreed to form joint County Teams in each of Colorado's 64 counties. Decisions on election systems are among the most local and Counties, even under HAVA guidelines, have the final say on which system, and what type of system they will use for local elections. Therefore, The Voter Initiative is organized into County Teams at the basic, local level.

Members of these County Terms will be drawn from sponsoring groups and will include any citizen that is concerned, and willing to educate themselves broadly, about the state of our election systems. A major program of The Voter Initiative is a shared pool of information describing:

· What types of systems are being used for elections;
· What type of equipment is being purchased;
· What type of audit procedures are being put into place;
· What type of back-up procedures are in place or being considered
· And, finally, what outside vendors are involved in County elections.

A 3-Phase Program Leading Up To and Including The Election

1: The Survey of County Clerks
This packet is designed to guide election reform activists in a preliminary effort to document where our county officials are in their response to HAVA and State law. Results will be shared among all local groups, County officials, and State Legislators through paper reports and Internet access.

After this fact-finding phase, local groups dealing with comparable systems and issues will be invited to join statewide working groups to develop individual action plans for their counties. Election reform is not a single action nor will the process of producing reliable, preferably paper based, accurate and transparent election systems be achieved in months. The rush to electronic systems has already occurred in many areas of Colorado. But by working together as citizens, and working cooperatively with the County officials, The Voter Initiative will provide a common platform to address the many different needs of different counties. By allowing all parties to have an open, civil dialogue we can achieve our mutual objectives of making our elections process trustworthy, cost effective and reliable.

Following the fact-finding stage of The Voter Initiative using the County Clerk Survey, each County Team will develop an action plan for their County. As a part of this process, each County Team will also participate in the next steps:

2: Developing a set of broad principles guiding our future efforts.
By providing a common platform for many groups and citizens to participate in The Voter Initiative, our goal is to open a full dialogue with County officials on the issues we face with electronic and paper based election systems, achieve a broad consensus that makes sense for all Colorado counties and to establish a high level of trust in our election systems, over time. (May-July)

3: Observing and Staffing 2006 Fall Elections
Many long time activists are concerned there will be problems with the new election systems being rushed into place. No better way exists to understand accurately what is occurring than to have involved, well-trained citizens, participating in the elections process. County Action Team members are expected to either monitor or officiate during this Fall's elections. (August-Nov. 7)

For Phase One: Survey of The County Clerks, you will need these items for a complete County Team kit:

1. Background action team information on voting systems and The County Clerk Survey Form (follows)
2. The County Clerk Survey Form (follows)
3. Secretary of State's Inventory of Election Equipment, County by County. Please download this file directly from the SOS website


Phase Two and Phase Three materials will be developed and released in coming weeks and months. Please expect regular news and notifications via email.

To sign up for participation in your county's VI Action Team, go to:

County Teams Link

Review the instructions and navigate to your county's site, sign up as a Team Member, or, if you are the first team member sign up and start asking friends, acquaintances and others concerned about elections to join you.

County teams will work with other county teams with similar election machine vendors. You'll get plenty of contact and info from around the state. Thanks for joining The Voter Initiative!