FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 12th, 2003 CITIZENS FOR VERIFIABLE VOTING contact: Joe Pezzillo, Spokesperson http://www.coloradovoter.net 303-938-8850 / jpezzillo@qwest.net CITIZENS BLOCK PURCHASE OF ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM Boulder, Colorado - Citizens for Verifiable Voting, an ad hoc group of concerned citizens in Boulder County, Colorado, has convinced the local County Clerk's office to delay the planned purchase of a new voting system that would have included the controversial Direct Record Electronic (DRE) vote recording computers and, instead, the County Clerk's office -- headed by Linda Salas, County Clerk and Recorder -- has adopted the citizen's declaration that only a Paper Ballot will provide an adequate level of voter confidence for the upcoming 2004 Election. "We're extremely grateful to the County Clerk's office for clearly taking our concerns into consideration and for announcing a position that appears to be entirely consistent with the citizens' requests for a paper ballot," stated Joe Pezzillo, spokesperson for the group, who was in attendance at the County Clerk's announcement. "We're also grateful to demonstrate that active and engaged citizens can and do make a difference, and can stop the purchase of inherently insecure DRE systems." County Officials present also emphasized the importance of the security of the vote and the voter's confidence, with Chief Deputy Clerk and Recorder Nancy Jo Wurl commenting on the fundamental "Constitutional right to a fair and accurate Election." Indeed, the citizens of Boulder County have been active and engaged and conducted their own independent process including: four large public meetings with more than a hundred total attendees; extensive outreach and education to citizens and the media resulting in repeated press coverage and including a 100% collaboratively produced website and active public e-mail list; preparing a Citizen's Resolution calling for paper ballots that received the written endorsement or support of all four of Boulder County's political parties; meetings with County Election officials; legal research and correspondence of clarifications with the Secretary of State and vendors; direct contact with legislators including work to secure Rep. Udall's co-sponsorship of HR2239, the Voter Confidence Act; collecting hundreds of physical signatures on petitions; and a formal presentation to the Boulder County Commissioners. CVV's ten-minute presentation to the Commissioners -- which included specific legal explanations of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) showing that DREs are NOT required to be purchased (as is widely and mistakenly believed) -- makes the Citizen's case for voter-verifiable, full-text, physically marked PAPER BALLOTS used with a fully disclosed election system, with Pezzillo saying bluntly at one point "Paper Ballots equals Voter Confidence, no Paper Ballot equals NO voter confidence." The full presentation is available via streaming media from the Citizens for Verifiable Voting website at http://www.coloradovoter.net, which also hosts an archive of the group's activities, research, and documents, including the mailing list. Among CVV's next steps is to prepare materials to help Citizen Activists mobilize their local communities around this and other issues related to Electronic Voting. And as CVV has demonstrated, active and engaged citizens can have a substantial impact on this issue when they get involved and take some basic steps. As Pezzillo emphasized, "There's more work to do on this issue, from insisting on full disclosure of voting systems to preventing the disenfranchisement of voters through the electronic pollbook, but we are glad to have overcome this hurdle today." Concerned Citizen Activists should contact CVV at the contact info above, via the mailing list or join the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) national organizational efforts on this issue, see: . For voters in the State of Colorado, a statewide group has been formed to address a broad range of Electronic Voting issues, including touch-screens, the ePollbook, and election law reform. Join their efforts online by visiting their website at .