Congress must pass voting integrity legislation to restore public confidence

Common Cause applauds Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) for introducing the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, which would require a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast and require routine random audits of paper ballots by hand count.

“We’ve seen significant problems with voting machines in every national election since at least 2000 and citizen confidence in our voting systems is at a low,” said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. “This bill is a giant step toward assuring our voting systems are secure and reliable. We call on Congress today to pass this legislation quickly so states can begin to implement these important changes.”

Since 2004, Common Cause has monitored Election Day voting with a national voter hotline, 1-866-MYVOTE1, which has received tens of thousands of calls. The calls point to a series of problems that collectively eat away at citizens’ confidence that their vote will be accurately counted.

“The cornerstone of our democracy rests on the premise that election results will be publicly accepted,” Pingree said. “We must take steps to restore integrity, accuracy and reliability to our voting systems.”