There is definitely some things within HR 811 we can do without, but it is still an improvement on the system we have now.  It does require an auditable paper trail, which is not currently federally mandated.  It relies on the NIST for information about vote accuracy and integrity, and the EAC is just s facillitating organization, not an elections cop.  The bill also looks forward to a time where auditable paper ballots are universal, which is existing technology that just has to be applied...this is what it is funding.

We should support HR811 and urge Holt to make changes we think are necessary because we will not get the paper ballot on the table again in Congress...so we have to make what we have better.  Write and call Congressman Holt and ask him to make changes you think are necessary... but lets not toss the baby out with the bathwater.  Keep in mind that it seems that it is this bill or no bill...so lets work toward something rather than nothing.

Unfortunately, David, your statement, "EAC is just [a] facillitating organization" is inaccurate. When the report on fraud commissioned by the EAC found voter fraud to be a myth, the EAC changed the report.

Many support the "beats a blank" argument you put forward.  I do not.  HAVA--which the Holt bill amends--was similarly thought to be an improvement over the Florida 2000 debacle. In fact, it made the situation worse.  The use of provisional ballots was huge in 2004, but rather than ensuring citizens' right to vote they had the effect of disenfranchising voters.  Roughly 200,000 voters were made to vote provisionally in Ohio 2004.  Twenty-two percent were rejected.

Finally, many, many of us who are actively on the ground have been trying to talk with Rep. Holt or his aide Michelle Mulder about HR 811 since the days it was HR 550. We get transferred to voice mail with no calls returned.

Sure the situation in GA, NC or MD and a couple other states may improve somewhat with a paper trail.  On the whole, however, HR 811 is a move away from real election reform.