Voters Rights

Note: This is an old resolution that has been superceded by new ones on voting reform.

WHEREAS, many citizens, especially African-Americans, the homeless, and immigrants, have been intimidated, excluded, and shut out from the democratic process; and

WHEREAS, District of Columbia residents are not permitted to vote in the general election for president, nor for members of Congress; and

WHEREAS, in some states, convicted felons are not allowed to vote even though they have completed the penalties placed upon them by the judicial system; and

WHEREAS, many citizens find it difficult to vote due to work schedules; and

WHEREAS, the use of electronic voting machines, which do not provide auditable records, has endangered the election process for all of us, by making it difficult or impossible to verify the vote count; and

WHEREAS, electronic voting machines with proprietary, secret software create new ways of corrupting elections; be it therefore

RESOLVED, that We support the following measures to make the election process more democratic:

* Election day be a holiday when all registered voters may vote;
* Every American citizen be allowed to vote within appropriate guidelines, despite homelessness or prior convictions;
* District of Columbia citizens be granted voting rights equal to those of all American citizens;
* Electronic voting machines be used only with open source software and a voter-verifiable paper trail;