We, the undersigned citizens of Vermont, call on the Secretary of State and our state's Legislature to institute random, hand counted audits on all elections using (Diebold) computerized vote counting systems.

Whereas multiple independent reports and studies conducted by the nation's most respected computer security experts have concluded such audits are necessary to verify the accuracy of computerized vote counting systems, we call on our election officials to follow these recommendations, such as those outlined in the Brennan Report on electronic voting system security.

Whereas the integrity of our election system is the foundation of our democracy, statistics experts should be called in to recommend the method and size of the audit to ensure a high confidence level that election results are correct in our state.

Whereas the audit is required to verify election results, it must be conducted before elections are certified by the Secretary of State. Legislation to mandate such audit must include specific actions to be taken if the audit does not match the computer tally.

The Secretary and Legislative body should work together to quickly pass a law requiring such audits in time for the 2008 election. In the event that a law cannot be drafted and enacted in time for the 2008 election, the Secretary should use her power as overseer of elections to mandate a temporary order requiring such audit take place in the 2008 election and all elections until such a law is passed.

Whereas other Secretaries of State and state Legislatures have recognized the problem and already taken action by instituting mandatory random audits on their election systems, we call on our to do the same.