Goal: ...ensure election reliability in US.

Leadership

Organization’s Objective

Voter Action is a national non-profit organization that engages in legal advocacy, research, and public education to ensure election reliability in the United States. In the wake of the 2000 presidential election, the nation has witnessed increasing privatization of our public election process. In jurisdictions throughout the country, private companies now play a critical and dangerous role in how we conduct our elections. Voter Action addresses the inherent issues with the impact of privatization in our election processes; private companies are now responsible and often hold the keys to the recording and counting of the votes, as well as the testing of their own voting equipment and software. Most ballots cast across our country are recorded and tabulated using secret, proprietary software with no substantial or meaningful independent testing or review process. Electronic poll books owned by companies such as Diebold provide new barriers to voting. Voter registration databases are outsourced to companies such as Accenture and Elections Systems and Software (ES&S). State canvas reports and county and state auditing processes are also often outsourced, creating more of a barrier to public accountability and confidence in our democratic process. Voter Action is deeply concerned with the lack of oversight this extreme privatization poses at the core of our election process. We believe it vitally important to the integrity of our democracy that our elections remain in the public domain, controlled by the voters and not by private interests. Through our legal advocacy, research and public education work, we seek to ensure that we properly count our votes, that we preserve public control of our elections, and that we restore public confidence in our electoral outcomes.