VOTERESCUE PRESS RELEASE

Election Reform Prioritized by some 5,000 Texans at “Senior Day at the Texas Capitol”
Austin, Texas - February 10, 2009

Eliminating electronic voting machines—both the screen-types and the scanners—in favor of hand-counted paper ballots and voting down Voter ID in Texas are two priorities some 5000 Senior Texans will be discussing with their state legislators at the Capitol today.

The seniors are members of the Texas Senior Advisory Coalition (TSAC) and the Texas Silver-Haired Legislature (TSHL), organizations upholding the dignity and right for self-determining the future of older Texas adults. This estimated group of around 5000 is rallying and lobbying at the Capitol today to present numerous issues to their legislators on behalf of the senior community. Eliminating electronic voting in Texas and voting down Voter ID will be among the issues they raise. The rally will begin at 10:30 am at the south steps of the Capitol and will be followed by visits to legislators to discuss issues of importance to the group.

Karen Renick, Founder and Director of the Austin-based election integrity group VoteRescue, expressed enthusiasm that the seniors are embracing the crucial issue of election integrity for Texas. “The seniors understand that without a fair, accurate and transparent voting system for all Texans, their other political priorities will never be properly addressed. To insure fair elections, we must return to hand-counted paper ballots, with enhanced security, and totals posted at the precinct level. In addition to the secret vote counting by the machines, the capability of widespread undetectable tampering with electronic voting is well-documented and Texans should not tolerate this for even one more election cycle.”

Clint Smith, Member of the Texas Gray Panthers' and National Gray Panthers' Boards, commented about why seniors will ask their legislators to vote down the Voter ID bill: “While it is reasonable to ask a voter to provide, for example, a voter registration card or a utility bill at the polling place, to require a photo ID has been clearly found to have the effect of disenfranchising not only the elderly, but minorities, students and, in the case of the 2008 Indiana Primary Election, even nuns!” Smith added that Seniors understand the significance of the battle ahead on Voter ID since the Texas Senate in January changed their own rules that require a two-thirds majority to call for a vote and instead will only require a simple majority of 51 percent...for the Voter ID bill only! “

The Senate has an agenda to pass Voter ID, but as the Gray Panthers say, "Not without a fight!"

"And the seniors of Texas will give them one heck of a fight!” Smith declared. Among the other issues to be raised by the TSAC and TSHL members with their legislators include:

• a request for $1 billion dollars in additional funding for Medicaid reimbursement. They believe that severe underfunding of Medicaid is threatening the quality of long term care in Texas;
• requesting an increase in funding for affordable housing for older adults in the form of additional tax credits and incentives for developers and builders;
• and the need to develop a plan for funding aging services in the state.