Last year, the hard work of the grassroots e-voting movement across the country prevented many states and counties from ordering unauditable, unreliable and insecure electronic voting and vote counting systems before the November elections.

Now, states are lining up to order new voting systems with their HAVA funds. Many are still preparing to order paperless electronic voting systems. The combined skill, courage, and resolve of local and state-based activist groups like yours will determine whether we, as a nation, can avert the threat of electronic vote rigging, hacking, the accidental loss or misallocation of electronically recorded and reported votes, and the ultimate impact on the integrity of America's elections.

Activists in almost every state are pushing back against the decision-makers' move toward e-voting, but without a solid national support network to share resources, information, and strategies, it can be very difficult to make the headway that is needed in time to make the difference - and as we all know, the time to make the difference is now.

That's what the leaders of four of the most experienced organizations, National Ballot Integrity Project, TrueVoteMD, CASE Ohio, and VotersUnite.org, have joined forces to establish. You probably know some of us already. We've been part of the movement from its inception. Like you, we've participated in original research, created many of the key information resources, testified before committees, lobbied the US Congress and state legislators, been interviewed on television and radio, spoken at the National Press Club, litigated for Voter Verified Paper Ballots, and prevented Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell from installing Diebold paperless touch-screen machines in every Ohio County in 2004. We're in the trenches with you, and we know how hard you've been working, and how isolated and frustrating the effort can be.

We want you to be part of our alliance. Our purpose is to take the anti-e-voting elections integrity movement to the next level by:

	Linking the individual groups working on e-voting issues across the country to enable state and local groups to efficiently share knowledge, experience, and resources.
	Providing a national resource and support network to make it quick and easy for activists to access the information, assistance, technical resources, people and expertise they need at any given time.
	Assisting local and state groups with media relations.
	Creating and maintaining an easily accessible database of key materials, references, resources, and best practices from around the country.
	Providing a national face for the e-voting movement to Congress, the Election Assistance Commission, and national associations of elections officials.
	Organizing regional and national workshops and conferences to enable leaders and members of state and local groups to network, learn from one another and national leaders, and to build key skills.
	Developing on-line training materials to help leaders and activists build the skills they need moving forward.
	Establishing an ad hoc unity of election-integrity activists in order to speak with one clear voice to national media and federal legislators when appropriate.

We hope your group will accept this invitation to become part of our alliance. There's no cost or charge involved, and no commitment of time or resources is necessary. The only requirements are that your organization must be nonpartisan and dedicated to election reform with ending paperless e-voting as the major emphasis.

We want to make sure that we concentrate on the most pressing needs of the e-voting elections integrity community and hope you'll take a few minutes to answer the questions on the attached one-page questionnaire to let us know what you're working on and what you need.

Please let us know if you'd like to participate in the network we're building. Complete our questionnaire and email it to contact@votetrustusa.org.

Thanks!

Signed

Ellen Theisen and John Gideon - VotersUnite.Org
Kevin Zeese and Linda Schade - TrueVoteMD
Joan Krawitz and Warren Stewart - National Ballot Integrity Project
Andy Stephenson - CASE Ohio