THE SAFE MISSION: 

TO PRESERVE OUR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY THROUGH VERIFIED ELECTIONS
 

Americans all over the country have become increasingly alarmed about losing their voting rights through the use of electronic voting machines. They’ve begun to realize that there is absolutely no way to verify votes cast solely on these machines.

While the machine manufacturers and our elected officials claim electronic voting machines are secure and beyond malicious or undiscovered tampering, computer professionals have proved that tampering can be easily accomplished.

SAFE (Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections), a nonpartisan political action committee, was formed in January, 2006, after twelve months of research, to call attention to fact that our direct record electronic (DRE) touchscreen voting machines represent a huge risk to the voting process in Sarasota County, as we see from problems that have already occurred in other Florida counties and in other states. We are calling upon our elected officials to correct this situation before our votes are similarly endangered.

To be SAFE, electronic voting machine results must be validated by auditing them against an independent paper record. Optical scanners and paper ballots are the SAFEest equipment available to do this in Florida today, and they are used by over 75% of the counties in Florida. 

"In November, 2006, Sarasota County voters of all political parties overwhelmingly passed the county charter amendment for voter verified paper ballots and mandatory random independent audits of election results. Now voters in all Florida counties need to speak out. Citizens everywhere must press their State Representatives and Senators to mandate those requirements in state law. It is what all voters need to verify elections. See the Florida Voters Coalition 2007 position paper for the exact wording."

This web site has been provided to assist you in learning more about documented electronic voting machine problems, and to provide information about voting systems that insure verified elections. We all want voting systems that produce an accurate, verified vote to serve the Sarasota County voting public and ensure voter confidence.

Let's make sure the voting system in Sarasota County ensures that votes are not only counted, but counted as cast. With verified paper ballots and mandatory random audits, citizens can be more confident in the validity of election results that our voices have been heard. It's about preserving our most basic right to vote. It's about preserving our freedom and democracy.