On YAHOO! - Massive review of voting laws under way

Long lines, challenged ballots and two of the closest presidential elections in the country's history have touched off a landslide of proposed voting law changes across the United States.

Some are hailed as much-needed upgrades that will assure everyone of a vote with no fraud; others are alarming civil libertarians who fear new restrictions could disenfranchise the poor and others at society's margins.

The National Council of State Legislatures, which tracks law-making developments, has compiled a list of sometimes competing proposals that have surfaced this year in 26 states, covering 21 pages of fine print.

Many deal with a central issue -- proof of identity for valid voters. But other proposals being debated include stiffer training for poll workers, allowing voters to register on or closer to election day, making it illegal to pay someone to register voters, harsher penalties for voter registration fraud, guidelines for casting provisional ballots and upgrades to election equipment.

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/rights_voting_dc&printer=1

sounds like all the evidence of GOP-sanctioned fraud will be reconstituted as a call for even MORE non-transparent electronic voting equipment, and MORE emphasis on a national ID card -- just the ticket for creating more problems.
This is starting to remind me of the whole Congressional investigation into the news outlets calling the presidential campaign early in Florida in 2000. Instead of the focus on Jack Welch (then NBC head) yelling in the control room and ordering his people to call it for Bush, or on Bush cousin John Ellis prematurely naming Bush the victor in the FOX news headquarters, we had a big panel convened on how the Republicans were discouraged from voting in the panhandle because GORE was named early.
In other words -- they'll weed out all the real problems, and focus on the issues they could manipulate to benefit the GOP AGAIN.

in committee. It has been updated to deal with pretty much everything on a national level.

The one piece that is going to be the main problem is the restoring felon's rights to vote. I think some compromise may be needed there.

I personally believe that anyone who has lost their right to vote due to felony activity and actually turns their life around enough to WANT to be part of the solution, should have a road back. However, I can understand that people might fear the motives of someone who was violent in commission of their felony for example.

So this one issue should be set up with some guidelines that the state can feel comfortable with the progress made by the former felon.

However, since we have racial profiling and therefore a higher purportion of convicted felons will be black, I think we have to balance white collar crime activities to achieve a better balance.

For instance, anyone who swindles $1 million or more, whether they do jail time or not should lose their right to vote. Anyone who defrauds the government of $1 million or more or causes the deaths of people due to corporate negligence (disobeys their own stated mission statement/creed) should lose their right to vote. They should also be subject to whatever means of restitution or parole that are assigned to typical lower class felons.

Also, I think that white collar criminals should also lose their privilege to donate to political campaigns. IE: Enron took $35 million out of employee checks for employee taxes, but never paid that to the State of Oregon. So, CEO Ken Lay and all management involved should lose their right to vote and any corporate sponsored donations to a political campaign banned.

We can clean up the vote and campaign finance fraud at the same time. What do you think?

:applause: You hit the nails right on their heads! :woohoo:

:kick::kick::kick:

Andy's words ...

It is the central tabulation people where the chicannery happens. Bev showed this with Dean on Leno's show one night.

The tabulation is done on central country computers using MS Excel .

It is childs play to access the computer and flip the votes.

Bingo the numbers of votes reconsiles , but the votes are flipped.

Paper smaper, what all this about paper, it proves nothing.

What is needed is what we all use now online, SSL protocol.

A Secure Socket Layer from the precint to the county server.

Only when tabulation is secure,and a limited number of people with personal passwords for their trail to the server of central tabulators,will the vote fraud stop.





Gore Won in 2000............ Kerry Won in 2005

2 Stolen elections How many more will we allow ?

We could have 2 copies print out with your vote results, one for your local party's record with only a voter number listed for identification and a personal copy with your own information.

At the polls party reps from both sides take your voter number paper copy so that they visually verify you and document that your voter number and results are what you entered. With your own party holding those results and with a back up copy in your hand you have proof of your own vote. Of course, fireproof party offices or storage are a must.

The voter number has to be locked down with the attached fields at the time of the print reciept. But if somehow the results are flipped afterward, there is the record in the party office to consult and the voter's actual paper copy.

Actual results could be published out on the internet as they are registered - listed only by voter number/precinct (IE Precinct- voter 0001 - 79,000. Forget exit polls, watch the internet. Talk about as fresh as you can get with vote results. Then a person could go out and pull up their voter number and keep track of their results staying the same as could the party office.

If it changes, they should be able to lodge a complaint online and follow up in person afterward with their party office to initiate a voter complaint.

Independents could pick a party they trust to hold their independent verify receipt or mail it to themselves from the precinct and keep it sealed - like copyright by mail process.

STUFFING Paper Ballots?

"Some are hailed as much-needed upgrades that will assure everyone of a vote with no fraud; others are alarming civil libertarians who fear new restrictions could disenfranchise the poor and others at society's margins."

Golly, I wonder which the GOP will ram up our... I mean through.

smacks of the right-wing crack down.

endorsed...or should I say, republican demanded.

You don't hear much protest from republicans about vote tabulation programming done in secret by republican-owned companies, do you?

:kick::kick::kick:

:applause:

MelissaB Thu May-26-05 09:31 PM
VIDEO: America's Illegitimate Election 2004
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3737239#3737520

peace and solidarity
hiley