Alert! - Defend Recount, Support Voter Bill of Rights

Alert! - Defend Recount, Support Voter Bill of Rights

Please Read, Act, and Circulate
FROM: No Stolen Elections! www.Nov3.US

"We have been following developments very closely
and are deeply disturbed by the extensive and credible
reports of fraud in the election. We call for a full
review of the conduct of the election and the tallying
of election results . . . . We cannot accept this
result as legitimate because it does not meet
international standards and because there has not been
an investigation of the numerous and credible reports
of fraud and abuse." U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell, 11/23/2004.

Report: OBSTACLES TO DEMOCRACY:
www.Nov3.US/obstacles
Action: VOTER BILL OF RIGHTS:
www.Nov3.US/billofrights
Support: OHIO RECOUNT: www.VoteCobb.org

Dear Sisters & Brothers,

Success. Your efforts spurred fourteen members of
Congress, led by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, to
request a Goverment Accountability Office (GAO)
investigation of the 2004 presidential election.
Earlier this week, the GAO announced that it will
investigate "the security and accuracy of voting
technologies, distribution and allocation of voting
machines and counting of provisional ballots."

More success. Thanks to the contributions of
thousands of Americans, and the leadership of the
Green and Libertarian presidential nominees, David
Cobb and Michael Badnarik, the pivotal state of Ohio
will begin an election recount in the next several
weeks.

We hope these successes are only wetting your
appetite for more democracy. As tens of thousands
have taken to the streets of the Ukraine, the great
powers of the East and West have intervened to back
their candidates. Secretary of State Powell has
demanded an investigation of that election. We know
that it is not lost on any of you that here in the
United States, there are no contesting outside powers,
but only the two internal forces of popular democracy
and the political establishment. It is up to us.

As participants in the movement for democracy,
your work continues to be vital. We urge you to
prepare for the major events of the coming weeks.
Please go to our newly updated website at www.Nov3.US,
note the changes we are making there, and read the
newly released report, "Obstacles to Democracy" at
www.Nov3.US/obstacles. And please act now to demand
election reform, and to support the Ohio recount:

1. VOTER BILL OF RIGHTS - Please see the new 11-point
"Voter Bill of Rights" at www.Nov3.US/billofrights.
Initially drafted in the aftermath of the stolen
election of 2000, we have updated and improved the
Voter Bill of Rights in response to the failures of of
the 2004 election. We ask you to circulate this
important document. We also encourage you to approach
your members of Congress to ask them to sign on to the
Voter Bill of Rights. Because Monday, December 13th,
is the day on which the members of the Electoral
College will meet in the capitals of every state, we
suggest that you organize delegations to visit
congressional offices on that day.

2. SUPPORT THE RECOUNT - The Ohio recount is moving
ahead, fueled by volunteer power, money, media
coverage, and determination. Determination is not in
short supply, and sufficient funds have been raised to
cover the initial costs of the recount, but more
volunteers, money, and above all, media coverage, are
needed. To contribute time and/or money, please visit
http://www.votecobb.org/.

Media coverage is also key. You may have read
the headlines declaring "Judge denies request for Ohio
recount." You probably read further, and discovered
that in fact the judge only denied the request for a
timely start to the recount, and that the recount
itself is still scheduled for early next month. It's
essential that our fellow Americans learn that an Ohio
recount is in the works, and that the presidential
election is far from over. It's vital that public
attention is focused on Ohio as the recount brings to
light the systemic flaws which disenfranchised
thousands of Ohioans, and potentially millions of
Americans.

You can help shine more light on the Ohio
recount by keeping the heat on the media to report it.
Write more letters to the editor. Call and email
newspaper, cable, web, radio, and tv outlets. Tell
them that Ohio, not the Ukraine, is THE story.

3. DEFEND THE OHIO RECOUNT - Bush 2004 Ohio chairman,
and erstwhile Ohio Secretary of State, Kenneth
Blackwell, has already demonstrated some resistance to
conducting a full, timely, and accurate recount of the
Ohio election. Other Ohio election officials have
denounced the initiation of the recount process as
"insulting" and "frivolous." Insulting? As of now,
only they can know. Frivolous? With voting rights
and 21 electoral votes in the balance, hardly.

The current recount timeline looks something
like this: December 6th is the deadline for Ohio
Secretary of State Blackwell to complete certification
of the Ohio vote. On the next day, December 7th, the
"winning" ticket must certify its slate of electors.
On December 13th, the members of the Electoral College
will meet in the capitals of every state to cast their
votes. On January 7th, 2005, Congress must decide
whether to ratify the decision of the Electoral
College.

Look at those dates, and consider how long a
full recount is likely to take: Five to ten days by
most estimates. You are right to be concerned. And
you're not alone. In the course of the next two weeks
we expect thousands of Ohioans to gather in churches,
campuses, and at their state capitol to rally to the
defense of their recount. We'll let you know where
and when. And we may ask you to organize a protest in
your own community.


Thank you.
www.Nov3.US
NO STOLEN ELECTIONS!

"This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a
physical one, and it may be both moral and physical,
but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing
without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find
out just what any people will quietly submit to and
you have found out the exact measure of injustice and
wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will
continue till they are resisted with either words or
blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are
prescribed by the endurance of those whom they
oppress." ~ Frederick Douglass, 1857

We are not free people like the people in the former USSR!