The most important issue facing Americans: our vote being counted

Mods: Please let this post remain in General. Its an issue for everyone to address.




There are so many issues threatening our livelihoods and our lives in general as American citizens.

It's easy these days to become overwhelmed and distracted.

Of course that's what the Neocons want you and I to do.

There is one primary issue facing us.

It is the one in which every other issue trails in importance.

Our vote is our voice. If it doesn't count, then neither do we.

Its that simple.

Its up to us to educate ourselves as much as we can on electronic voting, state voting procedures, the Voting Rights Act, and become an expert on our state wide political process, so we educate our neighbors, friends and family, and we can take our elections back.


If our vote doesnt matter then how can we vote in good leaders and citizens that will do the right things.

If our vote doesnt count, then do you think the power abusers in Washington and elsewhere will remotely listen to citizens?

If we don't fix the voting, we lose our rights on essentially everything.

That is why we must shelve the other issues for now (as much as we can) and put all our energy into this issues.

Join an Election Reform meetup group, or better yet, start your own. They are growing rapidly nationwide.

Thanks everyone. Here's some information to send to friends and family.

20 Amazing Facts about Voting in The USA


1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.


http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Lan ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold


2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.


http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04.htm

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804La ...


3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.


http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/private_company.h...

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Lan ...


4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sun ...

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1647886


5. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ES&S. He became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.


http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/colum ...

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/031004Fitr ...


6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long-connected with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.


http://www.blackboxvoting.com/modules.p ...

http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx

http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/000896.php


7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush's
vice-presidential candidates.


http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_28/b3689130.htm

http://theindependent.com/stories/052700/new_hagel27.ht...


8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes.


http://www.essvote.com/HTML/about/about.html

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Land ...


9. Diebold's new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters.


http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm

http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/041020evote ...


10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.


http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm

http://www.diebold.com/solutions/default.htm


11. Diebold is based in Ohio.


http://www.diebold.com/aboutus/ataglance/default.htm


12. Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as senior managers and developers to help write the central compiler computer code that counted 50% of the votes in 30 states.


http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,61640,00.html

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/301469.shtml


13. Jeff Dean, ">Diebold's Senior Vice-President and senior programmer on Diebold's central compiler code, was convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree.


http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf


14. Diebold Senior Vice-President Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a "high degree of sophistication" to evade detection over a period of 2 years.


http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf


15. None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio.


http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/2638.html

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/26/loc_elexoh....

(See the movie here
<http://blackboxvoting.org/baxter/baxterVPR.mov > .)


http://wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,63298,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4874190


17. 30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sund ...


18. All -- not some -- but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.


http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html

http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermat ...

http://www.rise4news.net/extravotes.html

http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modloa ...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00227.htm


19. The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the President's brother.


http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/ne ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articl ...


20. Serious voting anomalies in Florida -- again always favoring Bush -- have been mathematically demonstrated and experts are recommending further investigation.


http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeR ....

http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/governm ....

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/tens_of_thousands...

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1106-30.htm

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/110904.html

http://uscountvotes.org /

I didn't know the Diebold/ES&S connection. Scary stuff...

Its a good list to email family/friends/whoever.

I'm working with an election reform group and we are going to take this list and a voter reform information to the streets here in California. Im sure other states will be following suit.

Maybe you can get something going in good ole Massachusetts.

;-)

I agree that no matter how we "reframe" the debate, or no matter how much we "re-energize our grassroots base," it's not going to matter if we don't confront the Republican's secret weapon, stealing the vote.

They will do anything to win....people say it, but they don't seem to get that it's happening, and will continue to happen.

Can you add anything to our discussion here?:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x336599

BTW, thanks for all you've done to keep this issue moving forward and getting others interested.

You've been instrumental in keeping us informed.

include friends, neighbors, family to become more informed and educated on the issue?

BE OUR NUMBER ONE CONCERN. AS LONG AS THE REPUBLICANS CONTROL THE VOTE THEY WILL CONTROL YOU YOUR CHILDREN AND THE COUNTRY...NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT!!!

Had the elections in 2002 and 2004 been fair and honest, Dems would control the Senate, and be close to even in the House.

And, if the 2000 election had been fair and honest, b**h would be in Crawford, wrestling with his pigs.

And Gore would have won his second term as President in 2004.

And the pukes are loving it! Notice they want NO mention of good, sound election reform?

Where is your local Democratic party, and or Republican party on this issue?

It is a bi partisan issue.

Any Republicans voting for McCain or someone else better think about that and the fairness of private companies having essential control over our votes.

Many Republicans think that Democrats stuff the ballot box.

They have the same problem and we are all in the same boat.

If someone is voting for John McCain and/or another Republican candidate? If someone has control of the ballot data who happens to support George Bush, then what are the chances of their nominee being nominated other than none? The person who has the most power, money and privilege can buy his way into a position, the choice wont be made by the voters!!

Yes, it goes BOTH ways. It goes any WHICH way. In the end has little to do with either party as much as it has to do with abuse of money, power and privilege.

If it's not fixed, '06 won't matter, '08 won't matter - the reason we're so screwed right now is because of election fraud. It HAS to be fixed. Thanks for posting.

:kick:

1. http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Peter_King ("It's all over but the counting, and we'll take care of the counting"

2. http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Walden_O%27Dell

3. http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/John_Ellis

4. Here is a portion of the testimony of Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the Washington Bureau of the NAACP, during his appearance before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on May 9, 2001:

"Before I discuss what the NAACP feels needs to happen to correct the
myriad of problems that faces our nation’s electoral process today, let me begin by recounting some of the problems that the NAACP has identified as having occurred on and around November 7, 2000.
The weekend prior to the election, the NAACP began receiving calls
alerting us to the fact that a person or persons were making electronic phone calls into predominately black households, claiming to represent the NAACP, in support of Republican candidate George W. Bush. These calls were apparently taking place in the key
battleground states of Michigan and Florida. Specifically, the caller
was identifying him- or herself as a representative of the NAACP, saying that the organization endorsed and supported the Republican candidate for President, and urged the recipient of the call to go to the polls on Tuesday and to vote accordingly. In response to the blatantly false and extremely illegal calls, the NAACP moved quickly
to make sure that the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the
Attorneys General of each state was notified. Unable to secure a cease and desist order we used public service time on local radio stations over the next 48 hours to alert people of the false
nature of the calls. "

to read this information and realize we are dealing with so many of the same issues of discrimination most of us had hoped we had already moved passed.

It looks like its still alive and well. It is just harder to spot in many cases.

I couldn't agree with you more. It really saddens me that in 2005, legitimate voters are being kept away from the polls, and that we don't have the confidence that our vote has truly been counted the way we intended it to.

It grieves the spirit.

Also, here's another piece of info to add to your ammunition.

During the 2004 campaign season, Michigan State Rep. John Pappageorge (R-Troy)was quoted in the Detroit Free Press as saying "“If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election.” Now mind you, African-Americans make up 83% of the population in Detroit.

Would you have a link to that statement?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6242175/

And the really pathetic thing is how he tried to justify his comment. He claims what he meant was changing voter preferences....meaning getting traditional democratic voters to come to the Republican side. Oh yea, sure, and I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell him.

Here are some other links you might be interested in:

http://www.blackstate.com/voteforkerry.html

http://www.childrensdefense.org/childwatch/041021.aspx

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=16367

Great information Journalist.

Will add to my file.

I'm more than happy to supply you with the info.

Voting rights is one of THE hot button issues for me.

Let us suppose that a President does win and the other side claims the election was fraudulent, even though it was not. That delegitimatizes a valid Presidency. It could just as easily happen to us sometimes as it has happened to W now.

Completely transparent elections help the losing party too. They won't spend time crying about a stolen election. Instead they will face the fact of a loss and start thinking about what to do about it.

Technically, it shouldn't be a partisan issue. It it just common sense values that there must be free and fair elections.

However, our reality is that the past 2 presidential elections (involving the same Republican nominee) have been stolen; and questionable at best.

The past two elections have been decided by a single state, with partisan Republican Secretaries of State overseeing the election.

In 2000, the Supreme Court chose Bush; in 2004, the Republican-controlled Congress had to "legitimize" him when a debate was forced on the validity of the Ohio electors.

So our system is broken. People are not assured that their vote counts. And that's a problem that needs to be fixed ASAP.

This truly is the ONLY issue that counts today.....because ALL of the other issues we are facing can be corrected by this ONE issue:

If we can truly elect our representatives, the Dems will once again have a chance to take the lead in public offices, from the lowest to the highest. If we DON'T have fair elections, the direction this country is going in now in terms of

the environment
education
war
race/minority/women's issues
corporate corruption
loss of constitutional rights
social security

will ALL keep getting worse. We've seen what crooked elections have done for the benefit of the neocons. The vast majority of people in this country ARE NOT willingly putting these maniacs in office. There is probably a 25-30% group of idiots who truly ARE in favor of the neocon agenda, and maybe another 15 percent who go along due to media propaganda. The rest of us don't fall for it.

We can even get the MEDIA straightened out, if we get fair elections, because we can elect people who will finally reel in the propaganda problems. But remember, the media IS the cornerstone of the republican base....the media ownership/power IS republican, and they are corporations who support, and sometimes dictate, the republican agenda.

This is THE issue that can save our Democracy, and all of its ills.

:kick::kick::kick:

Please, if you will send on to friends and family***

Needless to say, I agree wholeheartedly.

:thumbsup:

It is based on 18th century technology with 19th & 20th century technology grafted on.

My suggestions:

1. Universal registration. We seem to be drifting toward a national ID card anyway so let that also be your voter registration. Important voter information would be on the card.

2. Elections would be a two week long period.

3. You could go to any voting site in the USA to vote. Your ID would be confirmed by biometrics data on the card. Voting would be BOTH electronic and paper back up. After you record your vote, it would show a marked paper ballot, you would then inspect and approve or reject. Upon approval it would be given to you to fold and put in a mail box that would be beside the machine. Mail would be collected daily.

I have described it in general details. Obviously there would need to be some fine tuning.

Thanks.

Assuming the system in the above post is implimented:

No results released until the LAST polling place in the USA closes.

Although there would be an immediate electronic tabulation, only the final paper tabulation would be valid. I don't mind a machine count if the paper is saved for manual count if it needed. Some districts would be manually counted anyway, randomly selected, as a spot check.

This could also be used for local elections, although for those you would have to go to the local district, county, city, whatever to vote. Periods would be longer, but not the full two weeks. Three days minimum.

NOTE: No system is perfect, and when you are counting over a hundred million ballots, there will be some errors. But this should hold the errors down to a few and those should be random.

And a worthy bookmark, thank you.

the fight going here in bush country.

and the privatization of everyone's vote.

She "gets it".

Rethugs like it that way.