Author: AliceDem

cross posted from GOTV

SB 840, requiring voter-verified audit trails, will come before the House Science and Technology Committee on Monday. Fellow Virginians, please see if your member is on this committee.
If you have not already contacted your delegate in support of SB 840, please do so. The bill that came out of the House of Delegates was stripped of the recount and audit provisions, so we need to pass SB 840.

If you do not live in Virginia, but know someone who does, please forward this link to them.

Promoted by Steven D.

cross posted in Daily Kos,  MyDD, and My Left Wing

Here in Virginia the most determined opposition to paper ballots is coming from the registrars who bought DRE voting machines. Legislators usually defer to registrars because in general they are very knowledgeable about the mechanics of holding elections. In general they are very nice people who care deeply about free and fair elections. The problem that, having bought these machines, they are deeply vested in their decision. They are putting tremendous pressure on legislators and only a massive demonstration of support by constituents will be sufficient to counter their pressure.

I am informed that the version of the voter-verfied voting bill, HB 2707, that passed the House P&E committee was stripped of all of its audit and recount provisions. Audits are an absolutely critical component of this legislation. From the bill summary:

Post-election audits during canvasses & recounts: Audits are a critical step in ensuring the integrity of elections. The bill requires post-election random audits during canvasses of two or five percent of machines based upon population. Machines are audited by comparing a hand count of the paper ballots with the machine totals to check the machine accuracy. In recounts, an additional three percent of machines would be audited. If significant discrepancies are detected, the paper ballots become the ballots of record.

In 2002, post-election audits detected a software error in Wayne County, NC that changed the result of the election. Because Wayne County used optical scan tabulators, the error was detected & remedied. Now North Carolina requires paper trails & audits for all elections.

It is especially important that constituents of Del. Rapp contact her in support of the audit provisions. If you do not live in her district, do not contact her. Contact your delegate and ask them to support voter-verified voting with audit trials. Short, courteous letters are the most effective.

If you do not live in Virginia, please find out what is happening in your state.

Somewhere in the US there will be a recount. Probably more than one. Here are somethings to keep in mind:
When you go to vote be observant. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but if you see anything untoward, tell the election judge.

If the machine does not seem to register your vote please consult with the election officer before you press the vote button.

If you see anything untoward or experience difficulty with the voting machines please report it your local board of elections. Please contact the campaigns and local Democratic committee via email and repeat what you told the Board of Electitons and their response. This is extremely helpful to lawyers in recount situations.

If there is a recount, and you have some funds, please contribute to that candidate’s recount fight. You need execellent lawyers to prevail in a recount situation.

If there is a recount in your jurisdiction, please volunteer as a witness or whatever that candidate requires.

When Corazon Aquino’s husband was murdered she might have reasonably concluded that the thugs were in charge and nothing could be done. Instead she perservered and overthrew a dictator. There is a lesson there. Consistent non-violent political pressure wins.

Democracy lives.

cross posted from GOTV blog

Is it too much to ask that the members of WETA’s Board of Trustees adhere to some minimal moral standards? Is it too much to ask that they conform to the moral values of Greater Washington?
Richard Carlson, member of the Board of Trustees, serves as an advisor to the Libby defense fund. No one disputes Libby’s constitutional right to a vigorous defense (although Libby didn’t seem to have any problem denying Gitmo detainees the same right). But no decent person can pretend that Libby’s actions are acceptable. There are many things reasonable Americans can disagree about; the necessity of protecting state secrets is not one of them. Libby blew and intelligence operation and lied about it under oath in an attempt to conceal his crime. For Carlson to serve on Libby’s defense fund is an insult to our community’s basic moral values.

I don’t see how WETA can come before our community and ask for money, when a man like Carlson will have say on how our money will be spent. It is time, it is past time, for Carlson to resign. I hope readers will join me in contacting WETA and tell them Carlson must go.

(Cross posted from GOTV)