Imagine a voting process like this:

[NoBushSpokenHere]

You walk into a private room to vote where there is one person sitting at a table. You notice the ballots are all disheveled in several piles strewn all over the table. Some ballots appear to have fallen off the table because they are teetering on the side of the trash can. You look into it and notice more inside the trash can. The person in the room then spits into the trash can on top of the ballots. You ask what is going on? They laugh.

This person is a very staunch Republican with a history of donating money to the Republican President-Elect. You fill out a ballot visible to this Republican. This person takes your ballot and carelessly tosses into the same trash can.

You protest your votes being thrown away. This person said, all ballots are counted, and I am the one that will do the counting. You ask to observe the counting. They explain no, that their company has been hired by the government to count and they intend to do that in private. You say, “That isn’t right!” They explain “We did not have to file their counting methods with you and would count the ballots however they damn well please!”

You leave and explain to the legislature and media the practices of this company. You explain to your Democrat friends, who remark, “Oh, I am sure they are legitimately counting, or else we would hear it on the news.” You persist and try to persuade them to stand with you to stop this practice. They tell you “Preparing for the next election is more important than the counting.” You turn to your representatives, they tell you "Everything is okay, that they see no evidence of fraud," or just outright ignore your pleas.

Well folks, this is frighteningly similar to the new voting process in many of your states. In many states that are thought to be red. In many states that may not be blue again in the foreseeable future. The computer companies that are being purchased today for many of your counties are owned by a staunch Republican who donated funds to George W. Bush and who promised to deliver Ohio to Bush in 2004. They have refused to file their source code (counting method) for review by the general public.

Groups have been asking their representatives to mandate the computer companies print two paper receipts, one that the voter examines for accuracy which is placed into a ballot box to be recounted if a candidate or voters request, and one receipt for the voter to walk out of the polls with. Unfortunately, the groups asking for this have not gained much ground. Why? Maybe it is because some people still believe in the process, or maybe it is because too many members of our congress has been “selected” instead of “elected”. So, the fair election activists turn to members of their party to plead for help with their cause. They are told, “It is more important to get back into office where we can fix the system”

I ask you to think about this – what comes first the chicken or the egg? If elections are hijacked there will be no hope of gaining ground in Washington, much less on the state level. Soon, the local level will become suspect. Let’s all band together to take back our country by forcing this issue onto the media and forcing the issue onto our representatives. The time is now. We cannot afford for another election to occur without reform!

What can you do?

1. Attend your board of elections meetings. Ask what system they are adopting to be HAVA compliant?
2. Call or email the media. Demand they explain the truth about these machines to the public.
3. Call, email or write your representatives.
4. Focus your energies to obtaining a fair voting system.
5. Report for duty by visiting the Election Reform forum here at the DU and inquiring, how you can help.
6. Take part in voter’s rights marches and fair election rallies.
7. Ask your friends and relatives to help.
8. Vow to take a stand on this.

[jayctravis]

1. Two paper receipts is a good idea.

Although instead of walking out with it, they should go to two different independent firms. The vote totals from the computer and both firms need to match with within a reasonable margin of error, otherwise automatic recounts are triggered.

My idea from last year was that when you get your ballot, you are also given a card which has a random serial number printed on it and a sticker with that same serial number with a barcode. You cast your ballot and affix the sticker, retaining the card with the serial number. When the machine counts the ballot it reads the barcode and the data is then fed into a database which produces a searchable website which the voter can then browse later to verify how the computer read the ballot. Nobody knows how you voted unless they know the serial number that got assigned to you (essentially pulled from a fishbowl) in that election. All the votes would be visible and countable/verifiable to anyone with a serial code from that election. They could even scan the ballots so you could physically see them.

[hootinholler]

4. Please no reciepts without a paper ballot. n/t

[SoCalDem]

2. "Easy-Vote" system

Nationally held offices would be voted on in EVEN years.. The MOST that anyone would have to vote for would be in presidential years..other than that,people would only have TWO choices..congress & maybe senate

a 5 x 7 notecard stock ballot would be enough.. a box directly in front of the name of the candidate, a sharpie pen, and a ballot box would be all that was necessary..

Thes would be easy to count, store, and re-count if necessary..

At the end of the night, volunteers would count the ballots..with cameras running, and the tallies saved on video.. the totals could be called into a central area, and eventually, a grand total could be arrived at.,.

In "odd" years, the states could use whatever they wanted...to cast and count their state/local races..

[NoBushSpokenHere]

3. Sounds like a good system except should be used in ALL elections n/t

[BeFree]

5. And if we all did that

There would be no * spoken here.. it'd be history, the kind of history that future Americans would look at and say: How the Hell did that happen?

The answer, of course, would be... * Stole the elections!