Here's your chance to protest, Wisconsin!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

TUESDAY, High Noon November 30, in Madison
17 West Main St. (square)

Protest against the voter list contract with Accenture!!

Saudi owned (partially) and compliant with the "help America vote Act" FARCE!!

We Are SCREWED if this goes through!!!

[sybylla]

1. Screwed out of $12mil, yes, screwed screwed out of jobs, yes, but

screwed as voters, I'm not so sure

Please, go protest. I'd be there myself if I could. There are loads of reasons this shouldn't go through, many of them nicely enumerated by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign in the following e-mail I received:

A rally protesting the privatization of Wisconsin's voter registration system is scheduled for Tuesday, November 30 at noon outside the State Elections Board office on the Capitol Square. The Elections Board is housed in the Risser Justice Building at 17 West Main Street.

The state has entered into a multi-million contract with Accenture, a global management consulting and outsourcing firm, to help create Wisconsin's first statewide list of registered voters. The system to be developed under the contract also would be used in making the final tabulation of votes on election day.

To say Accenture's past is checkered is a vast understatement. The firm was involved in the notorious purge of supposed felons and dead people from Florida voting lists before the 2000 elections. Accenture was known as Andersen Consulting before the Arthur Andersen division's association with the Enron accounting scandal forced a name change.

Accenture's parent company is headquartered in Bermuda to avoid paying taxes in the United States. The company recently came under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the federal law banning bribery of foreign officials.

To call for the cancellation of the Accenture contract, you can contact the state Elections Board by e-mail at [e-mail] or by calling 608-266-8005.
<snip>

But I hardly see cause for the Chicken Little response. We have same day voter registration and that will not change due to HAVA. Accenture can purge away. All you will need to vote on election day, regardless of what your registration looks like is a photo ID and verification of address. We will not be in the same pickle as Florida voters regardless of Accenture's bad acts.

Giving accenture the contract is stupid in so many ways. But all out panic seems a bit unnecessary in my book.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

2. "Chicken Little response"?

Quite frankly, I see HAVA itself as something to panic over. here we are being bribed by the US gov't to comply with a system that infringes on our privacy rights, and through Accenture software/equipment that has been shown (in Florida) to be as malleable and corruptible as the electronic voting machines. Speaking of voting machines, the ES&S and Sequoia voting equipment deal was as secretive and shady as the Accenture deal. Those were shuffled through the back door while we were distracted, right after 9/11. There is something very odd about both these deals IMO. And try to find information on the brands of voting equipment used in Wisconsin, on a precinct level. The Wis. Elections Board does not make this information very accessible. I am rather wary of the WI elections board these days.

[sybylla]

3. I agree, HAVA itself is a problem

and does rate a severe response. But we are not "SCREWED" as voters because of the Accenture deal. At this point, in the state of Wisconsin, we can not be disenfranchized by a corrupt voter registration list. There is a simple work-around.

The Accenture deal is not the end of the world, but it may be the beginning of the end and certainly requires our attention. As I said, by all means protest. I'd be there myself if I didn't live 2.5 hours away with a business to run. Send letters to the SEB and the governor as well as your assembly rep and sen. It is certainly a horrible deal with a company that doesn't deserve our good will.

And I certainly agree, there is too much secrecy at the SEB. But the problem you have finding out what machines are used in the state *may* be due to the fact that they don't have that information at the state level. Purchasing voting machines is a local decision made with local monies. It is entirely possible that the municipalites purchase from a list of approved/certified machines so the SEB may not keep any records of machines used locally or require reporting of the types of machines used. As a solution to the problem, set up a thread here where we can post information about the machines we voted on or recruit volunteers to contact their city and county clerks to obtain that information. It's definitely a worthy project that will help us combat vote fraud now and in the future.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

4. Poor choice of words

I regret using that word (screwed), actually, but was down in the dumps last night, and typed up the post without enough forethought. I agree that the deal might be the beginning of the end, and just feel that we are on a slippery slope in the entire electoral process, which is why I was rather fatalistic about it.
I am glad to hear WI has a system in place to protect citizens from being disenfranchized regardless of the Accenture voting list, and I appreciate your telling me that. But I don't even like the concept of this list, because of the invasion of privacy issue.

[Kashka-Kat]

5. Well, actually, it IS a big deal

Actually it is a big deal if the registrations are screwed up. Sure you can re-register at the polling site on election day, but if you come assuming you're registered and wait in line and then they tell you youre not-- you're not necessarily going to have the stuff on you to prove your residence, and you're not necessarily going to want to go all the way home and hunt down the stuff and then come all the way back and stand in line for 45 minutes all over again.

Maybe a milder form of voter suppression, but suppression nevertheless. And you gotta think in terms of the cumulative effect, in the context of thousands upon thousands of these kinds of incidents occuring nationwide, whether its too few machines or malfunctioning machines in african american neighborhoods, or republican paid "challengers" or whatever--the effect is the same.

Also--I'm thinking in terms of this being Wisconsin, "our" turf. We may not be able to change Florida corruption but we CAN do something to preserve whatever semblance of integrity remains here.

They better stay the hell out of our state, is all I can say!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

6. I hear you

Can you imagine Wisconsinites reaction if this were happening here? We'd have been out in force weeks ago! It is so depressing and frustrating to have NO POWER once again, with the problems in Florida. Well, I'm heading to the Election office in Madison tomorrow to protest. I just hope we have a good crowd. The last protest I was in was inauguration day in 2000. There were only about 150 people. A crowd of 150 marching, all strung out along a sidewalk, just looks like a bunch of shoppers. :eyes:

[sybylla]

7. Agreed - this list is a bad idea

and I understand about being down in the dumps. I came back from vacation and was blasted with bad news from nearly every angle myself. Perhaps that was why I was so adamant not to pile on another problem if it wasn't necessary.

[madison2000]

8. So how many people were there?

I saw the announcement too late to go.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

9. IT WAS GREAT!! Very satisfying.

My estimate was about 200 people, another thought 250 and a third thought about 150. Strong contigency of State employees, good mix of ages, some young students, some old time Madisonians from the VietNam protest era...there was MUCH intensity of feeling among the crowd! It was like finally we had an outlet for all this pent up rage. Dozens of great, handmade signs, couple people wrapped in flags (one with cororate symbols relacing the stars), and one guy carried a voodoo doll of Cowboy dubya. Several people made speeches, a fair amount of yelliong and chanting, then some started calling for Kevin Kennedy (REPUBLICAN Elections Board director since early days of Thompson era) to come outside!

No one came out, so a bunch of women decided to go to him! Cameramen from 2 TV channels followed, and then other people kept streaming in. The office was filled with protestors. Kennedy was conveniently "at a doctor's appointment". One worker started nervously passing out the Election Board's FAQ list about the contract. Protestors countered with short speeches against the panicky, and demanded that we Not start a riot in there! People called back to her, reminding her of our right to speak. I'm really looking forward to seeing the TV news this evening.

This was a great start, and I don't doubt there will have to be more protests, but with the passion today, I am sure each crowd will be bigger and bigger. I am really fired up from it!!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

10. Typing2fast!! Sorry for the errors in last post

I deleted part of this paragraph:
Protestors countered with short speeches against the Accenture contract as well as the ES&S and Sequoia contracts which were done behind our backs as well, back in late 2001 and early 2002. The worker started getting panicky, and demanded that we Not start a riot in there!


:bounce: :kick:

[madison2000]

11. I LOVE MADISON WISCONSIN

where you can count on people to show up in numbers for something like this!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

12. Ya-HOO!!

Florida-type election problems could NEVER happen here! They ought to fly us all down there to help them out, eh?

[madison2000]

13. I think they could happen anywhere, really

but I have more confidence in WI than in a lot of other states.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

14. Well of course they can happen anywhere

but are they happening in Florida? This is the second Presidential election that was basically stolen because of corruptness and lack of effort to rectify anything in Florida. The rest of the country has to live with this monster in the White House because nobody is getting anything done in Florida.

On the other hand, maybe there is more unrest and protest going on there than we are being told about. Channel 27 news just did an extremely biased report on today's protest in Madison, basically downplaying and diminishing the numbers, the passion, the message, the diversity of the crowd,et. They gave no play to the speeches that were being made, and gave erroneous information about the problem Florida had with Accenture.

[madison2000]

15. Channel 27 is what I usually watch

since I moved to Madison from Chicago, but I honestly don't expect much from them. Talking heads that read whatever is handed to them. Reporters who are afraid to offend.

Kerry did take WI but by a slim margin- but if the slim margin had been in favor of Bush, wouldn't we be questioning it? I thought Kerry would take WI by much more.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

16. Yes, Kerry should have won by more alright

We are one of the states that had a greater Bush "win" than predicted by the exit polls, and of course, the margin only varied in the areas that had opti-scan machines! I was hoping to tie this issue into today's Accenture protest, but a lot of people aren't as familiar with some of these issues, like we who are on computers all the time are.

I didn't mean to sound like Madison is the only place that would rise up and make things happen. That sure isnt true. And the way things are going, with apathetic people now, and a silent MSM, who knows if we could make a difference here either... I grew up here though, and remember the protests of the late 60s and early 70s. Just used to be SO radical, I guess it is just wishful thinking on my part that maybe we can make it happen again.

The channel 3 coverage was quite a bit better, by the way. Much more balanced anyway!

[Big Al from WI]

19. Watch Channel 3 instead

The Isthmus newspaper agrees with me that they try the hardest to actually analyze and cut through the spin, especially Colin Benedict, who ripped apart Tim Michels's ads. During election night they actually have a "fair and balanced" panel (no, really!) with their editorial director who is pretty moderate, a WMC guy, and Matt Rothschild. In my opinion this would make a good show to do once a week or once a month, but you can't have everything.

They also seem to have a better sense of humor than either one of the other channels, which is why I never stray from them for long.

[buddysmellgood]

17. Anyone want to go to Columbus, OH for a big rally Saturday, Dec. 4?

I'm trying to line up a coach to take between 35 and 50 people from Madison to Columbus, OH for the recount rally. I think it will cost between $55 and $65 per person for the bus.
Email [e-mail] if you're interested.

We would have to leave at 5:00 a.m. in order to get there at 1:00 p.m. We would leave Columbus at 4:00 and get back to Madison around midnight.

[sybylla]

18. report from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign on the protest

with another call to action.

Protesters rallied today at the State Elections Board office, calling for the cancellation of the state's $13 million outsourcing contract with the multinational management consulting firm Accenture to develop a statewide list of registered voters.

The Elections Board meets tomorrow, Wednesday, December 1 at 9:30 a.m. in the Common Council chambers of Brookfield City Hall at 2000 North Calhoun Road in the Milwaukee suburb.

The deal privatizing Wisconsin's voter registration system offends in numerous ways. It is a raw deal for taxpayers. State information technology specialists contend it should cost no more than $500,000 to develop a statewide voter list. A private consultant specializing in the development of voter lists echoes that contention in a guest column in today's Wisconsin State Journal.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has considerable experience in developing databases, having created the state's only searchable computer database of state campaign contributors, and similarly finds the cost of the Accenture contract outrageously out of line.

Then there is the issue of outsourcing democracy by privatizing such a fundamental part of the election process - voter registration. The voter list contract will inevitably breed suspicion and mistrust among voters, especially since Accenture has a checkered past including involvement in the infamous purge of supposed felons in Florida before the 2000 election.

The Accenture contract, which was drawn up under a cloak of secrecy by the Elections Board, is another clear illustration of how unaccountable to the public this agency has become and why it needs to be restructured. Reforming the Elections Board and Ethics Board is step three in the Democracy Campaign's five-step Power to the Voter program.

For its part, the Doyle administration is gamely defending the voter list contract, and the governor is telling reporters that he doesn't want to insert himself into the growing controversy over the contract for fear of making it "political."

That posture is supremely ironic since the outsourcing of voter registration is the offspring of a political promise the governor made to eliminate 10,000 state jobs, thereby reducing the size of the state workforce to 1986 levels. Fulfilling that campaign promise has prompted the state to outsource government services to private companies, even when the cost of outsourcing is considerably greater for taxpayers.

In August, it was reported that the state was paying a private company whose top executives made big campaign donations to the governor nearly $80 an hour to maintain a road sign inventory that was previously done by a temporary state employee earning just over $11 an hour plus benefits.

<snip>

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
210 North Bassett Street, Suite 215
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: [phone]
Web Site: http://www.wisdc.org