EAH: Election Assessment Hearing PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT

[Kip Humphrey]

Please distribute this to every organization and everyone who may have an interest in election reform issues.
Kip

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June 9, 2005

Contacts:
Kip Humphrey, [e-mail]
Seth Johnson, [e-mail]

For Immediate Release

Attn: Political assignments desk

PRESS RELEASE:

ELECTION ASSESSMENT HEARING ~ JUNE 29TH, HOUSTON, TEXAS
An Evidentiary Hearing of Electoral Process Failures

WHO: A coalition of election stakeholder organizations composed of technical and professional experts, computer engineers and experts, statisticians, researchers, attorneys and journalists who have been investigating and analyzing problems with election processes in the November 2004 elections will gather from around the country for a citizen-initiated Election Assessment Hearing to deliver preliminary testimony of their findings to an independent panel.

WHAT: The goal of this non-partisan event is to bring to light critical election data not previously publicized, but necessary to repair and safeguard our democratic election processes. The Hearing will address critical issues not being covered by the Baker-Carter Commission on Federal Electoral Reform, which will hold its second and final hearing in Houston the following day. Intended as an initial survey offering a more accurate and complete picture of issues observed in our electoral processes, the Election Assessment Hearing seeks to understand the breadth and diversity of concerns, to identify the current quality of election processes, to review and analyze the evidence and to facilitate the sustainable improvement of electoral processes by election administrators, policymakers, advisors, voters and other participants in the production of vote counts.

An initial compilation of prepared statements with supporting documents will be released and distributed the day of the hearing, and will be delivered to the Baker-Carter Commission the next day. In following weeks, a group of information experts, spearheaded by information quality improvement specialist Larry P. English, will survey the testimony and supporting documents, both presented and submitted to the hearing panel, and provide an objective quality assessment that will be distributed to State election officials around the country. Organizers are soliciting submissions from any and all expert sources with information relevant to problems in the election and election systems.

WHY: No comprehensive survey and assessment of 2004 election process failings has yet been presented in a public forum. The Election Assessment Hearing will be the first opportunity for the public to hear preliminary findings in this area. Currently, every State is grappling with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) without the benefit of this vital information, and facing important decisions that may fundamentally affect our election processes. The results of the Election Assessment Hearing, combined with submissions from around the country, will be made available to state election officials to aid them in making more effective and informed decisions.

WHERE: Houston, Texas (location to be announced at a later date)

WHEN: Wednesday, June 29th, 2005, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

SUBMISSIONS: Contact Kip Humphrey at [e-mail]@houston.rr.com

PRESENTERS: To be announced

PANELISTS: To be announced

[GuvWurld]

1. Kicked and Nominated (eom)

[Wilms]

2. kick n/t

[Amaryllis]

3. kick

[Amaryllis]

4. Go Kip! I've been watching this effort. Great work...sending good thoughts

your way.

[Wilms]

5. kick n/t

[stickdog]

6. kick

[mod mom]

7. Kick. nt

[Noneoftheabove]

8. Kick

[Kip Humphrey]

9. EAH Venue has been secured

Venue is The Garden Center at Hermann Park. Across the boulevard fom Rice University, Hermann Park is Houston's Central Park. The Garden Center is a 1920s meeting hall with a rose garden to one side, and an herbal garden to the other. A powered gazebo is also available, perfect for live music Wednesday night. Anyone out there know how to get in touch with Willie Nelson?

The Garden Center
1500 Hermann Drive
Houston, TX 77004

[lyonn]

13. Willie ought to get some attention!

Look how he helped the farmers during Reagan's tweaking of the economy.

Thanks for all the hard work. Maybe we can get an election without too many strange fingers in the election pot.

[Wilms]

10. kick n/t

[tommcintyre]

11. kick n/t

[Fly by night]

12. Kip, just got back from Paper Ballot Lobby Days and election reform ...

... planning conference in DC (glad to be back from out of that heat and humidity) and I can funnel another 8-10 names (a few you may already have) of people I met at this meeting that was sponsored by VoteTrustUSA.org, a new coalition of a half-dozen existing national organizations and attended by over twenty states' grassroots activists, former state officials, federal legislators, Congressional staffers, film crews and the usual quota of "colorful" people.

Also heard a lot of good ideas for election reform and more than a few well-researched and well-presented new analyses of problems with the 2004 election. New stories and reports (for me) from upstate New York, Illinois, several cities in Florida, a very compelling and election-influencing story out of San Antonio and more. New cost comparison studies from several locations. New analyses of undervotes out of Colorado, Maryland, Pennsylvania and other places, with numbers of undervotes that will rearrange your perspective about the magnitude of the 2004 "flaws" that have been documented and which deserve identification, repair and remediation as well as election justice-related remedies for the people who allowed these "flaws" to happen, or made them happen.

One idea now (and then to bed): I am convinced that you need one or more people to discuss what we know now about the levels of out-and-out corruption in this rush to DRE the country, as well as the lavish funding by voting machine companies on the organizations of relevant state officials, the intensive lobbying and largess-distribution that we know about already that has gone on throughout the country, the job-switching and other conflicts of interest that has happened everywhere, the levels of resistance to meaningful reform that we are encountering throughout this country by public officials whose jobs should be to protect and insure our votes.

The Houston "stand for democracy" -- your day-early wake-up call to the baker-Carter commission and the assembled media covering that event -- needs to speak openly about why these corruptible voting systems have been allowed to proliferate at the level they already have, much less give testimony on how much non-verifiable voting systems are being shoved down our throats in way too many states at this very moment. Our side needs to put some of the "root causes" info out in front of the public and the cozy relationship between vendors and our local, state and national officials needs the spotlight to be shined brightly on that root cause.

This would also be an evidence-based presentation, one that focuses on the corrupt roots that have been documented to lie just below the surface in too many states as decisions about protecting our votes and saving our democracy are being made. Once again, I sure hope you have someone who will speak authoritatively about these issues. If not, I can certainly recommend several, based on the DC meeting.

Keep at it, Kip. And the rest of your team. Kick ass and take names -- and invite the press to be there in droves. They have NO EXCUSE because they will be there already for the b-C show. So keep at them and get them there. I imagine your meaningful media blaster will go out this week, when you reveal the names of some of the presenters. Looking forward to hearing any of the names you have lined up for sure.

(Come on, Kip, just a little taste -- that's all we want. Who's going to be there?)

[Peace Patriot]

14. Boy, oh, boy, is this ever the truth! --and may be the heart of our...

...problem with many of our leaders in the Democratic Party estabishment...

It bears repeating:

"One idea now (and then to bed): I am convinced that you need one or more people to discuss what we know now about the levels of out-and-out corruption in this rush to DRE the country, as well as the lavish funding by voting machine companies on the organizations of relevant state officials, the intensive lobbying and largess-distribution that we know about already that has gone on throughout the country, the job-switching and other conflicts of interest that has happened everywhere, the levels of resistance to meaningful reform that we are encountering throughout this country by public officials whose jobs should be to protect and insure our votes.

"The Houston "stand for democracy" -- your day-early wake-up call to the baker-Carter commission and the assembled media covering that event -- needs to speak openly about why these corruptible voting systems have been allowed to proliferate at the level they already have, much less give testimony on how much non-verifiable voting systems are being shoved down our throats in way too many states at this very moment. Our side needs to put some of the "root causes" info out in front of the public and the cozy relationship between vendors and our local, state and national officials needs the spotlight to be shined brightly on that root cause. " --Fly by night

Hear, hear!!!

[Kip Humphrey]

16. I think you will get your wish

I also think there will be some new information - enough for several headlines - coming out of the EAH.

(How's that for a teaser?)

[Peace Patriot]

15. Many thanks for this post--and for all your work, Kip!

"THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING!!!"

[emlev]

17. The world, yes, the country, not so much (yet)

[Melissa G]

18. So are you inviting DUers to attend? Are there car pools being set up

In the Texas, Ark and La areas?

[Peace Patriot]

19. Kip, see the new DU thread on the revolt against Diebold in California!

Fabulous meeting of the CA Voting Systems and Procedures Panel (VSPP) on June 16--hundreds of activists attended and took no crap from these Bushite "pod people" who are trying to engineer a Bush Cartel takeover of California via Diebold and ES&S. See

"Revolt Against Diebold in Calif.! Wow! Action thread re June 30"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x378741

The public comment period on Diebold and ES&S DREs for California was extended to June 30--the very day of the Carter-Baker hearing--and a day after ours--in Houston. We need to coordinate this, with a petition circulated at our Houston hearing, or a group written letter to the CA Sec of State, or some kind of attention on the California situation.

We have got to stop this Diebold/ES&S takeover of California NOW! --and put max spotlight on it, and max public pressure!

Can you put me in contact with Californians going to Houston?

[Kip Humphrey]

20. CA is still THE Battleground State! But...

sorry to say, no one from CA submitted to present in Houston. I know they've ben really busy. If you have any contacts to pursue to testify on conditions in CA, get on the horn and enroll them pronto! I will FEDex a CD of submissions with supporting docs to the CA SoS to arrive before June 30th. A DU email blitz would be useful that last week too.

If anyone hasn't figured it out yet, should the RNC gain control of CA's election system, we will be fighting to regain our Democracy for a generation.