Jan 3-6 The Election Ctr to Lobby DC

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

From the Election Center Website "Events"

The anti paper lobbying crew is on its way to DC to influence
your lawmakers.
(If you don't know what a snake "The Election Center" crowd is,
see http://www.ncvoter.net/ElectionCenter.html)

We have booked rooms for the nights of January 3- 6, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H St,
N.W., Washington, DC, for the next meeting of those elections and registration administrators who wish to be involved on a national level for Congressional liaison and activity with the Federal agencies affecting voter registration and elections at the local level.

January 3 (Wednesday) is a travel day with the meeting beginning at 9
a.m.. Thursday, January 4 and continuing through 5 p.m. Friday, January 5.
As we have done in the past, if necessary, we will continue the meetings
on Saturday, January 6.

Preliminary Agenda

JEOLC Meeting

January 4 & 5, 2007

Grand Hyatt, 1000 H Street, NW Washington, D.C.

Potential Amendments to the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and additional legislation

Meetings begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 5 pm both on Thursday and Friday.

Congressional Staff of both the Senate Rules Committee and House Administration are invited

I. Voter Registration Issues

Implementation Issues with VR mandates

ID requirements of VR by Mail

Materials and translators for language minorities

Problems with VR & statewide VR databases

Discovered Problems

Driver’s License or last four digits of Social Security Number

Use of Provisional Voting and application for VR

Statewide Voter Registration Database

Continuing Issues and Interpretations

Matching other state databases including DMV and social services

Registration of Military and Overseas voters

Longer registration: issues and concerns

Changes on dates allowed to register

Disability requirements for VR and voter information

Making VR sites accessible

Election Day Registration – The push for change

II. Election Administration Issues

VR and elections administration – state and local issues and concerns

Voter ID – When is it appropriate? When does it discourage the voter? Administrative Issues.

Voting Accessibility

Voting for blind and disabled, what was successful and what was lacking

Making polling places accessible

Voting Equipment: Did elections serve the disabled?

Telephone Voting

Military and Overseas Issues

Acceptance of Applications including electronic formats

Distribution of ballots; continuing issues

Provisional Voting

Continuing Issues: Overuse? Time for checking to verify – states with too little time to qualify
the ballots

How and when to count Provisional Votes: old precinct, new precinct, count countywide?

Election Day Registration – How it affects election administration

Voting Systems

New Election Assistance Commission Standards

Management Practices Guidelines – Development and Implementation

Voter Verified Paper – Is national law required or eminent?

Language Minority Issues and Problems – Translators and Instructions

Voter Education Issues – Reading and literacy problems

III. Other issues ...

http://www.electioncenter.org/events/JEOLC%20Meeting%201-%202007.pdf

[Contrite]

1. Who are these people? n/t

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. shills for voting machine companies

The Election Center Wants To "Improve" Democracy -
And The Profit Margins Of Their Corporate Sponsors...


"The Center’s members also include suppliers of election products
and services, including voting systems, voter registration software,
voting booths, ballots, election supplies, etc. Members are able to
visit with the providers of those goods and services at the national
conference where members can learn what is available in the latest
technology and election products."

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=741&Itemid=26

They educate and inform our election officials and congress,
while accepting large donations from the voting machine company.

They help create election reform that creates a market
for DREs and electronic poll books.

The EC is a non profit that was sitting on nearly a million bucks
at end of their last reported year.

Large donations from vendors.

[Contrite]

3. Why do they get to speak to congress

and real election reform activist groups do not?

"Congressional Staff of both the Senate Rules Committee and House Administration are invited."

How about other election experts?

Who heads the Rules Committee? Louise Slaughter. Why not write her and ask why the Rules Committee cannot ask other experts to consult?

This information is from Louise's own website (which also stated that she was in favor of "modernizing" election machinery):

Signed on as original cosponsor of the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act, which would require states to adopt uniform and non-discriminatory statewide standards for election machinery. It would end the use of outdated punch-card balloting and protect voters from being disenfranchised by faulty machinery. The Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act would provide an "early bird" program for states that wish to start election reform early enough for the 2002 elections.

Cosponsored the Federal Elections Review Commission Act, which creates a non-partisan commission of legal, electoral, and historical experts to analyze a broad range of reform proposals and make recommendations to Congress. The Commission would study the Electoral College, voter registration, polling place operations, voting technology, absentee balloting, and rules for debates, primaries, and various other aspects of the political process.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

4. NY Time r/e Election Ctr - Anti Paper - Vendor Donations

The Election Center is the Fox in the Hen House

Sept 24, 2005 New York Times

As doubts have grown about the reliability of electronic voting, some of its loudest defenders have been state and local election officials. Many of those same officials have financial ties to voting machine companies. While they may sincerely think that electronic voting machines are so trustworthy that there is no need for a paper record of votes, their views have to be regarded with suspicion until their conflicts are addressed....

....What election officials do not mention, however, are the close ties they have to the voting machine industry. A disturbing number end up working for voting machine companies. When Bill Jones left office as California's secretary of state in 2003, he quickly became a consultant to Sequoia Voting Systems. His assistant secretary of state took a full-time job there. Former secretaries of state from Florida and Georgia have signed on as lobbyists for Election Systems and Software and Diebold Election Systems. The list goes on.

Even while in office, many election officials are happy to accept voting machine companies' largess. The Election Center takes money from Diebold and other machine companies, though it will not say how much. At the center's national conference last month, the companies underwrote meals and a dinner cruise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/opinion/12sun2.html?ex=1252728000&en=dda9313c18e02663&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

[Contrite]

5. Excellent. Can't believe the NYT was so open about this.

Maybe forward this to Louise Slaughter and refresh her memory about these people?