Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Monday 07/14/08

[tbyg52]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Monday 07/14/08

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[tbyg52]

1. States nt

[tbyg52]

9. TX: County OK's purchase of new voting machines

EL PASO, Texas - County Commissioners said even though they're concerned about and mistrustful of the voting system company that was once known as Diebold, they voted unanimously to accept new voting machines.

The 300 machines are paid for under the Help America Vote Act funding, which has no cost to the county.

Paul de la Pena, a teacher, electioneer, and former candidate for the Election Administrator job when it was open in 2007, gave a presentation to Commissioners Monday morning.

De la Pena said in 2004, 17 states had problems with the Diebold voting machines. He said these are the same machines El Paso County will be acquiring in time for the November presidential election.

More:
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=8671646&nav=menu193_2

[tbyg52]

12. CA: Sign up online to vote

A bill that would give eligible voters in California a new online option sailed through the Senate last year, and it seems to be gaining steam in the state Assembly.

The legislation, SB 381 from Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, would allow anyone with a valid driver's license or state ID card to register online to vote.

Key to the success of this proposal will be the ability to transmit digitized signatures, although the program has not been designed by the Secretary of State's office. When, and if, it's up and running, prospective voters would enter personal information on the Web site, which would then be matched up with data already in the Department of Motor Vehicles' system. Once it's matched, the registrant's signature would be plucked from the DMV system and transmitted to the secretary of state's database.

Lawmakers believe this will help reach people who are eligible to vote but have not registered. It is estimated that in 2006, there were 7 million people in California who fell into that category.

More:
http://www.thereporter.com/opinion/ci_9876241

[tbyg52]

13. TX: Silent cou de ta Film Series: Uncounted

Silent cou de ta Film Series: Uncounted
Friday thru Sunday, July 18-20, 2008
Friday & Saturday 8pm; Sunday 2:30pm

Don't miss the next film in the The Silent cou de ta Film Series at Strand Theatre.

Uncounted an explosive documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 - and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This controversial film by Emmy award-winning director David Earnhardt examines in factual, logical, and yet startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S.

(A little) more:
http://www.galveston.com/calendarofevents/event2972/

[whirlygigspin]

47. thanks

n/t

[tbyg52]

15. FL: Trouble Predicted in Counting Florida's New Ballots - Again

You used to push a button to cast your vote. Now you'll use a pen to fill in an oval or connect two arrows.

Sounds simple, right?

This being Florida, the change is accompanied by hitches and glitches, and the first real test - a statewide primary - is six weeks away.

For the third presidential election in a row, Florida is converting its voting machinery, from punch cards in 2000 to touch screens in 2004 to optical scan ballots, similar to those already used in Polk and other Florida counties, in 2008. And once again, elections experts are fretting over the possibility of trouble, from long lines at voting sites to a close race that would require a recount of ballots.

"My biggest concern is that we would get out there on Election Day and we would have something happen and not have a response for it," said Secretary of State Kurt Browning, the state's top elections official. "You cannot afford to have anything go wrong. Period."

More:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080714/NEWS/807140420/1134&title=Trouble_Predicted_in_Counting_Florida_s_New_Ballots___Again

[tbyg52]

16. NY: 50 Percent of Sequoia Voting Machines Flawed

New York state is in the process of replacing its lever voting machines with new voting equipment, but the state revealed recently that it has found problems with 50 percent of the roughly 1,500 ImageCast optical-scan machines (shown in the video above) that Sequoia Voting Systems has delivered to the state so far -- machines that are slated to be used by dozens of counties in the state's September 9 primary and November 4 presidential election.

Douglas Kellner, co-chair of the New York State Board of Elections, expressed frustration with the vendor, saying it appeared that Sequoia was using the state's acceptance testing process to find problems with its machines in lieu of a sound quality-control process.

"There's no way the vendor could be adequately reviewing the machines and having so many problems," he told Threat Level. "What it tells us is that the vendor just throws this stuff over the transom and does not do any alpha- or beta-testing of their own before they apply for certification testing. Then they expect that we'll identify technical glitches and then they'll correct those glitches. But correction of those glitches is an extraordinarily time-consuming process. And its very disappointing that this equipment is not ready for prime time."

More:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/ny-50-percent-o.html

[Wilms]

46. Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x505562

[tbyg52]

17. MO: Flood preparations

Election day is Nov. 4, which seems like a long way off. But election officials must scramble if they hope to stage an election that is fair and efficient and that can accommodate what may turn out to be a record number of voters. It's flood preparation of a different sort.

Local election officials have a tough job. The system essentially depends on volunteers, citizens paid a modest stipend to spend a very long day running polling places, helping voters and dealing with every imaginable kind of problem.

Pulling it off requires planning, early and often. Missouri has 116 local elections authorities — county clerks and elections boards. In the 2006 mid-term election, they shepherded through more than 2.1 million voters — 53 percent of the more than 4 million Missourians who are registered.

More:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/news/editorialcommentary/story/15508c86e9862a2d862574840000224b?OpenDocument

[tbyg52]

18. CO: Denver elections office up for count

In 2006, the Denver elections office was dysfunctional, disorganized and structured in a way that left no one in charge.

A series of missteps led to an election disaster in November when up to 20,000 voters left long lines at the polls without voting.

Since then, the office has undergone a dramatic transformation.

It has a different name, structure, location and leadership. Nearly half the staff is new. And they're also making drastic changes - the third time in three years - to the way Denver voters will cast ballots. All before a presidential election that is expected to draw a record turnout.

The Denver Elections Division of the Clerk and Recorder - formerly known as the Denver Election Commission - is "a very different animal," said Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O'Malley.

City leaders who criticized the old commission say they are impressed with the changes.

More:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/14/denver-elections-office-up-for-count/

[tbyg52]

21. FL: Agencies are criticized over voter registration

Florida is failing to help low-income residents register to vote when they sign up for public assistance, say voting rights advocates who may sue over the issue.

The 1993 National Voter Registration Act requires states to offer voter registration forms -- and help with filling out those forms -- through various agencies, including those that provide Medicaid, food stamps and related forms of income-based assistance.

In January, lawyers for three national advocacy groups -- Project Vote, ACORN and Demos -- complained to Secretary of State Kurt Browning that the number of voter registrations received through Florida's public assistance agencies has plummeted since 1995.

"The fact is that the state is not following the law," said Brian Kettenring, Florida organizer for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, which advocates on behalf of low-income people.

More:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080714/NEWS/807140322/1661

[tbyg52]

23. CO: Mail-in voting goes mainstream

Any day now, a record number of absentee ballots for this August's primary election will hit mailboxes across Colorado.

County clerks up and down the Front Range report an unprecedented number of requests for the absentee ballots. In some counties, the number of mail-in absentee ballots being sent out this year is double what were sent out during the primaries of the last presidential election year, 2004.

And in Adams County, the number of absentee ballots mailed out this year — about 35,000 — more than doubles the total number of votes cast in the 2004 primaries.

"I look at it as kind of a blessing, and I think the voter does too," said Adams County Clerk Karen Long. "You don't get as many lines at the vote center."

More:
http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_9872024

[tbyg52]

24. TX: Wilmer election objections heard by Dallas County Commissioners

Tuesday, July 8, several Wilmer citizens armed with an inch thick sheaf of papers for each of the Dallas County Commissioners presented evidence and testimony regarding irregularities and apparent fraud in the recent local option liquor election and the mayoral race.

The first topic of discussion centered on Mayor Don Hudson's residence address in Palmer.

Testimony and evidence related to the mayor's "true" residence address including photographs and state issued licensing documents referring to the Neck Road property in Palmer. Mayor Hudson claimed the Neck Road address in documents dated August 2007 ad April 2008, just one month before the election.

One of the presenters was overheard saying after the testimony that Hudson's #6 Belmont address had been observed daily for months with no vehicle activity in the driveway. Another participant stated Hudson had never lived there, referring to #6 Belmont.

More:
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/jul/14/wilmer-election-objections-heard-dallas-county-com/

[tbyg52]

26. TX: Klein resident challenges school bond election

snip

In his suit, filed in state district court June 19, Blanton said those “mistakes and possible fraud” could have affected the outcome of the election. The election results should be declared void, Blanton said, and a new bond election called Nov. 4.

Blanton’s lawsuit focuses on an incident at the Brill Elementary School polling site. He said the election judge, assistant judge and election clerk assigned to that location, Precinct 109, left the polling location at 7:45 p.m. on May 10 without one of the “Judge’s Boot Controllers,” a device that records votes cast on the eSlate voting machines used in the election. After realizing that the controller was missing after arriving at the district’s central tallying location, the lawsuit states, one of the election judges returned to Brill Elementary with a police escort to retrieve the device.

By that point, Blanton said, the device had been left unattended and unsecured for “several hours.” The final vote count at the Brill location was 622 for the bond referendum and 248 against. He said no other voting location demonstrated such a large margin of victory.

More:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/spring/news/5875885.html

[tbyg52]

27. CO: Voter registration effort reaches out to immigrants

She started with her nails. Then her fingers. Then her hands. When she learned to say each body part, she went to another subject.

Carranza, who emigrated from Mexico 32 years ago, started to learn English three years ago to prepare for a much bigger step: earning citizenship.

It happened last July 18.

"It was a big day for me," she said, "a very important day."

Carranza is now working with immigrant-rights groups, such as Ya Es Hora Coalition, to help immigrants apply for citizenship.

snip

The workshops are part of a larger effort to get minorities to the polls in November, she said.

More:
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_9877463

[tbyg52]

31. CA: Voting by mail sets record

A record 58.7 percent of Californians cast their ballots by mail in the June 3 statewide primary election, according to Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

The vote-by-mail turnout topped the previous record of 46.9 percent in June 2006. In the February presidential primary, nearly 41.7 percent of voters cast their ballots by mail.

In June, more than half the votes were cast by mail in 48 of California’s 58 counties. The exceptions were Colusa, Glenn, Imperial, Kings, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Mono, Napa, Sutter, and Trinity counties.

But overall, only 28.2 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the June election, marking the lowest turnout on a percentage basis for a regularly scheduled election.

More:
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=9296

[flashl]

33. WI: State to examine election data

Wisconsin won a $2 million grant in order to draw a clearer picture of the voting behavior of Wisconsinites in this November 's presidential election.

The state is implementing a Web-based system for collecting election data from Wisconsin 's 72 county clerks and 1,851 municipal clerks in the hopes of getting more complete voting information.

Wisconsin was one of five states to win a grant from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. It will be administered by the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees state elections and ethics laws.

Wisconsin 's election system is highly decentralized, especially when compared to other states.

Wisconsi State Journal

[tbyg52]

39. OH: County votes to retain poll worker policy

olumbiana County would be one of those counties affected unless Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner reconsiders her decision to prohibit poll workers from taking home voting equipment the day before an election.

Brunner issued the ban five months ago, but the directive is coming under criticism from election boards in counties that engage in the practice, including Columbiana County.

Kim Meek, deputy director of the county elections board, said they have engaged in the practice, dubbed "sleepovers," because of the convenience, and to ban sleepovers would require they remain open all night before the election or hire a company to transport the equipment instead.

The county has an optical scan voting system whereby paper ballots marked with an ink pen are fed by the voter into an optical scanner system, where the results are tabulated and recorded onto a memory card.

More:
http://www.morningjournalnews.com/page/content.detail/id/502976.html

[tbyg52]

2. National nt

[tbyg52]

14. Scoop: Progress on election reform

The major difference between the Republican and Democratic Presidential Primaries was that the Republican Party had a winner-take-all system while the Democratic Party used Proportional Representation to obtain delegates. The National Democratic Party now has its first African-American presidential nominee as a direct result of PR. Senator Barak Obama would not be the Democratic nominee without PR. ... The issue of PR is not about race. It is about fair and just representation for every voter.

Cincinnati NAACP Branch President Christopher Smitherman in a July 3 press release announcing a petition drive to put on the November 4 ballot a proposal to change Cincinnati’s city elections back to PR instead of winner-take-all.

::Interviews::
This week, I met with FairVote director, Rob Richie, and asked him about what progress is being made on a range of election-related issues that FairVote champions. Also present was Steve Chessin, president of Californians for Electoral Reform, who spoke about a meeting this week with Long Beach, CA, city representatives about a possible change to instant runoff voting there. The City of Los Angeles is also considering such a move.

More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0807/S00125.htm

[tbyg52]

25. FedEx Express Launches Express Your Vote Initiative with Overseas Vote Foundation

New Alliance Eases Voting Process for Millions of Americans Abroad

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the world’s largest express transportation company, today announced its support of Express Your Vote, an initiative of the Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to ensuring an estimated six million overseas Americans have the ability to effectively participate in the federal electoral process.

With FedEx supporting this initiative, Americans abroad in 89 countries will be able to access express delivery of their absentee ballots between September 15 " October 29 of the 2008 election year.

The innovative Express Your Vote program will provide American voters abroad the convenience of online shipping, track and trace capabilities, and proactive proof of delivery through the Overseas Vote Foundation Web site, which has been developed with the latest advanced automation solutions from FedEx.

More:
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=69970

[tbyg52]

28. HuffPo: ACORN Under The Microscope

For 38 years, ACORN, the nation's most successful community organizing group, has been making headlines by mobilizing low-income Americans to fight for social justice, challenging powerful banks, corporations, and government officials around such issues as wages for the working poor, predatory lending and foreclosures, welfare reform, public education, affordable housing, and voting rights. But the story about ACORN in last Wednesday's New York Times is one headline that the group was hoping to avoid.

The right-wing blogosphere is abuzz over the article, which reported that an ACORN staff-person embezzled almost $1 million from the organization's coffers eight years ago. (The aggregate budgets of ACORN and its affiliate organizations back then totaled about $41.5 million). ACORN immediately established new internal controls to put the organization's financial house in order. But ACORN's founder and chief organizer, Wade Rathke, covered up the incident in order to protect the wrongdoer, his brother Dale, who at the time was the group's chief financial officer. Even worse, he kept his brother on the payroll until June 2, although he was long before removed from having any responsibility for the group's finances.

Only a handful of top ACORN staff knew about the scandal, and Rathke persuaded them to keep it quiet in order, he argued, to protect the group's reputation. The staff group obtained an enforceable restitution agreement so that the funds would be returned to ACORN. With the help of friends and family, his brother has now repaid all the stolen funds. But now that the scandal has surfaced, Wade Rathke has resigned, and his brother has been fired.

In the world of scandals, ACORN's missteps don't even register on the radar compared with the swindles perpetrated by top executives at Halliburton, Enron, WorldCom, Countrywide, and other major corporations who ripped off the government, stockholders, and consumers of billions of dollars. But progressive groups have to be squeaky clean. They must live by a higher standard, in part because they are constantly under scrutiny by powerful business and government officials and in part, because they depend on the good will of funders (who typically get federal tax breaks for their donations) and low-income members (who sacrifice to pay ACORN dues).

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-atlas/acorn-under-the-microscop_b_112503.html

[tbyg52]

37. States fight voter registration ban at vet homes

Vermont has joined several other states in demanding the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reverse a policy that blocks nonpartisan groups from holding voter registration drives in veterans homes, hospitals and other VA facilities.

Veterans Affairs Secretary James P. Peake issued the directive May 5, saying the registration drives are not permitted "to avoid disruptions to facility operations" and because of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities with government resources or on government time.

"The practice of banning voter registration drives at veterans facilities is a slap in the face to people who have served, put their lives on the line and sacrificed the most for our fundamental freedoms," Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, a Democrat, said in a Friday news conference.

Bysiewicz and Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed, a Republican, have launched a national effort to overturn the directive. They've been joined by secretaries of state from Ohio, Montana, Vermont, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Kansas, New Hampshire and Maine.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2008/07/12/states_fight_voter_registration_ban_at_vet_homes/

[tbyg52]

3. Foreign nt

[tbyg52]

7. Nigeria court annuls tenth state election for fraud

A Nigerian court annulled the election of a state governor on Monday in the tenth such ruling since nationwide polls more than a year ago that were deemed not credible by international observers.

An appeals court in the southeastern city of Calabar quashed the April 14, 2007 election of Cross River state Governor Liyel Imoke of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and ordered a re-run within 90 days.

Judge Suleiman Galadima, who cited non-compliance with the electoral law for the annulment, instructed the speaker of the state house of assembly to take over as acting governor pending a fresh vote.

"The respondents (Imoke and the national electoral body) could not produce any witness or result sheet to substantiate substantial compliance with the Electoral Act," Galadima said.

"The governor should vacate office immediately."

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL147516420080714

[tbyg52]

10. Russia: Arkhangelsk election fraud comes to surface

The ongoing court case against the Arkhangelsk City Election Commission gives clear indications that the commission falsified the results from the recent city mayor’s election.

The scandal election of May 25 was yet another evidence of the unstable democracy of the Northwest Russian region.

The commission first declared opposition candidate Larisa Bazanova the winner of the elections with a slim 70 vote margin ahead of acting city mayor Viktor Pavlenko. Mr. Pavlenko however demanded a recount, the results of which showed that the winner was himself, and not Ms Bazanova.

Viktor Pavlenko is heavily backed by regional Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk. Tatiana Bazanova on the other hand is a close ally of the dismissed and controversial ex-mayor Aleksandr Donskoy.

More:
http://www.barentsobserver.com/arkhangelsk-election-fraud-comes-to-surface.4497566-16174.html

[tbyg52]

11. Thailand: Democrat Party may face dissolution

The future of Democrat Party could look uncertain as Election Commission (EC) member Prapan Naikowit on Monday said an EC investigative panel was looking into the electoral fraud allegation against Deputy Democrat Party leader Witoon Nambut.


Prapan said the EC had once reviewed the electoral fraud case against Prapan who had been accused of distributing movie tickets while he was campaigning for the general election.

However, the EC found that the investigation file was incomplete and needed more evidence so it instructed the provincial EC to further investigate the matter.

Prapan downplayed that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was pressuring the EC by giving a comment during "Talk Samak Style" that the Democrat Party may also face dissolution.

More:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/topstory/read.php?newsid=30078048

[grantcart]

43. Doubtful - extremely doubtful

The Prime Minister has no power in the matter and in any case is without a friends in Bangkok.

[tbyg52]

22. Ireland: Labour urges Gormley to end e-voting 'fiasco'

THE LABOUR Party spokeswoman on the environment, Joanna Tuffy TD, has called for an end "to the saga of electronic voting that has proven to be such a spectacular waste of public money".

Accounts laid before the Dáil last week, she said, showed that in its three years of operation, the Commission on Electronic Voting cost €1.89 million - more than half of which, €1.04 million, was taken up by consultancy fees.

"We now need to find a process to bring this sorry saga to an end, recover what money we can and ensure that no more money is wasted."

Ms Tuffy said the commission published two reports but could not restore public confidence in a system that was "so flawed and open to potential abuse".

More:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0714/1215940877581.html

[tbyg52]

29. Zimbabwe: In order to properly assess the current situation in Zimbabwe

the now, it is important to understand the historical circumstance

Caveat - I have no idea what point of view this guy is coming from (not having time to read it and still have dinner and a night's sleep.... ;) ). I'm just letting you know the article is there.

One of the current events being covered in mainstream media are the recent elections in the African country of Zimbabwe. On March 29, 2008 there were presidential elections between current President Robert Mugabe (ZANU-PF), Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC) and two independent candidates Simba Makoni and Langton Towungana. The results of the election were; Tsvangirai 47.9%; President Mugabe 43.2%; Makoni 8.3%; and Towungana 0.6%.

The Electoral Act of Zimbabwe states that if one person does not get more than 50% of the vote, a runoff is required. Even though Mr. Tsvangirai attempted to pull out of the run-off election, the run-off election was held on June 29, 2008. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission released the final official results of the election showing President Robert Mugabe winning by 85.51% of the total vote cast. Morgan Tsvangirai received 9.3 percent of the total vote. President Mugabe was sworn in for a sixth 5-year term.

There have been numerous of reports about violence and intimidation by President Mugabe’s supporters against the opposition of Mr. Tsvangirai. Mr. Tsvangirai even sought refuge in the Dutch embassy claiming he was in fear of his life.

On June 28, 2008 President Bush stated, “On Friday, the Mugabe regime held a sham election that ignored the will of the people of Zimbabwe…Any legitimate government of Zimbabwe must represent the interests of all its citizens and the outcome of the March 29 elections. Given the Mugabe regime’s blatant disregard for the Zimbabwean people’s democratic will and human rights, I am instructing the Secretaries of State and Treasury to develop sanctions against this illegitimate Government of Zimbabwe and those who support it.

More:
http://www.politicsincolor.com/articles/opinions/07/14/2008/let-he-who-is-without-sin-question-election.html

[tbyg52]

35. BradBlog: Quelle Surprise! E-Voting Fails in France Too!

A study conducted by a researcher in France has uncovered that polling locations which use electronic voting machines exhibit a higher number of discrepancies than those using conventional paper ballots. Unsurprising to those who have followed the problems plaguing e-voting since its introduction, the revelation has fueled renewed calls for greater scrutiny of electronic voting technology in France.

The study was conducted at over 21,000 polling stations by comparing electoral registers, which voters sign after voting, with the total vote counts from machines and paper ballots in several elections. Discrepancies were found at almost 30 percent of polling stations that use electronic machines and only at about 5 percent of those using paper ballots.

More at ars technica...

The findings of the French study are hardly surprising to those of us who haven't been ignoring the exact same problems for years here in the U.S.. The difference, of course, will likely come in the way that France --- like other European countries, and decidedly unlike the U.S. --- responds to the findings...

More:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6169

[tbyg52]

4. Blogs, Editorials, LTTEs, etc. nt

[tbyg52]

8. GA: OUR OPINIONS: Fettered franchise

The Georgia Democratic Party lost its battle to prevent the state from enforcing a highly restrictive voter ID law in tomorrow's primary elections. But the party should keep up the fight. Little is more sacred in a representative democracy than the right to vote.

On Friday, Fulton County Judge Tom Campbell declined to issue a temporary restraining order, which would have nullified the requirement for a state-sponsored photo ID —- at least temporarily. Secretary of State Karen Handel had argued that there would be "mass chaos" at the polls if the law were not enforced.

That's highly unlikely. Handel, a Republican, is merely repeating the party line. The law was pushed through by the GOP-dominated Georgia Legislature.

State Democrats are charging that the law violates the Georgia constitution. Although the U.S. Supreme Court unwisely validated a restrictive Indiana voter ID law, Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, held that state parties have standing to file lawsuits against the requirement, instituted by GOP-dominated legislatures around the country.

More:
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2008/07/14/voted.html

[tbyg52]

19. CA: Governor's Redistricting Initiative Could Screw Up the Budget Process Even More

One of the great myths of "reforming" redistricting is that it would provide for the election of more moderate legislators that would be more responsive to their constituents. The reasoning, as the proponents of the Voters First initiative believe, would be that since candidates would have a competitive election, they'd have to work on more moderate solutions to the state's problems.

Like the budget. Imagine if there were a dozen more "competitive" seats, and that somehow, moderate candidates would survive the primaries of their respective parties (which, mind you, will never happen since moderates fair poorly in primaries) and find their way into the legislature.

So here comes a dozen or so centrist candidates, all of which know that each and every vote would be eyed by their political opponents. Do you think, for a minute, that any Democrat or Republican would then have the guts to vote for the kind of taxes we need to balance the budget? Of course not. If they did, they'd be tarred and feathered by their Republican opponent. Would a moderate Republican stand for the kind of cuts that GOP leaders are proposing? No, because they'd be attacked up and down by their Democratic opponent for being meanspirited.

More:
http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=3263&ptid=9

[tbyg52]

20. Democrats, Suddenly in Election Year, Rush to Dump the Permanent Felon Voting Ban

An impassioned Virginia governor Tim Kane at an election rally in June loudly pledged that he would do everything he could and as quick as he could to scrap Virginia’s ban on ex-felons voting. While this was great news for Democrats, Republicans quickly screamed foul. Virginia and Kentucky are the only two remaining states that permanently bar ex-felons from voting. Republicans branded Kane’s call to scrap the ban a crass, naked political ploy to pump up the Democrats vote total in the November election in an effort to tip the state for the first time in decades to a Democratic presidential contender.

It’s tough to argue with their claim. Despite Kane and the Democrat’s lofty and pious talk about restoring civil rights for ex-felons who are still treated as political pariahs, the ban on their voting has been in place for decades. And during that time there has been no sustained move by Kane and other legislators to scrap the ban. That is until now. Lifting the ban will clearly boost the Democrats in the fall.

snip

The denial of voting rights to thousands of blacks decades after the end of slavery and legal segregation is a blot on the democratic process. That denial has cost the Democrats thousands of votes in state and national elections.

Virginia governor Kane’s call for an end to felon vote disenfranchisement may be an election year political ploy to ramp up the Democrat vote for Obama. Or, he may be motivated by a sincere desire to restore rights and to end an injustice. Whatever the motive the only thing that really counts is that the permanent felon bans that shove tens of thousands of ex offenders to a political netherworld be ended and ended now.

More:
http://www.blacknews.com/news/earl-ofari-hutchinson501.shtml

[tbyg52]

32. NC: It's time to put teeth in open records law

North Carolina has a first-rate open government policy. State law requires that meetings of government decision-making bodies be open to the public, with certain exceptions. And the law requires that most government records such as minutes of city council meetings be available to anyone who asks. In a democracy, these sunshine laws are critically important to the public's understanding of how its government works – and to public confidence in government agencies.

But sometimes the law doesn't work. Consider the case of a Chatham County citizen who wanted to find out why the county board of elections was considering buying new voting machines. The citizen asked for copies of the board's meeting minutes and was told there were no minutes – even though the law requires minutes to be kept.

Trouble is, the board lied. There were minutes, as the citizen discovered while spending tens of thousands of dollars in a lawsuit before a judge ruled that the board had violated both the open meetings law and the open records law. The citizen filed that lawsuit because it was the only way to find out the truth – and because the law allows judges to award attorney's fees to plaintiffs when they prevail in an open government lawsuit.

More:
http://www.charlotte.com/opinion/story/711744.html

[tbyg52]

34. Our view: Don't abandon the Electoral College

Let's begin with a premise: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and the other members of the Constitutional Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 understood the nation they were creating and the people in it.

Madison, Hamilton and the others crafted a Constitution that has stood the test of time. Thanks to their foresight, the people of the United States enjoy a stable republic that has provided them with democratic, representative government since 1789.

But now, following the advocacy of former Gov. Michael Dukakis and Common Cause, the Massachusetts House has voted to abandon one of the principles of that Constitution, the selection of the president by electors, in favor of a scheme by which all of the state's electoral votes would go to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.

The state Senate is expected to take up the matter this week. If it approves, and Gov. Deval Patrick signs the bill into law, Massachusetts would become the fifth state to join a compact to subvert the intent of the Founders that the election of the president be a contest to win states, not a national popularity contest.

More:
http://www.salemnews.com/puopinion/local_story_195224149.html?keyword=secondarystory

[tbyg52]

5. The Youth Vote nt

[tbyg52]

30. Are You Tech-Savvy, Young and Politically Inclined? Be a Volunteer Poll Worker on Election Day

In order to ensure that problems encountered at some polling places during the primary season are not repeated in November, a push is underway to get more African-Americans to volunteer to become poll workers.

Prospective volunteers can contact the Election Assistance Commission or call the toll-free number (1-866-747-1471) for details, as regulations vary from state to state.

(A little) more:
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/pollworkerssought714

[tbyg52]

36. Young Native Americans mull Obama, McCain at event

Hundreds of young Native Americans gathering for a five-day conference here are being urged to become politically active because the American Indian vote could make a difference in this year's presidential election.

Jackson Slim Brossy, legislative associate of the nonpartisan National Congress of American Indians, said the Indian vote — which traditionally has been Democratic — is up for grabs this year as Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain both try to woo it.

He said the Indian vote was a factor in Obama's defeat of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in June's Montana primary, as well as in past victories of U.S. Sens. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M.

"The Native American vote has been overlooked in the past, but there's a trend of it making a difference and I think 2008 will continue the trend," Brossy told The Associated Press.

More:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5glorPeYbVNfQ7Si2wvXl0nIAOapQD91THI4O0

[tbyg52]

6. Campaign Finance nt

[tbyg52]

38. Campaign finance system needs repair

SEN. Barack Obama has shrugged off $84 million in public funds available to his presidential campaign. He doesn't need it. But the nation should look upon that move as a sign the public campaign financing system needs repair. Obama is right that it's broken.
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In the short term, Obama will take some political hits for his decision to forgo the public funds for the General Election, because he had at first vowed to accept them. Candidates can qualify for federal funds for their campaigns if they agree to certain spending limits. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee who will face Obama, the likely Democratic nominee, plans to take the money. McCain can stand on his solid record as a campaign finance reformer, as well as score points on Obama's reversal as a sign that the Democrat has reneged on a campaign promise.

Obama is obviously willing to take the hits, and thinks he can afford to do so because of his enormous fund-raising strength. He had raked in more than $265 million by the end of April. With his current pace, he's off to the races on campaign donations and campaign spending. The Obama campaign's plans are already evident, with the Democrat spending money in states that might otherwise look like lost causes.

More:
http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080712/OPINION01/807120323

[tbyg52]

40. Squeezing the Internet for Political Cash, Part 2: The March to November

Part 1 of this two-part series covers the way Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign built on several election cycles of Internet wisdom to create a vigorous online presence and fundraising machine.

Much has been made of Barack Obama's public comments on whether or not he would choose to accept public financing for his general election campaign and Republican presidential nominee John McCain's reactions to those comments.

However, the legal and political issues are far more complex than the general press is reporting, Justin Buchler, assistant professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University, told the E-Commerce Times. One thing, though, does appear clear: Obama's Internet fundraising success matters.

"Obama's ability to raise large amounts of money was certainly a determining factor in his decision to reject public funding," Buchler asserted. "He can raise many times more through private donations on the Internet than what matching funds would provide."

More:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Squeezing-the-Internet-for-Political-Cash-Part-2-The-March-to-November-63783.html?welcome=1216072764

[tbyg52]

41. That's all, folks!

Followed by my usual beg for a few more rec's for the news.... ;)

[Mnemosyne]

42. tbyg,

:yourock:

Thank you for all you do! :hug:

[Muttocracy]

44. Thanks; I should start spending more time in this forum. nt

[tbyg52]

45. Please do!

:hi: