On 2004-11-19, you joined over five thousand contributors and six hundred (so far) volunteers who stepped forward to help our campaign stand up with millions of other across the country. We are voters across the political spectrum: Greens, Libertarians, Independents, Kucinich-Dean-Kerry Democrats and Republicans ready to restore integrity to our voting system. We insist that the legitimacy of representative government be defended from the flagrant threats to the public's confidence that this and the previous election have engendered.
Below, I want to share with you news of our progress toward ensuring a complete count of the votes in the Ohio election.
But first let me cover a couple of other quick topics.
I write first to thank you for both your financial donation of <.....> as well as your commitment to volunteer to help us monitor the recount in Ohio. Both are absolutely necessary to our efforts to ensure that every vote is counted and to instigate a grass-roots movement that can restore public confidence in electoral democracy. We need voter verified paper ballots and open source election software, publicly financed elections, proportional representation and instant run-off voting, open access to the ballot, the enforcement and extension of the Voting Right Act and non-partisan election officials.
In this letter we want to (1) update you on recent developments and our plans for the recount effort, (2) invite you to subscribe to new list serves designed to keep you in the loop or even actively engaged as we move this campaign forward, (3) ask folks who are willing to fill some critical volunteer roles, (4) ask you to spread the word about our efforts and (5) inform you that unless you confirm your subscription invitations described below, you will not see any further email from us again until we have a final report to share with you after Congress certifies the election on January 6th.
We hope that everyone who has contributed or volunteered will join our new list (REDACTED - PM me for info) This is a low-traffic read-only list where our press secretary and campaign manager will share with you breaking news, by, about and of interest to those who support this recount campaign.
And we are inviting as well, everyone who has volunteered to please confirm your invitation to subscribe to two other lists:
-- (REDACTED - PM me for info) is a low-traffic, read only list used by our campaign staff to communicate volunteer opportunities on this recount campaign to those engaged in the work;
-- (REDACTED - PM me for info) is a discussion list for volunteers actively engaged in this campaign, either right there in
or on the ground in Ohio and what ever other states this campaign may eventually lead us.
While we appreciate your financial support and could not proceed without it, the truth is that a recount without our campaign providing independent oversight of the process will not provide meaningful feedback on the problems or do much to improve public confidence in the system or in this year's result.
We estimate we will need nearly 2,000 volunteers to monitor recount activities in all 88 Ohio counties. As I write this, we are still nearly $20,000 shy of our fundraising goal for the Ohio recount (even as we continue to consider the problems in New Mexico and other states). Please send your friends and family to our site and urge them to volunteer and /or contribute to this vital work.
http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgifunction=donate
http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?function=volunteer&process=7
If you prefer to not get any further email from us, simply ignore this note and you will only receive a final report of our efforts after the Presidential Election has been certified by the Congress on January 6th.
Our campaign has made a commitment to not spam the voters of this country. This promise precludes our sending you further email after this thank you letter inviting you to subscribe to our lists. However, if you want us to keep you in the loop, you simply need to respond to the the subscription invitation you'll see under separate cover. Or write back to let us know that you do in fact wish to subscribe to our campaign lists. We want to keep you in the loop. But we do not want to abuse your privacy or your inbox.
We have asked Holly Hart, of Iowa, to lead our efforts to coordinate
the participation of volunteers in this important historical effort to reclaim public confidence in our elections. She needs your help. So far, 600 volunteers have stepped forward. We will need at least 1,400 more before we arrive in Ohio. First she needs help communicating and coordinating with 2,000 people over the next few days.
Please call Holly at (REDACTED - PM me for phone) if you can organize within (your state) to mobilize volunteers to come to Ohio and to help us raise this campaign's goals and profile within your community and state.
The corporate media is busy belittling and ridiculing our efforts to defend and expand democracy in Ohio and by extension in the rest of our nation as well. We need your help to counter the attacks. We must not let them manufacture our consent to expecting stolen elections cycle after cycle. We are inviting everyone who has lent their support to this campaign to follow that up with letters to the editor explaining why you are supporting this recount effort. For ideas on what you might include in such a letter, please visit our website at:
http://www.votecobb.org/recount/be-the-media
Please help us break through the media white-out of our efforts by urging others to come to our web site and to contribute their
financial and volunteer support to this effort.
Our efforts are already well under way.
-- On Monday, Common Cause, the National Voting Rights Institute, Demos, the Fannie Lou Hamer Project and People for the American Way Foundation issued a joint statement in support of the Cobb and Badnarik demand for an Ohio recount.
-- In the past week, we have raised over $200,000 of the initial $250,000 our staff has budgeted for this effort. And with your help we expect to reach our goal by this coming Monday.
-- On Wednesday, our team of attorneys overnighted to each Ohio county election director asking them to prepare for the recount.
-- On Friday, November 19th, our attorneys delivered a bond to guarantee our $113,600 recount fee.
-- We have rehired staff we had just laid off at the end of the campaign so we can continue this work. We have so far identified 600 of the 2,000 volunteers we predict will be needed for the work in Ohio. We are organizing now to train, house and feed the folks on the ground in Ohio who will monitor the recount on our behalf. We have established new list serves to support this effort.
-- We continue to investigate what role we might play in New Mexico, to monitor developments in Florida and other states and to build alliances with citizen based election reform groups across this nation.
-- And our efforts have now been endorsed by Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
We need an election system and election officials we can trust. The problems in Florida in 2000 and the problems in Ohio in 2004 will repeat themselves in 2008 unless we do something about it. Americans can agree that our elections should be administered by an independent non-partisan commission, and not by the state chairs of presidential campaigns.
Again we thank you sincerely for your participation in this Democracy Movement. We look forward to seeing you in Ohio.
Yours for a just, sustainable and democratic future,
David Cobb
and the entire Cobb-LaMarche Team
"Thank you to the Greens and all others whose support for a recount will rescue a shred of honesty in the conduct of the 2004 Ohio election."
-- Dennis Kucinich.
"First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you. Then you win."
-- Mahatma K Gandhi
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
