Yesterday I called on Congress to pass an emergency measure to require Emergency Paper Ballots be made available at the polls during this November’s general election. I spelled out several reasons for this last-ditch, “Hail Mary” attempt to try and mitigate just some of the myriad problems and disenfranchisment that will occur at polling places this year thanks to new, poorly designed, malfunctioning, unsecure electronic voting machines now deployed across the nation.
Never mind the electronic voting machine fraud that is likely to occur. Never mind the proven inaccuracies of these god-awful machines. Never mind the ease at which they are now proven to be hackable. My concern right now — this late in the game — is simply to assure that voters who show up at the polls and are legally registered to vote, may actually be able to cast a vote at all!
In primary after primary this year, voters have been told to “come back later” or, at best, given a provisional ballot (which may or may not ever be counted) when voting machines either failed to work or, frequently, weren’t even present by the time voters showed up to vote. That is voter disenfranchisement, pure and simple, and it affects voters of any and all political stripes.
Common sense (one would think) would dictate that State and County Election Directors would mandate Emergency Paper Ballots for voters to use in the event of machine unavailability. Though the Secretaries of State in several states so far this year (Texas, Arkansas, etc.) have issued emergency orders for such Emergency Paper Ballots, remarkably, many states and counties didn’t bother and thousands of legally registered voting citizens were sent home in the bargain.
The legislation required by Congress to mandate Emergency Paper Ballots (I call it the “LET AMERICA VOTE ACT”) is incredibly simple. In yesterday’s article, I included a three-sentence piece of legislation. Below, is a more fully-formed draft legislation based on those three sentences as sent to me orginally by Bob Wilson of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project.
Along with additional tweaks by myself and a few others, my complete suggested legislation can be read — in it’s entirety — in about 30 seconds. It’s posted in full below.
If Congress cares (and if you help them to do so!), I’m quite certain that this measure can be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by George W. Bush with Terri Schiavo-like speed.
I’d think our democracy is worth at least as much. And I know it’s certainly worth trying for!
Some have responded to my call for this LAVA legislation (“Let democracy flow!”) by pointing out that the method of counting and/or auditing these Emergency Paper Ballots must be included in the legislation. My answer to them is that I agree with their point! However, at this late in the game (with only some 5 or 6 legislative days left before Congress recesses prior to the election) I don’t want to give any Congress member any reason to oppose this act!
In other words, with the time we have left, if all we can do is assure that at least there will be a piece of paper on which a registered voter may cast a vote this November — if they bother to show up — then we will be doing a service to democracy. It’s an incredible fact, but even something as simple has that has not been the case in many places this year. Last week’s Maryland primary, were thousands were forced to go without voting at all when the machines failed to work, was a prime example!
Some have said there is no time to get this bill passed. I don’t care. Let’s get it passed anyway. If it fails, at least we will have a “paper trail” to point back to on November 8th when everyone else is wondering what went wrong and if anybody had tried to do anything about it while there was still time. Those of us who give a damn will have done everything we could.
I continue to speak to folks in Congress about sponsorship of this bill, and I urge all American citizens to contact their Congress Members — as well as their state and local officials — to demand that non-provisional Emergency Paper Ballots be made available at the polls this year!
You can contact your Congress person here (and you can contact local media here.)
(The URL for this article is: https://bradblog.com/?p=3502. Feel free to point them to it!)
Let’s get to work! This effort is about all we have left legislatively at this point! Please spread the word everywhere. My complete suggested language for the LET AMERICA VOTE ACT is posted below…
LET AMERICA VOTE ACT
(EMERGENCY PAPER BALLOT MANDATE OF 2006)
WHEREAS significant failures of electronic voting machines have occurred in various jurisdictions during primary elections held in Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Maryland and other states during 2006, and
WHEREAS such failures have forced legitimate, registered voters to have been turned away from the polls by the thousands so far in 2006 primary elections simply because neither voting machines nor paper ballots were available for use when the voters arrived at their polling place, and
WHEREAS the probability exists that such failures will continue and the adverse results of such failures will be multiplied and increased in magnitude by the additional number of voters participating in the November 7, 2006 General Election, and
WHEREAS the potential exists for massive disenfranchisement of American voters in the November 7, 2006 General Election, by such failures of electronic voting machines,
NOW THEREFORE be it enacted that:
A. For the November 7, 2006, General Election, each election jurisdiction shall be required to prepare and print Emergency Paper Ballots of the proper ballot style for all races and propositions which shall be contested in that jurisdiction.
B. Such Emergency Paper Ballots shall be printed in sufficient quantity to guarantee that every voter who may require one, either as requested or as a result of voting machine unavailability, shall be able to receive such an Emergency Paper Ballot.
C. As with all provisional ballots, such Emergency Paper Ballots shall be printed in all languages specified for ballots in that jurisdiction.
D. Any voter eligible to vote in the jurisdiction in which he or she requests an Emergency Paper Ballot shall be entitled to receive and cast such Emergency Paper Ballot, regardless of the type of ballot that shall have been specifiied in that jurisdiction through operation of law, without further qualification, request, proof or furnishing of reason for such request.
E. Such Emergency Paper Ballots shall be official ballots for purposes of casting, tabulating, audits, redundant counts and recounts, and shall not be considered provisional ballots.
F. Emergency Paper Ballots shall be cast and tabulated in the same manner as all other ballots cast on November 7, 2006.
G. The associated costs to states for this mandate will be reimbursed out of Help America Vote Act funding.
H. This Act shall terminate and cease to have effect on February 28, 2007.
UPDATE 9/26/06: Boxer & Dodd introduce Emergency Paper Ballot Legislation in the Senate! House version to come soon! Details here…
Hmmm, what are the chances that this bill would make it to a vote without having several amendments tacked on, including a repeal of the estate tax, a permanent 95% reduction in all taxes for Paris Hilton and her ilk, opening up all of Alaska to oil drilling, 100% torture and wiretap powers for the Preznit, and a $900 billion bridge from Alaska to the North Pole?
Sounds great! How could anybody disagree with such a reasonable and absolutely necessary bill. Unfortunately, disenfranchisement and the ability to cheat are the name of the game for the Repuglicans in power, so reasonable and necessary may not be operative here. Guess we’ll see. Time for “the 6 or 7 squad” to get moving!
Sounds like a great idea to me, and lord knows I am so grateful to Brad for all he does & to many others who do so much, but…if it’s possible to do this, why not pass a law that says we all vote by paper ballot, period? Is that just too great & impossible a leap because of the Congress we have?
And is there a reason why “This Act shall terminate and cease to have effect on February 28, 2007”?
How can they ‘Let America Vote’ if they ‘Block the Vote’?
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/235/
In any case, I’ll certainly call Congress & push for it!
Go For It! Raise the Volume Level on ALL Elected Officials! Let them know they don’t have the right to their job unless they can prove to All American citizans that they were voted in fairly and honestly.
These electronic voting machines represent an honest
election in the same way my Daughter’s video games represent the real world.
HAND COUNT ONLY!
IF PAPER AND PEN WORKS FOR CANADA, IT WORKS FINE FOR THE U.S.
and for all the “Yeah buts”…
The greatest oak was once a little nut ( Brad? 🙂 who held its ground. ~Author Unknown
Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. ~Josh Billings
THE REPUGS HAVE ALREADY COUNTERED IT!
House Passes Bill to Make Voters Show ID
BillORightsMan posted last nights post at DU Election Reform Forum. I just added today’s post to that thread.
It’s also over at CCN (Clark Community Network).
Let’s get everyone on board and writing! If you blog anywhere else, please post a link back here!
Thank you, Brad!!!
email sent to my senators and congressman today:
Subject: Please support ‘Let America Vote Act’ legislation.
Dear Senator XXXXXXXX,
As I trust you are well aware by now, the Help America Vote Act has not solved this nation’s myriad voting problems, and has, in fact, complicated matters exponentially by introducing unreliable and unsecured corporate-owned electronic voting machines into the equation.
The patriotic citizens of this great country deserve nothing less than a transparent and secure system of elections, and it has become painfully clear that our current system does not fulfill that obligation.
Therefore, I urge you to support emergency legislation to head off the potential disaster looming ahead of us this November, and help to restore the public’s faith that every vote cast is being counted.
A fine example of potential legislation is provided below, along with several more news reports of voting irregularities in recent elections.
Thank you for your time. Please help!
Sincerely,
J. Rubbins
Proposed Election Legislation: Let America Vote Act
https://bradblog.com/?p=3502#more-3502
Washington Post story: Major Problems At Polls Feared
http://www.washingtonpost.com/w...600885_pf.html
Cafferty File: Should e-voting machines be outlawed?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...d&search=
Diebold Accuvote Virus – Princeton University study
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JESZiLpBLE
Fox News Story on recent Princeton study of Diebold voting machines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch
v=oE1wQdCqrjE&mode=related&search=
I just sent the sample letter above to my two senators and my congresswoman. It was somewhat disconcerting to see on Sen. Wyden’s website that they’d get back to me in 6-8 WEEKS!
I think I’ll fax the letter as well.
Joan asked:
Because passing even something as simple and no-brainer as this will be no small task with the congress we have, but (perhaps even more so) in the very few legislative days left before the election recess.
It would be impossible, for reasons too numerous to mention here, to get a bill through calling for the scrapping of billions of dollars of (crappy) election preparations at this late date prior to the election.
So this small bill, is — as I see it — the only possible legislative “reform” that we can possibly hope for right now.
The “terminated by Feb 2007” language is similar in there to give Congress no reason to avoid passing this now. Pass it now, just to get us through November and make any and all needed changes (and there are many of them, as you likely know) later.
This is a “No Excuses” bill! There is no excuse not to pass it NOW!
Foreget e-mails. You’ve got to call and visit your elected reps’ offices. For every call they assume 10 other people who didn’t bother. Frr evey visit they assume 25-50 other people who didn’t take the time.
Your FEET ON THE GROUND and VOICE ON THE PHONE can make a difference.
When they go “Hi Charlie, what now?” (they have caller I.D.) when you call, you’ll know you’ve done your job. Well, if your name is Charlie, anyway.
For those who think absentee voting is the best way, read this article by Greg Palast.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1511
Fall 2006 Issue: Health Care For All Recipe for a Cooked Election
by Greg Palast
Absentee Ballots Uncounted. The number of absentee ballots has quintupled in many states, with the number rejected on picayune technical grounds rising to over half a million (526,420) in 2004. In swing states, absentee ballot shredding was pandemic.
The sum of “the uncounted” (Provisional Ballots) is astonishing: 675,676 ballots lost in the counties reporting to the federal government. Add in the missing jurisdictions and the un-vote climbs to over a million: 1,090,729 provisional ballots tossed out.
My elections commissioner says there is a big issue about the ENVELOPE a ballot goes into. He has devised an envelope to contain the paper ballots of registered voters, and a different one to contain the paper ballots of provisional voters. That way they will know which votes can be counted on election night.The provisional votes have to be scrutinized more carefully and so they take more time to count. So if someone says there won’t be any way to separate registered voters from provisional voters who are all voting on paper ballots, well, there is!
Brad, the way I’m going to thank you for initiating this is just to get started on it. My inner critic (who is SO busy these days), is just going to have to let go of this one. There is really nothing else for us to do.
Since I live in Feeney’s district I went to his website and signed up for his press releases and e-newsletter. I got one today bragging about how he voted for this! Here is just one portion of the release:
Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Oviedo) voted in support of the Federal Election Integrity Act, H.R. 4844, which preserves the integrity of the election process by requiring voters show photo identification and, in time, proof of citizenship. H.R. 4844 adheres to the recommendations of the bi-partisan Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Elections Reform.
“The democratic election process is one of the most fundamental and basic constitutional rights that we have as U.S. citizens. Even still, voter fraud is a real issue that taints the integrity of this process, with voters illegally casting multiple ballots and non-citizens participating in elections,” stated Feeney.
“Turning a blind-eye to voter fraud is irresponsible and allows legitimate ballots to be canceled-out by illegal votes. Congress has an obligation to protect the legal votes of American citizens.”
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH (whoops..these are MY comments…lol)
Emma
… J. Rubbins #10
EXCELLENT letter!
… GWN #14
It’s beyond frustrating how on any blog talking about e-vote fraud there are always people promoting Absentee Ballots!! Mark Crispin Miller, Dr. David Dill, Senator (soon to be Sec of State!) Debra Bowen, Bev Harris, and countless others have been warning against absentee ballots as a solution for many years now — yet somehow, there’s always a post or two or more encouraging everyone to vote absentee. One would almost think the idea was firmly planted by the same thugs who use every tactic imaginable to deny our votes are cast and counted as cast!
Thank for you bringing to the forefront yet another voice warning of the dangers of absentee voting!
Hmm – I am starting to wonder about absentee voting after the comments here aginst it.
Maybe it’s time to make a change.
For the Boobengrabbers special election last year I marked the wrong box on my absentee ballot so I ended up voting at the polling place and for the primaries this year I ended up hand carrying it to the poll since I wanted to try and get a look at what they were using for voting machines etc.
I guess I already have made a change!
A reminder why these bu$$hco prevaricating fascist liars must be voted out of office come November 2006,..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...D2-w1E&NR
this video may help convince fence sitters who might not fully understand the significance of the damage bu$$hco has done to America and her democracy,.. bu$$hco Kool-Aid drinkers will likely never comprehend.
Brad wrote:
“If Congress cares (and if you help them to do so!), I’m quite certain that this measure can be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by George W. Bush with Terri Schiavo-like speed.”
Brad, I have to ask: are you drinking?
I’m afraid that you still don’t have a clue as to who and what these Bush Crime Family/Bush regime people are and what they are about…as well as their enablers in Congress. These Bush people and their enablers are all about stealing/rigging elections. They are not for fair, legitimate and credible elections so why on earth would they favor your proposal?
“We” should not have to “help Congress care.” They should care automatically all on their own if they were truly interested in democracy, but the fact is, most in Congress could care less otherwise they would have done something about this long, long before now.
George W Bush is not about to sign this thing. PERIOD. And you think he would sign it with lightening speed? LOL. Oh lord. You can’t possibly be that naive to think that. Bush despises democracy. He stole democracy in 2000 and 2004 remember? He’s been shredding the US Constitution since Day One. Shredding democracy. Yet you think he would sign this thing to protect democracy in 2006? That is Incredible. His regime despises democracy. So why would he sign something like this to encourage democracy? What are you thinking? I think you’ve lost it to tell you the truth. I don’t know what happened on that trip you took for 2 months but I think you’ve absolutely lost it.
Remember your meeting in Chicago with the Dems? Remember your frustration there? I read about it. You came away from that meeting rather disappointed as I recall. The Congress is even less clueless than those dead Dems in Chicago were/are.
What you are attempting should have been attempted months and months ago (not that it would have gotten anywhere then either!) You predicted this trainwreck months ago. So why wait until 6 weeks before the so-called “election” to do this?
And you think George W Bush would sign this thing. LOL. Sigh. Oh lord. Whatever you’re smoking it’s some pretty strong stuff, that’s all I can say. I wouldn’t want any of it. I at least like to keep my wits about me. I never touch the stuff really but I do have a little chaw every now and then.
Brad,
I appreciate your answering my question & I get your points.
Can you tell us who in Congress you’ve spoken to about this bill so we could call & let them know people are behind it, or is that not possible?
I’ll call my reps, but if there are others you think might be receptive we could call them also.
This is getting all too confusing!
First it was Chris Hooten and Chris that I got all twisted up a while back, then Charlie L and Charlie, now Emma and Erma!
Sorry if I get you all discomboobulated!
Guess I need a score card!
#20,
Hey Erma, go fly a kite!
Erma #20
I thank GOD for people like Brad Friedman. If it weren’t for him, this blog, and my brilliant Clarkie friends, I would have thrown in the towel long ago.
You are convinced it’s too late, so why do you even bother coming here? To discourage further?
Maybe you’re right, maybe it’s too late and we’re all fools for trying, but as long as there are brave and true patriots like Brad, General Clark, and all the others out there fighting to save our country, I will not give up either.
Have you given up, Erma?
Why are you guys ragging on Erma? She is absolutely right. And so is Brad.
Today was a very important day in US history. Today our corrupt crony Congress not only passed a massive voter ID bill that will cost literally MILLIONS of Democratic votes, but it also today approved an increase in domestic spying and torture to further Despot Bush’s fake war on (of) terror (quash domestic dissent.) These were crucial linchpins in the Bush regime’s continued consolidation of power and Rove’s permanent Republican majority plan.
Today, officially, I have lost all faith that we will be able to change the system fairly. The final nails in American freedom are being hammered in. Fascism is here, in a pathetically thin disguise the Dems refuse to see through and the press deliberately ignore. They have allowed it to happen. As of now, the NeoCons have choked off all possible ways of voting them out. Money had been appropriated for the construction of American stalags for the domestic dissenters. They have already taken over the televised and print media. They will snuff out Air America, then they will silence the bloggers. And then it will be all over.
Sorry to be so damn pessimistic, guys, but when you get a day like today, how can you not be? I am very certain that Jeb will be “elected” in ’08. Many of us may be in gulags then. It’s come down to this: unless some brave generals take a cue from Thailand, America is done for.
By the same token, that doesn’t mean I’ve given up either. I’ve faxed this bill to my congressperson and to Pelosi. Will it pass, based on what we saw today? No, it cannot. Will I continue to try? Absolutely.
But as of today, I will also begin making plans to leave the United States. Because as of today, I am 100% convinced democracy has been eradicated here.
#24: You are convinced it’s too late, so why do you even bother coming here? To discourage further?
Exactly.
#25: Everything you have described is a good reason to stay in the country, not abandon it.
Erma#20
There are two choices: do something, or, do nothing. If we do something there’s a chance we can get results. If we do nothing there is no chance we’ll get results.
Many of us have been fighting defensive measures as Bush has worked feverishly to destroy our civil liberties. We petitioned Barbara Boxer to stand up against election certification, against all odds : and she did (as did brave members of the House). We fought against the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005 which would have destroyed our right of habeas corpus, and we won. We fought against reinstating the Patriot Act as it was written, got a few changes made (not enough, but some). Currently we are fighting hard to prevent Bush from passing egregious and unconstitutional bills on military commissions and just today his military tribunal bill failed to pass. And just look at Brad Friedman: bringing the issue of election integrity all the way from a single green blog into the living rooms of America on Lou Dobbs, and into the minds of Congress and hopefully into our hands as we hold our paper ballots in November. The thing is, even though they have the federal govt, WE HAVE THE PEOPLE. And when enough people get pissed off, when enough people rebel, they cannot prevail against us. They don’t want blood in the streets, they know they are little, and we are big. Our enemy is the attitude that shows up in your post, (and that’s an enemy we all fight). Our enemy is also fear and conformity and apathy( probably not your problem). We won against them even though they have the federal govt., and the press, and the tube, and the money, and the Supreme Court. We won because we have something better: we have that anger and that sense of outrage you get when gross injustice starts to rule the day. There’s something in the human psyche that just won’t tolerate injustice forever. People may tolerate it for awhile, but then come the feudal barons insisting King John sign the Magna Carta, and the Revolution and the Civil War, etc, etc, etc. Those historical events have a clear message: people know there are conditions under which they do not thrive and ultimately they will not tolerate them. It doesn’t seem to be human nature to tolerate unfairness forever. And if it were, nothing would ever change. So do something or do nothing, but I think you’ll feel a lot better if you do something.
This IS occupation. I can’t even go out at night without the local cops checking up on me. Yes fascism is here.
“I must have used up my free speech”
Play it again Hugo!
http://video.google.com/videopl...+un&hl=en
Wigwam Jones
Katie Couric and Free Speech
“Saw the news last night with Katie Couric as news anchor. I comment on this only because of something she said during her intro, something that made me choke on a waffle I was snarfling at the time. She introduced a new segment to the show, something she calls “Free Speech.” Interestingly, she characterized it as “a privilege we have.”
Now, I don’t know about you, my little droogies. Maybe things are very different where you are. Where I am from, the gold old US of A, a ‘privilege’ is a ‘right or benefit granted someone’. See, what she’s saying is that we have the ‘right’ to ‘Freedom of Speech.’ But by calling it a ‘privilege’, she’s also saying that it has been granted to us. That implies it could be taken away again.
This bothers me no little bit.
See, Freedom of Speech is not a privilege. It is a right, acknowledged by our Founding Fathers as being a pre-existing condition, as it were. It was not given us by the US Constitution, we had it already, by the natural state of being born in the USA as citizens of this great nation. For Christians, this right is seen as given by God or our Creator. For those of non-religious persuasions, let’s just say that Freedom is a condition that attaches to personhood – all people are born free as part of their human condition.
Our rights, our civil rights, cannot be ‘taken away’ by the US government. In fact, that is precisely what the Bill of Rights is – not a declaration OF our rights, but rather, a list of prohibitions against the federal government.
Does the Bill of Rights say “You have the right of free speech?” No! It says that the federal government is PROHIBITED from infringing on free speech. Do you understand the difference? This is critical.
What is given can be taken away again. If our ‘Free Speech’ is a privilege, as Katie Couric seems to think, then the government, having given us it, can take it away, as one can revoke a driver’s license.
The Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, simply identified the rights that human beings, and more specifically, citizens of the USA, already have, given us by our Creator.
I’m sorry Katie; you’re not allowed to take our rights away.
Smooches,
Wiggy
posted by Wigwam Jones at 9/06/2006 03:52:00 PM ”
Katie stick to colons . . .
🙂 I love you, Erma.
#20 Hi Erma 🙂
Have you ever seen a Cheech and Chong movie? They are pretty funny, i.e. “they have their wits about them”
Are you still pooh-poohing everything we try to do as far as electoral integrity? What have you done?
There’s room for alternative viewpoints here. Don’t feel like everyone is ganging up on you. Brad said to my face that he likes you. (Your comments, that is) But I think you poo-poo way too much.
🙂
Hey Brad, This one of the advertisements off your banner:
http://www.lamisil.com/index.js...#038;checked=y
Good ole Digger the dermatophyte A.K.A. Dick Morris . . .
I am calling my Bush pocket congress people today because I want my country back. I am calling today because Brad and Friends have given us an alternative proposal to back, and press our congress people to back. I am calling today because I will forever be able to say: “I told you so and I tried to stop it.”; when the election trainwreck happens if LAVA is not adopted. I think the timing is right because it is NOW. Votes: Have a nice day (paper), or nuke them all (electronic).
Dear Senator Barbara Boxer,
Although I thing you are trying to do the right thing S.450 is not enough.
This is an EMERGENCY CALL TO ARMS. OR Ink Pens. ( I am not playing no
games here, I ain’t a lawyer, I am a technician, I do programming,
electronics, and networking )
If this legislation is not already circulating, then you should skip
your lunch and write it yourself. MANY people are watching your
actions on this issue. I know your heart is in the right place, but if
you really care about Civil Rights and Voting Rights please skip a
lunch and WRITE THIS UP. There is no more important matter than this,
unless we are not being told something. Is there something SECRET that
our government is hiding from it’s people? If that’s so, then we now
have a “need to know” exactly what that secret is.
Otherwise please get moving on this, fast-track it or whatever, many
people in the United States Of America are dealing with intolerable
conditions now. If there is something hidden from ‘we the people’ we
WILL find it out.
Here you go… Proposed legislation that needs to be forced.
LET AMERICA VOTE ACT
(EMERGENCY PAPER BALLOT MANDATE OF 2006)
WHEREAS significant failures of electronic voting machines have
occurred in various jurisdictions during primary elections held in
Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Maryland and other states during 2006, and
WHEREAS such failures have forced legitimate, registered voters to
have been turned away from the polls by the thousands so far in 2006
primary elections simply because neither voting machines nor paper
ballots were available for use when the voters arrived at their
polling place, and
WHEREAS the probability exists that such failures will continue and
the adverse results of such failures will be multiplied and increased
in magnitude by the additional number of voters participating in the
November 7, 2006 General Election, and
WHEREAS the potential exists for massive disenfranchisement of
American voters in the November 7, 2006 General Election, by such
failures of electronic voting machines,
NOW THEREFORE be it enacted that:
A. For the November 7, 2006, General Election, each election
jurisdiction shall be required to prepare and print Emergency Paper
Ballots of the proper ballot style for all races and propositions
which shall be contested in that jurisdiction.
B. Such Emergency Paper Ballots shall be printed in sufficient
quantity to guarantee that every voter who may require one, either as
requested or as a result of voting machine unavailability, shall be
able to receive such an Emergency Paper Ballot.
C. As with all provisional ballots, such Emergency Paper Ballots shall
be printed in all languages specified for ballots in that
jurisdiction.
D. Any voter eligible to vote in the jurisdiction in which he or she
requests an Emergency Paper Ballot shall be entitled to receive and
cast such Emergency Paper Ballot, regardless of the type of ballot
that shall have been specifiied in that jurisdiction through operation
of law, without further qualification, request, proof or furnishing of
reason for such request.
E. Such Emergency Paper Ballots shall be official ballots for purposes
of casting, tabulating, audits, redundant counts and recounts, and
shall not be considered provisional ballots.
F. Emergency Paper Ballots shall be cast and tabulated in the same
manner as all other ballots cast on November 7, 2006.
G. The associated costs to states for this mandate will be reimbursed
out of Help America Vote Act funding.
H. This Act shall terminate and cease to have effect on February 28,
2007.
Thank you for you attention to this matter.
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State
Your Zip Code
#28 J of J — Wiggy knows of what he/she speaks. (Sorry I can’t get videos with my clunker computer.)
Seems to me Tom Ridge said something along those lines about the “privilege” of free speech.
Our Congress can be sold down the river and the judicial system can be 100% corrupt and say, for example, that Congress could say that laws could be changed retroactively or that the 1st or 4th amendment are nullified. That would present us with a practical problem, not one of submit or not submit. The final arbiters – the courts (particularly the Supreme Court) are not really the final arbiters because rights are derived from the people. That’s what is revolutionary about the Constitution and why is it such a thorn in the side of those who can’t stand freedom and why they are always trying to paint over its true meaning.
But after decades of security cameras, taxation designed to funnel our money into corporate accounts, strip malls where people are consciously funneled from one store to another and which have blotted out community derived from the people, fast food stores where meals are units and seating is designed to be just slightly uncomfortable so that you move out and the next consumer moves in, television where funny families and places of employment (corporate-approved) are substitutes for real life (for actual joyful families and good places to work), where you speed across on the country on interstates oblivious to any remnants of community culture, where our tax money -through loopholes and corporate welfare – ends up in advertising and marketing budgets for very consciously manipulating your inmost soul for crass profit … Is it any wonder that many people assume that they are here by privilege and it becomes easy to miss the fact that anything actually derives from themselves?
BTW, I’m in BVAC’s corner re: Erma. He/she is as phony as a three-dollar bill. It’s of great importance to keep the flow of action going and doing the right thing, even if the chances of success are small. It’s when action is blocked and there is no longer movement – as appears to be Erma’s motive – that fascism really takes over. I guess I’m in a minority here, but I saw the same damn thing Erma’s doing locally and it was an out-and-out plant. Either way, I don’t think we can afford uselessness right now.
#22 bluebear2
I hear you. We must keep our wits. I was thinking I was done with this war just two days ago.
DO NOT GIVE UP.
I used Brad’s above link for contacting members of Congress & called Senators Nelson & Martinez & Rep. Meek. I asked them to support the Let America Vote Act, told them what it was, told them to go to Bradblog.com & read it.
I also told them about Maryland’s governor Ehrlich wanting to scrap the electronic voting machines & use paper ballots in November since the machines have wreaked havoc there & in numerous other states, all of which is documented in detail at Bradblog.
I agree with Dave M, #32. If this does not work and we face that train wreck in November, I want to be able to say
“I told you so and I tried to stop it.” I remember John Conyers saying something similar when asked why he keeps documenting & writing letter after letter, all of which go unanswered. He wants to be able to say “I did all I could. I saw what was going on & spoke up against it. It’s in the record for history to judge.”
Thank you so much, Brad. All the work you do is in the record too. That statue of you that they put up in the park better be real good!
Arry,
You may be right about Erma being a plant. The thought has crossed my mind. But it’s certainly possible that she’s just thoroughly fed up & disgusted & means what she says.
I love Brad’s response to her. He seems blessed with such a sunny nature. Dunno how he does it!
How glorious it would be if we had world leaders who could address serious issues without behaving like spoiled children; who were capable of speaking to one another without calling each other names; who could exercise restraint & behave like gentlemen, like statesmen.
Boy, there’s a pipedream if there ever was one!
Joan says, “I love Brad’s response to her. He seems blessed with such a sunny nature. Dunno how he does it!” I know. It’s a wonder and I’m jealous!
“How glorious it would be if we had world leaders who could address serious issues without behaving like spoiled children…”
Right now I’d settle for just addressing serious issues 🙁
Re: my #34 — We are all, of course, waiting impatiently for the latest Disneyland attraction: Constitution Land.
I called my Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions and requested non-provisional Emergency Paper Ballots be made available at all polling places this year due to the numerous problems nationwide occuring with electronic voting machines. I also asked him to support LAVA and gave him the URL. I then asked the nice woman who answered if any one else had called about this issue. She said no. At least one call is better than none.
Amen, Arry #38.
Brad-
When I spell-checked my email to my congressman’s assistant, it caught the misspelling “specifiied” in section D.
To paraphrase Colbert: If I’m lookin’ over your shoulder, it’s just because I’m watchin’ your back!
Every vote should have a paper ballot to back it up. It is vitally important that the fraud that accompanied the last two elections not be allowed to distort and affect the outcome of this November’s election. Please move forward on this mandate and install machines wit paper ballots in every precinct.
Don’t pick on Erma just because she is upset. This is why it’s important to CONTINUSOUSLY preach to the choir. The choir is depressed and defeated.
I’ve been watching Bill Clinton trapise around the country and am wondering why all of a sudden I don’t like him anymore. I think it’s because Hillary is a screw up.
Even if we DO get this passed, will it make any differnce to get the DEMS in there, when all they do is vote on behalf of Israel – all the time.
What’s up with that?
This is a very good start, much needed.
It should go even further,
as America is in desperate need of empowering common people to lawfully address the evils of our modern society.
This is a very good start.
A great idea which should certainly not end with this pro-American, pro-Democracy and pro-populist proposal. Congress must ban ANY participation in US elections by Diebold and Sequoia due to the proven untrustworthiness of their machines; the fidelity of the representative voice of Americans MUST come before any other considerations.
We have lost our ability to vote. It has been privatized, and the source code is “secret”. Losing the vote is the first step in transitioning from Democracy to Fascism. The first step has already been taken.
Paper ballots need to be not an option, but mandatory until these corporate owned voting machines are outlawed. It is insanity to allow these machines to be used.
If student voting is already only 10%, way to help that change with the corp. owned voting machines! There’s gotta be a change…SOON!
Bring back AMERICA! The free Republic ruled by and for the people.
There are major problems with the voting methods and systems in the so called “Greatest Democracy”. Let’s put the voters voice back where it belongs : In the ballot box !
It is my Opinion, to get confidence back into the Government,by all means make the voting system honorable.
To do this, have a back up system where in a vote may be checked at a later date, if necessary.
As it stands now, there is a large percentage of the voting population who feel there is corruption in the voting system.
Voting is a very important thing, and the message needs to get across so that all the avaliable voters can be at those polls!! At my college Eastern Connecticut State University, the Democrat Club here is going door to door in all the dorms in hopes to register new voters, or people who may have just not registered yet. I think that this is a great step, but I believe everyone must help and take one as well. We need to get the people who actually care about America in those seats, no more opportunities to get people like George W Bush!!!!!
A. For the November 7, 2006, General Election, each election jurisdiction shall be required to prepare and print Emergency Paper Ballots of the proper ballot style for all races and propositions which shall be contested in that jurisdiction.
B. Such Emergency Paper Ballots shall be printed in sufficient quantity to guarantee that every voter who may require one, either as requested or as a result of voting machine unavailability, shall be able to receive such an Emergency Paper Ballot.
C. As with all provisional ballots, such Emergency Paper Ballots shall be printed in all languages specified for ballots in that jurisdiction.
D. Any voter eligible to vote in the jurisdiction in which he or she requests an Emergency Paper Ballot shall be entitled to receive and cast such Emergency Paper Ballot, regardless of the type of ballot that shall have been specifiied in that jurisdiction through operation of law, without further qualification, request, proof or furnishing of reason for such request.
E. Such Emergency Paper Ballots shall be official ballots for purposes of casting, tabulating, audits, redundant counts and recounts, and shall not be considered provisional ballots.
F. Emergency Paper Ballots shall be cast and tabulated in the same manner as all other ballots cast on November 7, 2006.
G. The associated costs to states for this mandate will be reimbursed out of Help America Vote Act funding.
H. This Act shall terminate and cease to have effect on February 28, 2007.
I support this Bill Calling for Emergency Paper Ballots at Every Polling Place in America this November!
Sincerely, Ward Phillip Smith