Open up our democracy for more voter choices during election day

This is Bloggers Unite for Human Rights Day. Of course, human rights is a fundamental issue for people around the world every single day. It's a privilege to share with you All Things Reform's concerns in this particular day and age.

Democracy is very important in a nation's electoral process. Here, in the United States, the political system is dominated by only two parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. We must open up our democracy to allow more voices for citizen consideration during the primaries and on general election day.

Presently, for example, the presidential race is basically only between our two major political parties. In a couple of the latest several general elections, third party candidacies have influenced voting outcomes: Independent Ross Perot in 1992 and Green Party nominee Ralph Nader in 2000. The two-party-dominated electoral politics rendered these powerful candidacies weak, yet even they influenced the winner-take-all electoral system's results.

Our electoral system must allow more eligible candidacies from outside the Democratic and Republican parties a prominent place during election season. Effective solutions include general election ballot access in the states, Instant Runoff Voting, voluntary public financing of elections and Proportional Representation.

When the voter during election season contemplates the candidates in the various races, they must not be pressured into considering only the two philosophies of the major parties. More choice is good for the democratic process, for the people and for a vibrant republic.

For further information on electoral reform, please visit FairVote, at http://www.fairvote.org/.

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Tell US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on new FEC commissioners

Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) has launched a new campaign website called Fix the FEC. Since early this year, the Federal Election Commission has been without a quorum of its commissioners (there are only two of the normal six commissioners), rendering many of it's regulatory responsibilities useless.

Fix the FEC is very well-designed and easy to use. First and foremost, it asks the public to send a letter to US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to let the senate vote in new commissioners to return the FEC to quorum. You can send your letter right from the site's homepage. Then, you can send a letter to your family and friends about the campaign from another webpage. Background information about the current FEC crisis, its latest news and an FEC violation tipline are also easily located on Fix the FEC.

I highly recommend you participate with CREW using this great activist campaign website, Fix the FEC.

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Sign the Voters First Pledge at Public Campaign Action Fund, for volunteer public financing of federal elections

Public Campaign Action Fund is running a Voter Pledge drive for clean elections for federal candidates. Clean elections is another term for volunteer public financing of candidate campaigns. It can save the candidates from "dialing for dollars" every day in order to keep their campaign money flowing; this allows them to focus their time and energy on their important issues they want to share with the voters.

Please sign the 2008 Voters First Pledge right now, at Public Campaign-- you can help increase the pressure on lawmakers and candidates to back this needed reform. Thank you

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Sign the letter to presidential candidate John McCain for public financing of elections

Public Campaign Action Fund has written a letter to US Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and they'd like us to sign onto it. The letter emphasizes the importance of two bills currently being legislated that would introduce and strengthen public financing of congressional and presidential races, effective in 2009. They are the Fair Elections Now Act (S.1285) and the Presidential Funding Act (S.436).

It is a great opportunity for Sen. McCain to return to his long celebrated reform issues and support these public financing bills. Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have co-sponsored them already.

Sign onto Public Campaign's online letter now, then spread the word! The more signatures of Americans fed up with special interest big money in federal campaigns, the more influential the letter to McCain will be! Thanks!

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Tell your two US Senators to vote YES on Fair Elections

It's now time again to contact your two US Senators and ask them to vote YES for public financing of congressional campaigns. A bill addresses this, called The Fair Elections Now Act (S.1285). Fair Elections is a major campaign finance reform issue, and passing it would undercut alot of questions relating to legislators' possible favoring of their private campaign contributors.

You can reach your senators through Yahoo! CapWiz, or, you can call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Thank you!

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Follow "local" bloggers up to general election day at Patchwork Nation

The Christian Science Monitor has just unveiled a different kind of "election 2008" web site, called "Patchwork Nation". Instead of the common "red state/ blue state" analysis of the nation's voters, it focuses on 11 different types of communities, based on census data and demographics. You can find out with your zip code where you are and follow local blogs up to general election day this November, 2008; statistics are given on what each community looks like.

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At the polling place: a song

I ran across this old poem of severl years ago that unfortunately ring true today! It's a tongue-in-cheek experience of a visit to the polling place.. :))

AT THE POLLS: A SONG

Lasting in Line
is a crazy thing...
There is so much to do
before you can be voting

there is the heartfelt
chatter of hazing,
by those that have voted...

there is the cute
crashing of the computer,
by those that sell to voters...

there is the quaint
intimidation,
by those that run the vote...

Yes, Lasting in Line
is a crazy thing...
There is so much to do
by those that help voting

Oh, Lasting in Line
is a crazy thing...
There is so much to do
by those that help voting


David Weller

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Watch video on public financing of elections

John Rauh, founder of Americans for Campaign Reform (Just $6) interviews best-selling author Frances Moore Lappe in an entertaining video about public financing of elections, or, as some call it, "clean elections".

Presently, this video clip is not picked up by users of the Firefox browser.
UPDATE: A commenter notified us that video works on Firefox. Thanks for letting us know!

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Take pictures while at your polling place

The Polling Place Photo Project is a program of The New York Times and AIGA, the professional association for design. The Polling Place Photo Project is a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism that encourages voters to capture, post and share photographs of this year’s primaries, caucuses and general election. By documenting local voting experiences, participants can contribute to an archive of photographs that captures the richness and complexity of voting in America.

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Under-appreciated and often ill-trained poll workers need your help

The Associated Press (AP) has published an article about many of the problems experienced by poll workers so far this election season; the Feb. 23rd story is entitled "Precinct hiccups blamed on poor training". These employees often are ill-trained for the variety of voting machines on the market today and complicated voting rules; they sometimes have to manage long voter lines; and possible problems with voter rolls or other election official snafus complicate an already under-appreciated job.

You can help if your state still has not had primaries or caucuses, or you can wait until the upcoming November general elections to assist. Just contact your local elections office for details. Also, there are many nonprofit organizations that reform the electoral process and help voters-- you can find a list of these on this blog's left hand column.

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Same Diebold, same Premier Election Solutions

Remember Diebold Election Systems? Well, due to all of their scandals of the past few years, they have changed their name to Premier Election Solutions! And not only that, but the new company's "new, independent" board of directors of five individuals include three former officials of Diebold!

I believe in old-fashioned, verifiable, paper ballot voting-- not the hackable, historically-unreliable electronic voting machines "Premier" and the other couple of major manufacturers sell at a profit to our nation's public election officials.

Check out the BRAD BLOG for this "news" from the old folks of Diebold.

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Tune in tonight to Election Defense Radio show for latest elections news and commentary

Election Defense Radio will be broadcast live this evening, Tues. Feb. 19. It is a weekly live internet radio show by Election Defense Alliance. 8:00 - 9:00 pm Eastern / 7:00 - 8:00 pm Central / 5:00 - 6:00 pm Pacific.

To "tune in" via the Internet, go to http://www.toginet.com and click on either of the two Audio Players (Flash or Windows Media) you will see in the upper right corner.

Call in with your questions, too, at 877-864-4869

Shows are replayed on Sundays 1 - 2 pm Eastern at the same location on your internet dial (recorded, no call-ins)

Downloadable audio files of each show are available at the Toginet site and at EDA's radio page the next day.

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Will John McCain have a campaign finance conscience this election season?

Public Campaign posted today that, now that Pres. Bush has recognized John McCain as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, he has forwarded his "list" of big money donors he enjoyed when he was a candidate. This is quite disturbing, as we can see the corruption and secrecy from the administration that is inherent in exuberant campaign fundraising. George W. Bush put the F in fundraising by encouraging and rewarding the bundling of contributions from politically active companies.

Where has the R gone in reformer for McCain? The following several months of candidacy shall reveal the truth.

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Help Common Cause advertise on "Holt" secure election machine bill

Common Cause is asking for financial donations to help them on an advertising run. If you can help them put up a newspaper ad in all nine of a committee members' hometown newspapers concerning an elections-related bill, please help at the link below. Here is their full fundraising letter:

Dear __,

As a strong supporter of Common Cause, you know that when our country's most important issues are on the line, Common Cause is at work.

Help us place online newspaper ads to get the Holt bill moving. Donate today!

With elections in full swing and dozens of states left in the lurch, without secure voting machines, our democracy's basic values aren't merely "on the line" – they're in the line of fire. And, to make matters worse, the Holt bill, which would secure those voting machines, is locked up in Congress' Committee on House Administration.

Here's the good news: Common Cause already has big plans underway to keep the ball rolling on the Holt bill. With your support, we'll run ads on the Committee members' local newspapers' websites, urging them to bring the Holt bill to a vote, and to secure our elections once and for all.

Help Common Cause launch nine online newspaper ads with a donation today!

Unfortunately, right now we only have the resources to run the ad in one local newspaper – the hometown paper of Rep. Brady, the Chairman of the House Administration Committee. But, the fact is, in order to turn up the heat on Congress and get the Holt bill to a vote, we've got to run ads online in all nine of the Committee members' newspapers.

That's why your immediate support is critical. Only with your help can we launch all of the ads we need to keep up the pressure and ensure that Congress does not dilly dally in voting on this critical legislation.

Help Common Cause launch all nine online newspaper ads with a donation today!

It's plain to see that a wave of change is sweeping over our country. We cannot allow that wave of change to stop short simply because of voting machine errors that could have been prevented had Congress passed the Holt bill.

David, I hope it's as clear to you as it is to me: with this being a big change election year, if we want an election process we can trust – and I know you do – we must act together, and we must act now.

Thanks for all you do,

Bob Edgar
Common Cause

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Upcoming third party lawsuits for better ballot access and other easings of restrictions

Richard Winger's Ballot Access News reports several state third party court cases coming up in the next couple of months by COFOE (Coalition for Free & Open Elections). Third parties have historically had difficult hurdles in most states in gaining access to general election day ballots for their respective candidates, one among a myriad of other hardships. Of course, most states in the union include legislators, and judiciary, almost exclusively from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Several lawsuits against repressive ballot access laws are likely to be filed in February and March, some of them with financial support from COFOE, others not. They include a lawsuit to be filed against the Ohio law that bans circulators for independent candidates unless the circulators are registered voters in Ohio; a lawsuit against Illinois law on the number of signatures for unqualified parties and independent candidates for US House; a similar lawsuit for independent candidates for US House in North Carolina; a similar lawsuit for independent candidates for US House in Alabama; a lawsuit against New Hampshire’s refusal to permit presidential substitution; and a lawsuit against the new March petition deadline for independent candidates (for office other than president) in Montana.

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Democracy Day is June 5th

On June 5 in Minneapolis (MN), FairVote is joining with Common Cause, Public Campaign and Liberty Tree to host Democracy Day - a gathering in the spirit of last November's Claim Democracy conference and a lead-in to Free Press's huge media reform conference taking place that weekend. Visit ClaimDemocracy.com as details develop.

Tentative Schedule:

• Plenaries by Leading Experts in the Pro-Democracy Movement
• Workshops on Topics Ranging from voter protection, structural electoral reforms, and democracy focused movement building
• Democracy Film Festival Featuring Why Democracy? Film Series

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Check your state for electoral reform bills in legislation

FairVote has "Roadmap for Reform - 2007", a page of bills introduced in the states in 2007 on electoral reform. Many of these bills are still in the legislative process, so check out your own state to see how your state is doing; then, call on your state representative and state senator to make your own opinions heard.

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Audio clip on helping make election work more accurate

The BRAD BLOG has a very informative audio clip-- an interview with Tom Herman of Vocalo.org about how the general public can help see that the polling place during election day is effective and their ballot counting is accurate. Listen to the clip and get inspired to volunteer for a democratic process the is the best in the world. It's 14 minutes long.

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Make Voting Work initiative brings millions of dollars to electoral reforms

A large, private foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, is financially supporting election system reforms. Although the Help America Vote Act of 2002 was a major overhaul of electoral machines and other system problems in the aftermath of the 2000 Presidential elections, this is an effort to focus on additional problems. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts:

The Pew Center on the States’ Make Voting Work initiative and the JEHT Foundation today are joining with election experts and state and local officials across the country to address the most pressing problems facing voters during the 2008 elections. In partnership with the JEHT Foundation, Pew is awarding $2.5 million in funding to 16 projects that advance innovative solutions to critical flaws in our elections system and improve accuracy, convenience, efficiency and security for voters. An additional $1 million in funding will be awarded over the next six months. The projects were selected from 183 proposals submitted to Pew in 2007 from state and local governments and election experts.
Make Voting Work selected the 16 projects, which focus their work on five distinct areas where major failings have been identified and improvements are being debated and implemented by election officials, but where additional expertise is desired and necessary to shape and evaluate these efforts. These areas include:

Voter Registration System Assessment ($669,000)
Successful voter registration systems enable eligible citizens to vote without undue burden, secure our elections from those ineligible to participate and facilitate communication with voters. Yet, registration rolls are created from piecemeal data collected by local election officials, state motor vehicle agencies and other nonpartisan and partisan get-out-the-vote campaigns. As a result, rolls fail to keep pace with a mobile society and are often inaccurate and costly to maintain. ...

Vote Centers ($568,000)
States are increasingly grappling with the problem of overcrowded, inconveniently located and poorly designed polling places. In response, some states are experimenting with vote centers that replace neighborhood precincts and allow voters to cast ballots at large, centralized polling places anywhere in their city or county—near their work, school, shopping center or other destination. ...

Audits of Elections ($467,000)
With concerns about the accuracy of voting systems continuing to rise, post-election audit requirements have been adopted by states seeking to ensure the integrity of the electoral process. Still, state requirements vary dramatically and there are no generally accepted standards for how to verify an election outcome. Make Voting Work seeks to fill that void by funding the testing of multiple techniques for measuring the validity and accuracy of vote counts on various voting systems. In addition, Make Voting Work is supporting efforts to broaden the definition of an election audit, seeking to identify other elements—beyond vote counts—that should be audited, such as pre-election preparations and poll worker performance. ...

Online Training for Poll Workers ($318,000)
Volunteer poll workers are the foot soldiers of democracy, but, as recently documented by Pew’s electionline.org, their enthusiasm needs to be joined with proper training—particularly essential as voting systems and rules take on greater complexity. ...

Election Performance Assessment ($465,000)
To further help election officials, policy makers and the public assess the true impact of changes in policies, practices and technologies, Make Voting Work aspires to identify means that can be consistently applied to measure accuracy, convenience, efficiency and security. ...

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Only voter-verifiable paper trail machines will do!

ZDNet's Zero Day blog reports that research on the voting machines of Ohio confirms our worst fears-- there are many security problems associated with them. This is not new news, as we have been hearing stories of voting machine breaches of security for several years, especially electronic ones.

This pattern of laxity and unaccountability among the voting machine manufacturers is an atrocity. Nothing is more important to a nation's viability than clean and fair elections, for all levels of government. We all have witnessed the chaos of the 2000 presidential election day, and the controversies of 2004's; this is only what we know happened.

We cannot allow another successive election season crater to voting machine problems. The only safe and accountable solution is voter-verifiable paper trail voting. We, the people, should never demand less from our electoral administrators.

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