Do you remember the utter frustration after the 2004 election when reading story after story of voter intimidation and misdirection, hours-long poll lines, broken machines, odd voting tallies, and unexplained exit polls? And more recent stories of proven unsecure voting machine technology in California, North Carolina and Florida only confirmed many of our suspicions.
And do you remember feeling disconnected from the "real world" because -except for the on-line community- no one else seemed concerned about the state of our election apparatus?
Finally, a major politician is addressing the issue through a nation-wide campaign. Governor Tom Vilsack and his Heartland PAC is looking to improve our electoral system by helping to elect candidates with integrity for secretaries of state and through the development of some fundamental principles for conducting fair elections.
Here's part of Governor Vilsack's message:
It's up to those of us who care about our democracy to take up this fight. That is why I am asking you to join me by supporting this simple declaration of principles and advocating them to the secretary of state or election official in your state. Read the principles and sign on here:
http://www.heartlandpac.org/...
The core principles every election official should adopt can be summed up with a simple acronym: VOTES. The VOTES declaration outlines the steps needed to protect our right to vote and to restore confidence that all eligible citizens can vote and be assured their vote will be counted. Here's the text of the declaration:
To restore public confidence that voting is a right not a privilege I believe:
VERIFIABLE: Every vote cast must be counted by a system that is auditable with a verifiable paper trail.
OBJECTIVE: Every election official must conduct their responsibilities openly and objectively to restore public confidence.
TOUGH: Every law to prevent voter intimidation and fraud must be vigorously enforced.
EQUAL: Every citizen must have equal access to locations, adequate machines and well-trained election judges.
SECURE: Every voting machine must be secured during all aspects of voting to protect the integrity of the count.
Will you sign this declaration? By signing you will join a nationwide campaign to demand that these core principles be implemented and upheld in your state and across the country.
Sign the declaration now and add your feedback:
http://www.heartlandpac.org/... ...
Over the coming weeks you will be hearing more about the best and the worst of practices in various states, and learning about how you personally can improve and protect our democracy by advocating on these issues and educating others.
All the values we hold dear mean very little if ordinary Americans can't express their will clearly and accurately at the polls. I hope you'll join me as we take on the fight to address this fundamental aspect of our democracy.
I think he deserves our support. Please go add your voice.