Recently,
Democratic Congressional Candidate [CA-36] and election protection activist, Marcy Winograd attempted to deliver an arrest warrant to Republican appointed California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.
"Secretary of State Bruce McPherson was "NOT IN!" according to an unnamed press person sent to meet with Winograd and her supporters."
-- Linda Sutton
wu ming sets a Vichy Dem* straight in the comments section:
Winograd's charges that "certification of diebold machines that had been found by the CA state govt to be untrustworthy and unworthy of certifiction, pushing "exact match" database requirements that are throwing tens of thousands of voters off the rolls, and closing the decision-making process to both CA dems and regular vioters bnefore making these decisions - are accurate, whether you believe them or not. they have all been widely reported in the mainstream press, and are a 180 degree reversal from what the previous SoS and the CA state government had begun doing before mcpherson got appointed."
* thanks to
Rico for the term "Vichy Dem"
please follow me below the jump...
Sutton continued:
"The arrest warrant said in part: "Defendant has endangered the security of the citizens' vote by certifying untrustworthy electronic voting systems from Diebold, ES& S, and other corporations proven unworthy of our sacred voting rights! Defendant ignored Californians' state constitutional right 'of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business' by such certifications."
McPherson, appointed by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarznegger after the resignation of the elected Democratic Secretary of State, did not respond to the warrant or to the demonstrators in front of his Sacramento office."
Winograd v. Diebold
Photos: (c) 2006 Linda Sutton
Here's more on the issue from winogradforcongress.com:
Congressional Contender Winograd Calls on McPherson to Scrap New Voter ID Rule That Disengages Electorate, Disenfranchises New Voters and Sends Wrong Message about Democracy
Marcy Winograd, Democratic Party Candidate for California's 36th Congressional District, calls on Secretary of State Bruce McPherson to immediately abandon his new "exact match" statewide voter registration database. Under McPherson, California became one of nine states to pledge to the federal government that it would use an "exact match" standard, requiring voter registration records be the same to the letter as DMV applications. The LA Times reports (3/29/06) the "exact match" standard has already disenfranchised almost 15,000 potential voters in LA County.
"If I register to vote as Marcy Winograd and my DMV application reads Marcy A. Winograd," I may not be able to vote for myself in this congressional race," said Winograd, who is running in the June 6th Democratic Primary to unseat incumbent Jane Harman. "At a time when we want to engage the electorate, to encourage young people to vote, to reach out to new citizens, this sends the exact opposite message -- Don't bother voting because your vote may not count."
Prior to McPherson's confirmation as Secretary of State, Winograd testified in the Assembly Rules Committee against his appointment. Concerned about McPherson's transition team that included a Diebold lobbyist and Republican fundraiser, Winograd argued McPherson might too easily be influenced by corporate interests. While in Sacramento to testify, Winograd met others who also opposed McPherson's nomination and co-founded the California Election Protection Network, a grassroots statewide organization that successfully lobbied for State Senator Debra Bowen's bill requiring a paper, not electronic, tally in the event of a contested election.
Winograd, a long time election protection activist, is challenging Rep. Jane Harman in the June 6th Democratic Congressional primary.
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peace