The right-wing noise machine, in its efforts to suppress principles of democratic representation, has reframed the voting debate in absurd terms. By mixing the concepts of confidentiality of voting by an individual voter with confidentiality of the vote counting, the Republicans (and Democrats) in power have managed to take the vote away from the citizens of this country. By co-opting the regulation of elections, politicians in power have assured that they will be re-elected... in perpetuity.
I have written a diary about one of the flaws of HR811, "The Holt Bill", which points out the weakness of the bill in combating the worst enemy of the democratic process- the touchscreen DRE.
In addition, the bill is rife with loopholes which keep the counting of the votes out of the public eye. Lobbyists for Diebold and the rest of the voting machine industry must be pleased with HR811 as it now stands:
- Their DRE's, the type of voting machine used by most counties, are still legal.
- Their proprietary software is carefully protected.
- The EAC, a four-person panel appointed by the president (who has benefitted mightily from election fraud), has ultimate authority over elections.
- The bill's provision for a "paper trail" is a weak substitute for accountability and will do little to overturn a stolen election.
Below is an excerpt from an e-mail from Andi Novick promoting a conference about HR 811 and other issues in New Paltz, NY on June 1. There is a consensus among voting rights activists that HR 811 is seriously flawed and must not pass in its current form. Please attend and learn more.
Friday, June 1, 7:00 PM, SUNY NEW PALTZ
Lecture Center 100 (LC 100) New Paltz, NY
THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN THE
CURRENT AMERICAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM
Panel One: Our National Electoral System: Democracy on the Brink
Greg Palast, BBC award winning investigative journalist, NYT best-selling author, Armed Madhouse
Steve Freeman, University of Pennsylvania award winning research scholar, and co-author with Joel Bleifuss of Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen? Exit Polls, Election Fraud, and the Official Count
Jonathan Simon, Co-founder Election Defense Alliance and author of Landslide Denied: Major Miscount in 2006 Election
Panel Two: Solutions for Saving Democracy in New York
Doug Kellner, Co-Chair of the New York State Board of Elections* added to panel
Anthony Stevens, New Hampshire Assistant Secretary of State* newly added to panel
Bo Lipari, founder of New Yorkers for Verified Voting
Nancy Tobi, Chair of the New Hampshire Fair Elections Committee
June 1st, 2007 presents an historic opportunity to fight for the survival of our Democracy. While the truth-- that our national elections continue to be stolen -- is not being reported, Democracy is dying and soon it won't be found.
If Truth is Lost in the Forest
And There's no one to report it
Can Democracy be found?
In a Zogby poll taken last year 92% of Americans favored the democratic ideal that the public has a right to observe and to obtain information regarding vote counting. And yet all across the country this right has been given over to private corporations using computers to count the people's ballots in secret. New York is the only state in the Union that has not bought the voting computers which deprive citizens of the oversight of their election. Which is why it is so important that you come out on June 1st to hear what we can do in New York to protect our elections.
But you must know this: a revised federal Holt bill has just come out, which was actually changed to require that the public never be allowed to observe the counting of their vote or obtain any information regarding the vote counting. This is one of the most unpatriotic and lawless acts a Democratic congress can take: the mandating of secret vote counting for any state which chooses to run its elections using computers. The Holt bill would to nothing less than deprive American of our constitutional right to self-rule, reducing us to subjects, not free citizens. Please watch this 7 minute video from Mark Crispin Miller and then write to Congress NOW- to vote against the Holt bill, http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.co...
For additional information, visit the site referred to in the video and watch this excellent video as well http://www.youtube.com/...
If the Holt bill passes, and it has huge support from democrats and others, it will undoubtedly cripple an individual state's ability to hold free and fair elections so long as the state uses computerized voting machines to count citizens' votes. Never before has New York's choice of a voting system been more important. Be present, June 1st, for this unique opportunity. For the first time ever and only in New York will citizens hear -- from New York's and New Hampshire's top election officials, leading activists, statisticians and the investigative journalist who has in his possession 500 of those missing emails the government can't find -- the critical information they need to know before our ability to monitor and oversee our elections is lost.
And the following evening, Saturday June 2nd, 5:00 PM
Bethlehem Town Hall, 445 Delaware Ave, Delmar, NY
A second opportunity to engage in dialogue with
Steve Freeman, Jonathan Simon and Bo Lipari, joined by Sally Castleman of Election Defense Alliance
The second forum, brought to you by Northeast Citizens for Responsible Media (Re-Media) www.Re-Media.org, Northeast Peace and Justice Action Coalition www.nepajac.org, and ARISE www.ARISEorg.net will be proceeded by a showing of "Truth in the Booth" starting at 4:15 (see re-media.org's web site for more about Clint Curtis the inspirational hero of this film).
Learn all you can- go to both forums- you'll only regret not going.
andi novick
Northeast Citizens for
Responsible Media (Re-Media)
www.re-media.org
As we have seen in the last 24 hours, as we watch the Democratic members of congress capitulate to the president's unreasonable demands for unaccountable war funding, congressional Democrats are not to be trusted to represent the interests of the American people. Why should we trust them on the Holt Bill?
Once we the people have lost our ability to be represented through our vote, there is no way to get it back. With HR811, we have been given a fool's choice: support the bill for "incremental change" or have no voting reform at all. If incremental change means aquiescing to the voting machine industry for a chance at reform tomorrow, we will be very sorry to find that the opportunity for reform never comes. HR811 institutionalizes the fraud we have come to know and will make future reform impossible.
Let's slow down the legislative process and think carefully about what we are doing, before we give up our right to transparent elections to the corrupt politicians who run our country.