The just-released
Rolling Stone article leaves little room for doubt that the 2004 election was stolen by a combination of methods. (This is not a conspiracy theory: all it requires is that individuals in relevant positions acted independently toward the same goal.)
Here is what I propose: a comprehensive, highly organized, well-coordinated plan to watch the the polls across the United States, and act swiftly through all available legal channels in the event of even the slightest discrepancy. The organization that should be formed for this purpose can begin by keeping a close eye on voter registrations and intervening at that level where needed. Read on....
I'm going to describe this "operationally," i.e. in terms of what it will
do rather than "organizationally" i.e. in terms of how the organization could be structured. I leave it to organizational design experts to address the latter issue. Apologies in advance for the "rough draft" writing style here, I was under pressure to get this posted in a timely manner this evening.
First we need poll-watchers. Hundreds of thousands of them.
Each poll watcher would register for an absentee ballot and send it in well ahead of election day. Thereby, the poll watchers don't lose their own votes while going forth to protect others' votes.
Each poll watcher would, via their local branch of the organization, establish plans for travel and accommodations at the location where they were going to be watching polls. For example, if you're from Los Angeles and your destination is a precinct in Arizona, you would book air or train or bus tickets or set up a car pool to go there on election day, and you would make hotel/motel reservations in or near your designated precinct.
The item about travel is based on the assumption that there will be surpluses of poll watchers in some areas, and shortages in others. This will have to be addressed by having some people travel from the over-served areas to the under-served areas, to make sure every single polling place in each critical area has coverage.
All poll watchers would be trained, and trained, and trained, and trained some more. Training would include practice sessions, role-plays, and anything else needed to equip them to deal with any contingency: rigged machines, voters turned away, hostile local authorities, the whole nine yards.
Poll watchers would carry cameras (film, digital, and video), tape recorders, and cellphones, and be trained on how to use them effectively in this context, and how to gather photographic and audiotaped evidence that will stand up in court. They will also carry prepaid phone cards for use from public phones in the event their cellphones don't work. Note: Suppport from attorneys is needed here to provide training on the standards for legal evidence in each area. Standards may vary, I am not an attorney, this question needs to be addressed; see below for more on this point.
Poll watchers will also be given distinctive T-shirts bearing the name of the organization and its trademarked logo, and the words "Poll watcher" in English and a few other languages as may be needed. These T-shirts should only be available to actual poll watchers, and the logo & design itself should be straightforward but distinct enough that it can't be faked without stirring up a copyright or trademark infringement suit. Poll watchers will also be given photo ID badges that can be worn around their necks for ready identification, like press passes; these will also bear the organization's trademarked logo to provide legal recourse in the event of fakers.
Poll watchers will always work in teams, about which more below.
Second, we need attorneys. Hundreds of them.
In each state, we need to identify attorneys and law firms who are ready and willing to do pro-bono work in support of this effort. These attorneys need to be organized on a national scale. They need to be trained in their roles as part of the project.
Each attorney's office would have to establish procedures for handling emergency calls from poll watchers. These procedures would enable immediate response to the slightest allegations of trouble. For example, legal documents could be prepared ahead of time, as forms, with "fill in the blanks" places to add specific details as needed. Procedures should be available to get these documents into court on a same-day basis. I'm not an attorney but it seems to me that the key items will be to take depositions from affected voters, and file requests for injunctions and other court orders that can be acted upon same-day. Some of these items can be turned into standard forms with blanks to fill in. Other items would require further steps such as interviews, so each attorney also needs paralegals and admin support signed up in advance.
Each critical precinct would have access to multiple attorneys, at different offices, for the sake of redundant preparedness. This point addresses issues such as attorneys in some areas being swamped with election cases, or phone lines "mysteriously" going out of order, or other contingencies we can't foresee at this point.
The participating attorneys would also be organized with a logistical plan such that in the event any given attorney gets overloaded with election work, his/her staff knows how to refer callers to an alternate attorney. Each attorney's office would also have lists of geeks to call in the event of allegations of tampering with electronic voting (see below).
And last but not least, each attorneys' office would establish contact with local press reporters for newspapers, radio, television, and the blogs. This would enable getting news out as quickly as possible in the event of an election emergency.
Third, we need geeks.
Given the potential for tampering with electronic voting systems, we need geeks who are properly trained & qualified to assess these points. These individuals would have, in advance, familiarized themselves with the voting systems in use in their localities.
They would spend election day waiting for calls from attorneys, and be ready to go to polling places and vote-counting locations on a moment's notice. Each member of the geek squad will need a cellphone and a landline, also for redundant backup to be sure calls get through.
Bringing it all together
Advance publicity via all available media lets all of America know that the poll watch will occur nationwide. The poll watchers' distinctive t-shirts will be shown in last-minute ads and news stories so every voter knows how to identify them. The ID badges will be mentioned and shown as well.
Election day approaches. The poll watchers have already sent in their own absentee ballots. Now a day or two ahead of election day, those who have to travel, get onboard their (buses, trains, planes, carpools, or whatever), go to their assigned precincts, and check in at their motels/hotels.
On election day, the poll watchers go to their assigned polling places. Each one has a camera, video camera, or tape recorder, and a cellphone. Each one carries a printed copy of a list of the attorneys they are to call in the event they observe any potential problems.
The poll watchers work in teams so there are always two people watching each polling place (independent witnesses). Having three people on a team would enable one to take a break when needed (e.g. bathroom, meals, etc.). In some areas it will be prudent to have four on a team, so two can go on break at the same time (to deal with possible efforts to intimidate them off-site). If possible it would be interesting for them to take exit polls, though that function might have to be performed by independent media.
In the event of the slightest discrepancy, the poll watchers are able to make recorded interviews with voters and local elections workers. They would get the necessary personal information where possible, and offer to put the affected voters in touch with attorneys who would work these cases pro bono.
The poll watchers could also call attorneys to report directly in the event of any problems.
When an emergency call is made to an attorney's office, the attorney dispatches a paralegal to the affected polling place, equipped with the relevant legal documents to take depostions or take other actions as may be needed. If that attorney is already swamped, the caller is directed to call another attorney until one is found who can respond to the call.
Paralegals would return with documents to attorneys, who could then head directly to the courts of relevant jurisdiction, to file the documents and start the legal processes moving.
After the polling places close, the poll watchers watch the vote counts. This is a key point where electronic voting results could be tampered with. Local counts, regional counts, and statewide counts, would all be watched.
While this is going on, other members of the overall organization are correlating published exit poll results with reported vote counts. This could be done by attorneys, paralegals, or geeks who don't yet have emergencies to deal with.
Finally, after results are announced, the poll watchers would go to work on the issue of potential discrepancies with exit polls. They would be able to call up voters with whom they had spoken earlier, and perform whatever other follow-ups are needed.
Outcomes....
If all goes right, the very fact of this degree of scrutiny will prevent the worst of abuses and assure a free and fair election in 2006 and again in 2008.
If there are allegations of fraud or vote suppression, poll watchers in the affected areas might have to spend a few more days locally, providing their evidence to the local attorneys, giving depositions, and so on. Here's some more inconvenience for you, but it's better than watching another election get stolen.
If the election appears to have been substantially tampered with, particularly if it appears that the outcome was affected, then begins the long series of lawsuits and the biggest spotlight of publicity that can be gotten.
There is always the small possibility that the very fact of all this scrutiny will provoke the outright cancellation of elections on one transparent excuse or another, for example as an extension of the "terrorist threat" method that was used to conceal a count from press scrutiny in Ohio. The organization will need to consider these issues as well and make appropriate plans for legal challenges and media coverage.
What's needed now to get started.
An organization, preferably an existing one, needs to take this project on. It could be done by the ACLU, by a coalition of political entities, by a professional organization e.g. of lawyers, journalists, etc.; or something else. The organization needs to have credibility nationwide, already established.
The organization needs funding for this project. For example to cover the expenses of poll watchers who don't have the money to pay for their own travel & accommodations. And for example to cover the cost of renting adequate public meeting space to conduct training sessions. Ideally the funding will come in large chunks from wealthy individuals who understand the importance of the mission.
And it needs volunteers. Thousands of them, perhaps tens of thousands.
Uncle Sam needs you now, more than ever.
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Money where mouth is: what I can to do to assist
Anything related to telephone & communications infrastructure (20+ years' experience and extensive references available including some that will surprise you). For example my company can provide this organization with office telephone and voicemail systems for local or national deployment, at wholesale cost of materials plus cost of labor, i.e. nonprofit rates, zero markup. These systems can be configured to be user-installable by individuals at the local offices (and remote-maintainable) so we don't have to travel to remote sites.
We could also install a centralized system in California: a voicemail system with up to approx. 1,000 mailboxes, that can be used in a national coordinating effort. This system can turn the callers' voicemail messages into email messages, that would be sent to their appropriate recipients. Group mailbox & voicemail-to-email distribution functions can also be provided.
The system can be installed with a number of backup and security features I'm not going to describe in further detail here, but will describe in detail to the organization once it's formed.
We can also provide other redundant communications facilities, but again, for the usual security reasons, I'm not going to describe in further detail here.
A call for assistance, support, organizers....
I've just committed to potentially as much as tens of thousands of dollars' worth of material support for this cause. Anyone else who wants to commit resources to this, please post accordingly. Even if all you can post is a generality, let's at least see who's willing and able.
We need a national organizer. Markos, I'm appealing to you to get the ball rolling on this; if you can do it, excellent; but if you can't do it yourself, please help find someone who can. (Markos, I'm local to you; if you want to meet to discuss this project, let's get in touch.)
In the meantime, feedback welcome.
Vote as if your life depends on it!
Watch the polls as if everyone's life depends on it!