We're madder than hell and we won't take it any more!! On Sunday, December 3, citizens of Sarasota County will be joined by voters of all political parties from all over Florida and the country to take a stand to defend democracy by attending a Rally calling for a REVOTE for the FL-13 Congressional District.
The REVOTE Rally will take place at 2 PM on Sunday, December 3, at Bayfront Park, 2 Marina Plaza, Sarasota, Florida. This is an invitation to all Kossacks living in Florida or anywhere in the country to defend voters' rights and our democracy. Why not combine a trip to Sarasota for the REVOTE Rally with a vacation to our sunny paradise. The weather is gorgeous-temperatures in the 70's and beaches are beautiful. Come to Sarasota on Sunday and join us in demanding a REVOTE in FL-13.
Read below for details of why concerned Sarasotans need your support for our REVOTE effort...
Kos and others have recently posted diaries regarding the touch screen voting fiasco that occurred in Sarasota County for the FL-13 Congressional District race between Christine Jennings (Democrat) and Vern Buchanan (Republican). As a brief recap, Vern Buchanan was declared the winner with a 369 vote lead over Jennings. However, hundreds of voters in Sarasota County reported major problems using the touch screen machines and with the ballot placement during early voting and on election day. The result was a massive 18,000+ undervote (15%) in Sarasota County compared to 2-3% undervotes in other counties in District 13. A "recount" resulted in no meaningful change in the results because it is impossible to recount votes on the touch screen Direct Record Electronic (DRE) voting machines used in Sarasota County with no paper ballots as backup. Jennings and a group of Sarasota voters (backed by the ACLU and other voter rights groups) have filed lawsuits asking for a revote in the FL-13 Congressional district.
Currently Florida state is conducting an audit of the touch screen machines, but it is questionable if the state audit will explain the 18,000+ undervote. According to an excellent article in today's Sarasota Herald-Tribune(http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061128/NEWS/61128001), "The number of places where a computer code problem could be hiding is dizzying". Other voting advocacy groups have warned that some sort of virus could have infected the machines and been programmed to delete itself after Election Day.
It is foreseeable that the state audit will find "no problem" with the touch screen machines used in Sarasota County, which would not resolve the problem of 18,000+ undervotes.
The REVOTE Rally on Sunday will be for citizens of all political parties, who are outraged about the failure of the election process in FL-13, to stand up for a REVOTE as the only principled, democratic and patriotic response to this terrible disenfranchisement of voters in Sarasota County.
Common Cause, People for the American Way Foundation, Voter-Action and the ACLU of Florida are sponsoring the REVOTE Rally, together with VoteTrustUSA, the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections and other nonpartisan Florida election reform groups, including the Florida Fair Elections Coalition, VIA Tampa Bay, The Broward Election Reform Coalition, and the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition.
Below is Flyer for the Revote Rally:
REVOTE RALLY!
JOIN US IN FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY!
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3rd - 2:00pm
BAYFRONT PARK, SARASOTA
ALL CONCERNED CITIZENS NEED TO ATTEND
Taxpaying, law-abiding citizens of Sarasota County of ALL POLITICAL PARTIES who are outraged by the travesty of democracy in the election in the 13th Congressional District in Sarasota County should be there.
We will not stand by as our government officials blithely dismiss 18,000+ "missing votes" and set an alarming precedent that corrodes our democracy.
It is time for us to draw a line in the sand. It is time for us to say to our government, it is NOT ACCEPTABLE to have our voting machines malfunction and NOT DO ANYTHING to record the vote of the people.
REVOTE is the only principled, democratic and patriotic response to this terrible disenfranchisement of voters. Our election processes are BROKEN.
Sponsored by concerned citizens of Sarasota County with the support of Voter Action, Common Cause, People for the American Way Foundation, and the ACLU, in conjunction with the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections and other nonpartisan election reform groups around Florida including the Florida Fair Elections Coalition, VIA Tampa Bay, the Broward Election Reform Coalition, and the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition.
Please contribute to the leadership efforts and legal work of the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections and Voter Action in this endeavor at www.safevote.org and www.voteraction.org. Pd. Pol. Adv. pd for and approved by the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections, P.O. Box 163, Venice, FL 34284
Here is a Press Release for the REVOTE Rally:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kindra Muntz
November 25, 2006 Phone/E-Mail: 941.497.1764 safevote@comcast.net
REVOTE RALLY
2 PM Sunday, December 3, 2006
Bayfront Park, Sarasota, Florida
Concerned citizens of Sarasota County and voters from all over Florida will gather at a REVOTE RALLY Sunday, December 3, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in Bayfront Park, Sarasota. The entrance to the park is from the parking lot south of Marina Jack’s Restaurant, 2 Marina Plaza, Sarasota, FL 34236.
Guest speakers will explain Sarasota’s nearly 15% “undervote” on the touchscreen voting machines, the experts’ scorecard on electronic voting systems, and the need to call upon local and state officials to honor democracy through a paper ballot revote in Sarasota County of the 13th District Congressional race. Other information and entertainment will be on hand.
On November 7, 2006, voters from all political parties were disenfranchised in a massive 18,000+ undervote on touch screen Direct Record Electronic (DRE) voting machines in Sarasota County. For two weeks leading up to Election Day, the Supervisor of Elections failed to respond dutifully to scores of machine malfunction complaints. The automatic “recounts” were nothing more than a reprint, a restatement of tallies from the machines themselves, without any investigation into whether votes were properly recorded. Computer scientists have found the spectacular undervote – in one county, one race – aberrant and statistically baffling. Despite this, local and state officials have ignored voters and refused to acknowledge the possibility of machine malfunction as a cause.
Our vote is the voice in which democracies speak. The likely failure of Sarasota County’s touch screen machines silences that voice. The persistent failure of elected officials to address a likely cause of the undervote suggests at best, disinterest and, at worst, intent to deprive and silence voters. All voters must know our election processes work, and that our votes will be accurately counted.
Common Cause, People for the American Way Foundation, VoterAction and the ACLU of Florida are sponsoring this event, together with VoteTrustUSA, the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections and other nonpartisan Florida election reform groups, including the Florida Fair Elections Coalition, VIA Tampa Bay, the Broward Election Reform Coalition, and the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition.
JOIN US ON DECEMBER 3RD, STAND AND
DEFEND DEMOCRACY, FOR SARASOTA AND ALL AMERICANS
This is my first diary, so my apologies for any goofs with links, etc. The Rally is important and my zeal to get the message posted for Florida Kossacks and others concerned about voter disenfranchisment occurring in Sarasota County superceded taking time to figure out all the procedures.
Please come to the REVOTE Rally in Sarasota on Sunday, December 3, to support this effort!!