Reply #24: This commission is a sham. I wrote to Pastor in support of Brad [View All]

[katinmn]

Dear Dr. Pastor;

Far more than a handful of us across America have grave concerns about the make-up of the National Election Reform Commission.

With the exception of former president Jimmy Cater, where are the election experts? Where is the representation from those who were dissenfranchised? Where is the input from computer scientists (and I don't mean Diebold representatives), attorneys who were involved in recount effrots, David Cobb, Rep. John Conyers, and others who possess a great deal of knowledge that is being glossed over or repressed?

When you lock opposing views out of the process, you invite the skepticism you have received. The commission is viewed by many Americans as simply a Bush Administration tool to "shut up" those who have concerns about the way the 2004 election was mismanaged.

Are you aware of the thousands of grassroots election reform organizations formed since November 2? There are at least three in Minnesota alone!

Tens of thousands of citizens and election reform groups have adopted the "Voters Bill of Rights." It should be the Commission's guiding document because it's from voters, not parties or political appointees. It's really quite simple. http://www.casemn.org/

Please take a look at the results when you type in "election reform" into Google. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=election+reform+&btnG=Google+Search It takes a tenth of a second to return 12 million entries for election reform. Just think if you spent an hour or two investigating whether the 2004 election and the need for reform is an important issue to Americans. There are far more than six or seven people that want election reform and want it now. If you think otherwise you have been grossly unprepared and uninformed.

It is a cruel joke to have a national commission to look into election reform without including broad and inclusive representation from those with the desire, knowledge and concerns needed to assess what went wrong and how to correct it.

To have a sham commission is worse than having none at all.

Sincerely,

Me
St. Paul, MN