My letter to the NJ political establishment re: BBV

[mrgorth]

My dad is the democratic mayor of a south Jersey suburb and has been for almost 2 decades. I recently brought the BBV issue to his attention and he is willing to forward my letter out to all the politicos he knows (McGreevey, Andrews, Lautneberg, etc) in his name. Here goes:

Dear ____________,

I am writing to you because something very disturbing has been brought to my attention by my son Mark. Mark has recently registered as a democrat, is active in his local committee and actively supports Howard Dean to be the Democratic Presidential nominee. Apparently, a company called Diebold, a large ATM manufacturer, is producing and supplying electronic voting machines to a number of voting districts around the country. Normally, this would be a good thing. I mean, who wouldn’t rather use a fancy touch screen computer than the old lever machines or, worse, the ancient punch cards? The problem is this, the CEO of Diebold is a man named Walden W. O'Dell. Mr. O’Dell is a top fundraiser for George W. Bush. In fact, he is one of the president’s “Rangers and Pioneers”, people who have helped raise at least $100,000 for the 2004 election. More, he recently wrote to a group of fellow supporters that he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year,". In fact, Governor Dean mentions in a chat on the Washington Post that “The chairman of Diebold has sent a letter saying that he will do everything he can to get Bush reelected”.

This is not conspiracy theory nonsense. It is, unfortunately, a sign of our increasingly politically polarized times. In fact HR2239, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, has been drafted specifically to address this issue. And while this resolution is great and should be supported, I feel this is nowhere near enough. As my son tells me, if the computer can be programmed to lie it can also be programmed to give you the piece of paper you expect to see…and then lie anyway. What really needs to happen regarding this issue is for it to be shouted loud and often from the highest rooftops. It needs to be taken to the media and taken to the people. For, as complacent as many Americans are regarding elections, learning that their right to vote is being stripped is another thing entirely.

_____________, I want you to know that I consider this travesty to be, in no uncertain terms, an affront to democracy. Every American, but especially democrats need to be worried about this issue and working toward it’s resolution. To be honest, I have doubts that our republic could survive another Florida. Democrats across the country feel, or know, they were robbed and will not stand for it again. To be clear, if George W. Bush wins reelection in 2004, fine. Let him do it fair and square…for once. I appreciate your help in bringing this important issue to the media and to the public so that we may be sure, come January 2005, that the right man (or woman) is sitting in the White House.


Thank you in advance,


Resources:
http://www.diebold.com/dieboldes/default.htm
http://www.house.gov/price/issue_righttovote.htm
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgibin/bdquery/Dd108:14:./temp/~bdBRfd:@@@L&summ2=m&
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
http://www.newyorktimes.com
http://holt.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=7225
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58372-2003Nov3.html

[Spazito]

1. That's excellent!

*