What to do with the GAO report findings.

[Carolab]

Well, here's what I did. I sent them to the DNC and suggested that they put them on the national organizing agenda scheduled to kickoff November 15th. I actually got a response that the suggestion would be sent along. I asked for feedback.

This information is up to US to do something with.

A few months back, the DNC had its national committee meeting. At that meeting, Dean announced the formation of a National Lawyers Council, made up of remnants of the Kerry-Edwards lawyers team. This Council was supposedly to provide assistance to each state's party chairs/caucus leaders on election reform-related issues.

Well, I wrote them and asked them: how about it?

I reminded them of Dean's ACLU speech in April in Mpls., which I attended. Someone there asked him how Democrats could win with rigged machines and crooked secretaries of state. His answer was to elect progressives to secretary of state positions and to get involved in elections ourselves by getting on election boards, etc.

Well, my answer to that is: how do progressives get elected to these positions when the machines are rigged and the officials are corrupt?

Really, I think we all need to be working with the state legislatures to get some tight security language written into our elections laws. They are not going to give up the machines, so we have to make sure they can't easily be hacked.

[Land Shark]

1. How about a five minute service guarantee in 2005?

that will get rid of the machines, and expose their weak underbelly in an undeniable way. Lines are obvious and not readily deniable.

[Bill Bored]

2. Don't Count on the DNC

They are so into this bottom-up grass-roots bullshit now that they will NOT advocate for a national strategy with respect to voting machines.

Instead, as you suggest, you have to go to every one of your local officials yourself, even the Democrats, and try to explain to them why paper ballots are better than paper trails and why BOTH need to be randomly audited and why paper trails are better than no paper at all.

Nice huh?

You not only have to convince the Republicans, but you have to do the job that the DNC refuses to do, despite their own published research, and convince the Democrats too!

The lawyers group may be helpful. See if they can try to push for some legislation at the state level for paper trails or ballots and mandatory audits.

Now imagine if you will, the RNC, suggesting that you talk to your local representatives about whether or not to bomb another country, or cut more taxes on the ultra-rich, or steal another Presidential election? It would never happen! This is why they will always win unless we get our act together -- they know how to give and take orders -- Democrats don't!

I have nothing against grass roots activism, but I believe the DNC is abdicating its responsibility when it comes to the e-voting issue. Our big tent party is apparently big enough to include advocates for paperless, unverified, privatized elections in its ranks. That's a bit too big of a tent for me.

[Carolab]

3. We need to push the DNC.

That's what I was trying to say.

If there is "upwards" pressure on them, can they ignore it for long? Or is it truly grassroots that they are trying to pull the party up from?

[Bill Bored]

8. I'm perplexed.

They seem to want the local action, which is fine, but there are certain issues that should be universal, to down too, and the election system is one of them. They can't tell Republicans what to do, but they sure should have some influence over Democrats. They just don't want to USE IT.

So you say we should bitch to the DNC FROM the grass roots, and tell them to go after their local hacks? I think it's a good idea but we should also apply pressure locally. It should come at them from all directions.

[Carolab]

9. Yes, that is what I meant. Thanks.

On edit: And YES agreed it should come at them "from all directions".

[Land Shark]

6. Agreed that if person AFTER education favors unverifiable voting

they are not a Democrat. BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT A DEMOCRAT WITH A SMALL 'd' either. Public control of government is the sine qua non of democracy (dictators have elections too). if you take away public verifiability of election results, you most certainly do NOT RESPECT THE PUBLIC AS THE ULTIMATE BOSS OF THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE YOU ARE KEEPING SECRETS FROM THE PUBLIC.

Please note that this is not an issue of "tolerance" of diverse viewpoints, the tent is big, but not so big as to include anti-democratic philosophies. that's a different view of governance, I'm afraid.

[Bill Bored]

7. Agreed Land Shark.

Now in the DNCs defense, they wrote a couple of pretty good chapters in the Ohio report advocating transparent elections, paper ballots, etc. My problem with them is that they REFUSE to get the local party hacks on board. That seems to be up to us, and if unelected BoE officials tell us to buzz off, there's nothing we can do about it, even if they happen to be Democrats.

It's very frustrating.

[Blue Shark]

4. I lined my birdcage with them...

...right over the Downing Street Minute/Memos

[AtLiberty]

5. We can't sit around and wait for the DNC...

Election reform activists should send/fax (not e-mail) outlines of the GAO Report's findings and warnings to:

* Every individual member of state election boards across the country

* Every secretary of state

* Every state attorney general

Locally, election reformists should present outlines of the GAO Report's findings and warnings in public comment at county board meetings and leave them complete copies of the report as "a courtesy."

We should accomplish this by mid-November. How can we motivate people???

[Carolab]

10. And EVERY state representative.

They need to address the security issues in the legislative language.

That is what has been happening in my state.

The legislation CAN mandate what the SOS does--simply by writing it into law. And the laws need to be structured to address each and every security loophole mentioned in the GAO report.