Wall Street Journal: A New Breed of Watchdog

[helderheid]

By JUNE KRONHOLZ
November 6, 2006; Page B1

When Americans go to vote tomorrow, a new breed of activist will be on guard, monitoring polling stations for everything from voting-machine glitches to long lines to registration snafus.

Energized by disputed results in 2000 and 2004, they have left jobs as music conductors, real-estate agents and software engineers to form groups that expect to turn out thousands of volunteers who don't trust the country's ability to count its votes and have decided to do something about it.

"This is going to be the most heavily watched election in history," predicts Marybeth Kuznik, who founded a group called VotePA after the 2004 election to monitor voting issues in Pennsylvania. Ms. Kuznik, a former arts educator, calls herself a "progressive," but says VotePA includes members of both major parties, two minor parties and independents.

Many of the groups share liberal roots, their members smarting from the narrow Democratic losses in the last two presidential elections. But they also share in Ms. Kuznik's assurances -- and the tax and lobbying status that requires them to remain nonpartisan -- that they simply want to see a clean count.

"I don't care who wins; I just want to know it's democracy," says Warren Stewart, policy director of VoteTrustUSA, an umbrella for 70 grass-roots groups, like VotePA, that lobby legislators and warn voters about election issues.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116278270779014105-PJMrlM1t7zRIqWHShcq_O3zA1tg_20071105.html#

[fasttense]

1. I wouldn't be so angry at the repukes if I thought they won the elections fairly.

Their constant suppression of non-white voters and using the dancing supremes to get them into the white house makes me angry, and guarantees I will make the effort to vote Democratic.

[helderheid]

2. I hear ya!