Progressive Democrat Issue 89: THREE STEPS TO PROTECTING OUR ELECTIONS

I keep talking about this because this issue remains largely below people's radars, yet is possibly one of the top threats to America today: the integrity of our elections. Since 2000, two presidential elections, at least one state-wide election (Georgia in 2002) and several more local races (e.g. the CA-50 Congressional race in San Diego County) have been questionable due to voting irregularities related to one or more of three reasons: new voting machine technology that is unreliable and wide open to fraud, partisan election boards, and biased, corrupt Secretaries of State like Katherine Harris whose interests lie in furthering the Republican Party by all means necessary rather than keeping elections fair and accurate.

What is needed is reform that includes:

1. ACCOUNTABILITY: a legally recountable paper trail for all elections: without the possibility of documenting and recounting each and every vote cast, our elections are not democratic. Touchscreen/DRE machines do not have a legally recountable paper ballot even when they have a "receipt" for the voter. PB/OS and older technologies do have paper ballots that serve as a permanent record of a person's vote;

2. SECURITY AND TRANSPARANCY: voting machine technology where the process is transparent and open to public scrutriny and where the methods of storage and tabulation are accurate and not hackable: many of the voting machines being proposed (particularly the touchscreen/DRE machines) are easily hacked, have software that is not open to public scrutiny and so allows fraud by the companies that make the machines, and break down at an alarming rate. Recently it was even found that the locks on these machines can be opened by standard keys that come with hotel minibars and many pieces of standard office furniture. PB/OS machines also have problems with accuracy and security, but less so than DRE machines and at least with PB/OS there ultimately is a paper trail that is legally recountable. There is no such legally binding paper trail with DRE machines;

3. FAIRNESS: bi-partisan or even multi-partisan election boards in all states: the Carter Center, which monitors elections all over the world for fairness, refused to monitor Florida in 2004 because Florida's elections did not meet minimum standards. Partisan election boards are considered a sign of an undemocratic system by most independent agencies, but many states, like Florida and Ohio, have partisan boards that prevent recounts and investigations even when paper trails are possible. As long as an election board is allowed to be dominated by a single party, our elections are not fair.

These are the most basic minimum requirements for a fair and democratic election. Without these, America is not a democracy.

We need to continue to hammer away at this issue, stressing the three points made above. This is not a minor issue. It goes to the heart of what it means to be a democracy. Please do the following:

Contact your state and local elected officials;

Contact your Federal elected officials;

Contact the media;

and in each case tell them your opinion on the three issues I outline above. Demand a legally binding, recountable paper trail, machines that are tested for accuracy and security before being approved, and the elimination of partisan election boards in all states.

Also, please visit Vote Trust USA and get both informed and involved.

Also, join Vote Trust USA, Working Assets and Mainstreet Moms in a national effort to PERSONALLY make sure elections are fair. As our friend Marjorie points out:

Voter suppression is "one of the cornerstones of the Republican Party's strategy for winning elections these days," and the GOP intentionally puts up barriers "between eligible voters and the ballot box." Think Ohio '04. Caging lists, purging of rolls, improper allocation of machines, discarding Dem registrations, and now the House ID law.

When is a glitch not a glitch? Vote shifting occurred in 13 states, election 2004, on machines by all the major manufacturers, with 90% of those votes moved from Kerry to Bush. Those states produced the biggest differences in exit polling.

A new Diebold whistleblower states Georgia in 2002 was compromised. Who would choose Chambliss over Max Cleland in such a massive shift of opinion from the day before?

More and more states are experiencing problem elections due to machines, and yet the blame continues to be placed on poll worker training and error, instead of the machines.

We are raising awareness, but we are a long way from shutting down black box voting.

Vote Trust USA, Working Assets and Maintream Moms are working together on the Poll Watch for Democracy project where YOU can be a poll worker, get PAID for it and be on the look out for fraud, voter suppression and other "glitches". It also will help you understand how the election process works on the inside in YOUR neighborhood. You will learn, get paid and be part of the process of keeping our elections fair.

Finally, we will not get reform as long as corrupt Republicans control the Secretary of State positions in numerous states. It is the Secretaries of State in Florida (Katherine Harris) and Ohio (Ken Blackwell) who prevented fairness in the 2000 and 2004 elections. Those single corrupt individuals are largely responsible for the uncertainties surrounding those Presidential elections. Only by electing fair minded, Democratic Secretaries of State can we have any shot at reform in this climate of Republican corruption. That is why some of us have Act Blue Pages featuring Secretary of State races. You can find my election protection page (which also includes Attorney General and other oversight positions), the Democracy for America Secretary of State Act Blue Page, and the SOS (Secretary of State) Project. All of these cover similar ground but your donations through any of them could help keep our elections fair. Please give! These could be, in the long run, among the most important races in the nation.