Democracy Deadbeats, and other Delights

dr. elsewhere here

High time for a vote update. Joe clearly agrees, as we were both working on this topic simultaneously.

But before I even get started on the body of this post, I am about to really ream you readers out there a new one, so just take a deep breath.

Now, I honestly don’t begrudge Joe the notable action his 9/11 posts have received, not one bit; he deserves a thousand times that. But I do have to make note of something pretty interesting.

Check out the numbers of comments on each of them. Almost 40 on the first, and almost 30 on this second one.

Now. Check out the numbers of comments on his latest post, the one about THE INTEGRITY OF OUR VOTE.

One.

One pitiful little comment on the most profoundly important issue before us today, and there is only ONE comment. And it’s mine!

C’mon; you guys are smart, and you’re remarkably articulate, not to mention caring, especially when I compare you to so many comment sections out there, even on the more popular blogs.

This is sad. Does this mean you have no thoughts on the matter? That you have yourselves not encountered any other interesting info on the topic of our vote you’d like to share?

Or does it mean that this crew only bothers to comment when the post is particularly emotional? No, that can't be it, because my post on the highly emotional topic of Katrina also got one, very lonely comment.

I don’t get it, because I have to tell you, there is just about nothing that gets my passions zinging like the current threat to our votes. Just what is it with you people??? We know you're out there, Joe monitors the hits. And you likely would not get this kind of talkin' to were all the posts followed by meager comment numbers. It's this bizarre skew toward the bizarre, that troubles me. Now I really get what Joe was so ticked about. These data represent a very weird fact about ourselves that we really should sit up and take notice of. And do something about. I'm not saying start commenting more, but I do think I am saying start caring about the 9/11 conspiracy crap less.

THERE IS SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT AND IMMEDIATE WORK TO BE DONE HERE, FOLKS!

So. There. Like it or lump it, but there it is.

Ok. All that being said, I’ll move on as if nothing has happened, so as not to further humiliate any of us, myself included.

This post is not about the November elections; those are covered with excellence and abundance elsewhere. Had I half a mind (still working on that one), I’d complain about the near hysterical coverage of the campaigns and polls and such at the near exclusion of the much larger story, namely that the integrity of our vote is in jeopardy. Really; what difference will all these campaigns and polls make if the November fix is in? Which was Joe's ultimate question.

My answer to that is sunshine, both by making vote integrity an election issue, and by suing the living daylights out of the violators of our most treasured right.

On that front, the CA/Busby decision notwithstanding, there is actually some good news to report. So much so that I’ll just hit the highlights. But do go check these things out, especially as they pertain to your local situation, as this is no less than the foundation of our democracy.

Where to begin? I'll pick up with the story that Joe just posted about below.

(To read the rest, click "Permalink" below)


CA judical ruling: Clearly the issue that Joe brought to our attention is of enormous importance, and his capture of Michael Collins’ coverage cannot really be improved upon. But there are several questions I have that neither Collins nor Lehto nor Joe raised. I put these in the comments, but I’ll put them here again:

“When did this happen in the house? as in, what time of day? Was the chamber empty, or were other members present? How many, and who? And why did we not hear a loud outcry from our Democratic Congressional members about what was happening when it happened? Did they even know? And when they found out, why didn't we hear anything then? Why aren't we hearing anything now?? Given the 92% Zogby result [that this percentage wants election transparency], you'd think these politicians would see they simply cannot lose by taking a strong stand on this issue, no matter which side of the aisle you're on.”

I also pointed out that I think this is what Lehto was getting at with his point about using the threat to vote integrity as an election issue. But as I said above, Joe’s point was also well-taken: If the fix is, how do you catch the fixer. Agan, my response to that is with sunshine; if vote integrity becomes an election issue, and if there are lawsuits flying around all the time, then it will be extremely hard for them to consummate the fix. I’ll revisit this at the end of this post.

Voter Lawsuits: There are actually many of these filed, in addition to the one mentioned above in CA, and the one listed here last month filed in federal court by RFK, Jr., charging the companies with fraud. In fact, a state court ruling came down just this week blocking Fl's voter registration laws there, so harsh they forced the venerable League of Women Voters to close up shop rather than face the outrageous fines listed for violations. This decision may well bolster lawsuits against similar voter registration laws in AZ and MO.

There are actually several lawsuits regarding vote integrity going on in CA, but this one charged Diebold for their abusive copyright claims, and Diebold settled for $2.6 mill.

Here is one in OR charging breach of contract against ES&S, one in PA to stop use of machines in elections, and in CO for the same, and NM, GA, NJ, NY, and TX, to name only a few.

Though most of these suits were filed against state officials to block the use of machines, many of these suits are actually filed against the companies, which was the reasoning of the RFK, Jr., suit. Specifically, bleed these companies of money until they straighten up and fly right, or get grounded, whichever comes first.

The Zogby Poll: Referenced above, these are the poll results that show the 92% of those polled want transparency in voting, 80% are concerned about the status of their votes, and over 60% have heard about the problems. This is good to know, given how quiet the press is about these matters.

But on that topic of the media's near silence on vote integrity matters, tomorrow night on NOW with David Brancaccio on PBS (7 EDT), he will be covering the vote integrity issue. The clips are short, but dense and scrupulously researched and presented. Check your local PBS stations to find a convenient time to watch.
And of course, Lou Dobbs (yeah; hard to believe) has actually covering this issue on his show, specifically regarding the failures of FL machine tests, the OH primary disaster, and the enormous majority of polled Americans who want to get rid of electronic voting machines.

The Electoral College: How about some good news I may have mentioned before, and have to confess, am extremely excited about? California’s legislature has passed a bill on for Ahnuhld’s signature that would direct all electors in national elections to be automatically assigned to whomever receives the majority of the national vote.

Think about this. If enough states actually do this, it will completely shift the nature of the presidential election process, not only forcing candidates to start campaigning nationally instead of only in swing states, but rendering the draconian electoral college moot.

If you really want to make a long-term difference in our political system, it would be to start lobbying your state legislature representatives to get a similar bill moving, especially in big solid states, like New York and Texas, because everyone wins – whether Democrats or Republicans – if election campaigns are more directed toward the people than the electoral college. Here are the states that will make it work (minimally, with 270 electors needed): CA,FL,OH, PA, TX, IL, NY, NC, NJ, GA, and MI. California’s bill won’t go into effect until enough other states are also on board, so this may actually take almost as much time as a Constitutional amendment, but without the Congressional hurdle.

Delayed DeLay: True to their devious determination to replace DeLay on the ballot, TX Governor Rick Perry has placed the name of a candidate on the ballot for replacement of retired DeLay from November till January, evidently in the hopes that her name will then be written in en masse for DeLay's seat. Such desperate maneuvering. But consistent. And predictable. No word yet on whether this move will be contested in the courts.

The OH ’04 ballots: A few days ago, it appeared that the 22 month federal law protection the destruction of presidential election ballots was going to be implemented in OH, meaning all those contested votes from the '04 election in OH would be gone forever. However, lawyers for Ken Blackwell say within the next day or two he’ll alert county election commissioners to put a hold on the ballot destruction, even though he is under no obligation to do so, and – they assert – he is also not truly authorized to do so.

This decision may in itself be thoroughly political, in that the Secretary of State is the current Republican candidate for OH Governor. And Mr. Kenny Blackill (oops; Blackwell just doesn't sound quite right) is doing just really really poorly in the polls for OH Governor, lagging behind Democrat Ted Strickland by more than ten points. Not yet time for us to bring out the confetti, hats, and noisemakers, but it’s sure enough for a smile.

Upshot: I'll leave this long post with that pleasant image, though I hope you notice that most of these data suggest reason to be encouraged. In fact, I'm not even convinced that we should be so discouraged by the CA judge's ruling yesterday. I'm no lawyer, but as I noted in my comment to Joe, it honestly does seem that, once Hastert swore Bilbray in as a member of the House, the case was out of the state court jurisdiction. Clearly, the Republican House leadership is trying to pull a fast one, but I really don't think it will stand up under federal scrutiny. In fact, I also suggested in my comment that the plaintiffs in that case might do better to file a civil rights violation suit in federal court against Lapsley and McPherson for illegally certifying contested results, as well as against Hastert for ignoring the laws of a sovereign state in taking his action, an action which by law and the Constitution direct the nature of this action in cases such as this.

Take heart, folks; we may well be able to use our democracy to save it. But we have to actually WORK at it.

I also noted in my comment to Joe that, given all those questions about just how the House members allowed such a travesty to occur in their midst without kicking up a ruckus, we should all be contacting our Congressional reps NOW! You know, a quick call to ask just why this was allowed to happen, and just what they intend to do about it.

Meanwhile, keep visiting Bradblog, Velvet Revolution, Verified Voting, VoteTrustUSA, and many others to keep posted, and to see what you can do locally and nationally toward preserving the integrity of your votes, and the integrity of our democracy.