Because we fought for them, my daughters have cast paper ballots

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By Harvey Wasserman (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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But other attacks are proceeding, and could make all the difference. You who claim concern about our electoral process might spend at least some of this next month monitoring election boards and guaranteeing that those who believe they are registered do not show up at the polls November 4 only to find they have been disenfranchised for the "crime" of leaning left.

We must also have zero tolerance for electronic voting machines. There may actually be thousands more of these election theft devices deployed throughout the US this year than ever before. As always, the big vendors are hiding their software from the public, claiming it is "proprietary."

But as registration activists, poll workers, judges, official observers and Video-the-Vote workers (see "Be a Poll Worker and Save American Democracy," http://www.freepress.org/ departments/display/19/2008/3205) you may be in a position to exert critical leverage on access to decisions on software, hardware deployment and vote counting that could save thousands of legitimate ballots thoughout the US.

In our next article, Bob Fitrakis, Sheri Myers and I will write in detail about the history of electronic election theft and its long-time master of disenfranchisement, Karl Rove.

In the meantime, it's crucial to remember that favorable polling numbers will not guarantee a fair election. Carefully manipulated racism, plus mass disenfranchisement, rigging of electronic voting machines and additional Rovian dirty tricks are what brought us eight hellish years of George W. Bush. Without taking drastic grassroots action, they could be used again to tack on four more, from which it is not likely this nation would survive.

The good news is that we have won some victories. My daughters have voted in a safe, secure atmosphere, and there's a reasonable chance their ballots will be counted---along with millions more.

But to guarantee a full voter turnout, and a safe reliable, vote count, YOU must get involved. Visit The Free Press (http://freepress.org) and Poll Workers for Democracy (http://act.credoaction.com/pollworkers/index.html).

This year, there is no excuse. We know what has happened, and we know the consequences of inaction. See you in the army - of election protection workers.

--
Harvey Wasserman is co-author, with Bob Fitrakis, of four books on election protection which are available at www.freepress.org, where this article first appeared. His HARVEY WASSERMAN's HISTORY OF THE US is at www.harveywasserman.com along with SOLARTOPIA! OUR GREEN-POWERED EARTH, A.D. 2030.

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HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE US is available at http://www.harveywasserman.com/, as is A GLIMPSE OF THE BIG LIGHT and clues to the whereabouts of the Holy Grail.

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