Hopping around with Hope

     Compliance with the Freedom of Information Act also falls short. Audit data requested from the 2006 election has not yet been provided despite their two-year struggle. Thousands of votes had been lost even when the information was finally provided, because of missing files.

     The state is trying to cover up such poor election administration, said Brodsky. Her group plans to work closely with the secretary of state toward better outcomes in the future. Pro bono lawyers are hard to come by, she added, though Volusia County is lucky enough to have one.

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     Lori Rosolowsky next interviewed Sara Haile-Mariam, a graduate student of activist and author Mark Crispin Miller at NYU. In her report, “Youth on the Ground,” this vibrant and enthusiastic young activist spoke of her pre-primary work in the state, which included voter registration, door-to-door canvassing, and “phone begging.”

     In contact with people from all backgrounds and ages, Sara reported enthusiasm among youth but little interest in election integrity. She said she found more undecided voters than in the past because of the lengthy head-to-head race between Obama and Clinton.

     Sara admitted to being a recent convert to her activism, drawn out by Obama’s candidacy.

     She lamented the media’s concentration on identity politics rather than policy, based on the assumption that the voters are dumb. “Stereotyping doesn’t work,” she said. People are crossing lines to choose their candidates.

     Sara decided on a career in journalism early in life, when she learned in school that journalists are the “watchdogs of society.” Their performance these days is, to say the least, disappointing, with their emphasis on controversy and their attempt to manipulate opinions, denigrating their public.

     Lori’s advice was to seek out alternative media sources.

     There is not enough attention to transparency, said Sara, despite the recent GAO report that emphasizes its importance. We must pressure politicians to pay attention to these and the many other problems of the election integrity movement. We can work most effectively at the grassroots level. The recent belittling of the value of exit polls is another issue of importance, where there is the need to “change the mindset.”

     The problems afflicting us now will take generations to fix, Sara concluded. Youth are energized and mobilized to confront them head on.

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