Legal Challenges to Election Conditions From Coast to Coast
The Contra Costa Times reported Tuesday that CA Secretary of State Bruce McPherson was named as a defendant in yet another lawsuit. The suit was filed by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the California Council of the Blind and the American Association of People with Disabilities. Also named as defendants are the counties of Alameda, San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma and Yolo. The case is based on the failures to comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
Also Tuesday, a Federal judge in Seattle ruled that voter registrations must not be contingent upon registration forms matching perfectly with DMV records. In an e-mail newsletter, CA State Senator and Secretary of State Candidate Debra Bowen explained the importance of this ruling and its relevance to California:
The case is relevant in California because the California Secretary of State adopted regulations to implement an agreement with the Bush Administration's Justice Department in 2005 that are very similar to the Washington state law the court put on hold yesterday afternoon. It's not known how many Californians may have been prevented from registering or re-registering to vote prior to the June primary or how many are still experiencing problems as they attempt to register in time for the November election.
"That ruling tells me there's a very good chance the regulations the Secretary of State adopted to implement his agreement with the Bush Administration violate federal law and the state Constitution because of the barriers they put up to prevent eligible Californians from registering to vote," said California State Senator Debra Bowen, the chairwoman of the Senate Elections, Reapportionment & Constitutional Amendments Committee and the Senate Select Committee on the Integrity of Elections.
In her role on the Senate Select Committee, on Monday Bowen was also part of a hearing about problems with the June primary election in Kern County. Blogger Dusty has a first person account of the "priceless" exchanges between the Senators and a hapless Diebold representative. Also, with the Kern Registrar supposedly on vacation, the Deputy Registrar was put forward as a sacrificial scapegoat, unable to answer some or many of the Senators' questions.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making good on the strong words he recently wrote for Rolling Stone. Together with attorney Mike Papantonio, the two have filed a qui tam suit, a whistleblower action alleging the government has been defrauded. Computerworld reported on Wednesday:
August 02, 2006 (Computerworld) -- A federal whistleblower lawsuit has been filed against the e-voting industry, alleging that one company sold electronic voting devices that did not to perform as promised.
But details about the suit are sketchy because of secrecy rules surrounding whistleblower litigation, according to Matt Schultz, an attorney at Levin, Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Echsner & Proctor PA, the Pensacola, Fla., law firm that is handling the case. Schultz was assigned to the suit, but the lead attorneys are Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
[snip]
The lawsuit was filed approximately four weeks ago, but Schultz was unable to divulge in which federal district the filing took place. Nor could he discuss which e-voting machine vendor is targeted because the document is currently under seal.
According to Schultz, insiders at one of the four major e-voting vendors in the U.S. have testified to misrepresentations by the unnamed company about the accuracy, reliability and security of the direct recording electronic (DRE) devices. DRE usually signifies a touch-screen voting system.
One might conjecture that, in a nation almost fanatically devoted to individual rights, to freedom of choice, to the democratic process, events and disclosures that clearly point to the possible suspension of one of the most basic of our rights, the right to vote, would be received with outrage and calls to action. Yet we see an almost lethargic dismissal of the possible theft of our democracy by this nation.
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Thursday, August 3, 2006 at 7:01:35 AM
I can understand how it seems the masses are apathetic. Then again, I've written hundreds of articles in the past couple of years about the response we are generating. BradBlog has developed quite the documentation of this too. And you don't even need the blogosphere anymore to see in the corporate media that none of our so-called leaders can go out in public (worldwide) without being greeted by demonstrators correctly identifying them as war criminals who illegitimately claimed their power. I think you can fairly ask whether the glass is half full or half empty. But the contribution to the cause (peaceful revolution) is greater when showing what is being done, and reinforcing that, rather than lamenting what isn't happening and perpetuating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
by
Dave Berman (34 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 23 comments)
on Thursday, August 3, 2006 at 10:49:29 AM
How many vote in local elections? How many vote in even the most controversial of national elections? Demonstrations that attract thousands should attract tens of thousands. We see , after all the facts that have been unearthed, after all the news of corruption, greed, theft and torture, that close to 40% of this nation still supports Bush and his war for profit and oil.
Aside from advertising your blog have you anything of substance to change my opinion? Sorry for the rudeness but there you have it.
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ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Saturday, August 5, 2006 at 2:23:51 PM
Voter turnout is no longer a fair gauge of the overall level of apathy in the country. After all, how many people do not vote because they correctly understand that there is no basis for confidence in the results reported? If the act of voting is known to no longer have a direct link with the determination of the outcome, can people really be blamed for not voting? I realize there are still many good arguments for casting a ballot, and despite the cognitive dissonance it causes me, I do still vote. But to your point, I still say you are choosing to see a half empty glass.
Prior to the start of the current war in Iraq, there were national and international demonstrations larger than those from the height of the Viet Nam era. That was not a sign of apathy either. That these demonstrations didn't succeed at stopping the war, in my view, is a testament to the need for different tactics and goals. This has been an underpinning of all the writing I've done in the past several years, first here, then here, and now here.
As for the 40% figure you cite, I don't believe it for a second. Opinion polls are no more credible than election results, both a manifestation of the manufactured consent phenomenon. In this country and around the world, we are a vast majority who sees the fascist tyranny that has overtaken us. I believe you have taken our struggle's lack of success as a sign of apathy because it is convenient to believe that if only there were more of us we could change things. I grant you, we could use more people on our side and learning to win them over is important. However, as noted above, I think it is far more important that we focus on the changes we'd like to create and new methods to get there. Speaking only for myself and from my own experience, I can say that this approach allows seeing the glass half full, or half empty. It is totally your choice. Which view serves you better?
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Dave Berman (34 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 23 comments)
on Sunday, August 13, 2006 at 4:27:25 AM
There were more attendees at the State of Cali's first hearing here in Baketown than the usual amount that shows up at a Board of Supervisor meeting. The lack of preparation by the Dep. Registrar and the yahoo from Diebold was disgusting. I guess they figured it was just a dog and pony show and they had to just show up. The Repube Ashburn busted a cap on both their ass's and so did the Dem Dunn. Both the Registrar and Deibold looked like idiots..and their crocodile tears and "I don't know's" did not go over well..they were blasted for not being prepared. This road show will continue through the state and I urge everyone to attend and get on the speakers list. I did not and I wish I had..but I was not disenfranchised by the bs that happened here on election day.The County of Kern paid over 5 Mil for a system that Diebold couldn't even give us the updated manuals for..
by
dusty (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments)
on Thursday, August 3, 2006 at 8:33:59 PM
