On October 2, 2006, Rep. Kucinich chose to announce to the participants of the We Count 2006 conference, then in session in Cleveland, Ohio, that he had introduced a new bill in Congress, HR 6200. This bill would amend the HAVA law to, among other things, provide:
(7) SPECIAL RULES FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS- Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, in the case of a regularly scheduled general election for the electors of President and Vice President (beginning with the election in November 2008), the following rules shall apply:
(A) The State shall conduct the election using only paper ballots.
(B) The State shall ensure that the number of ballots cast at a precinct or equivalent location which are placed inside a single box or similar container does not exceed 500.
(C) The ballots cast at a precinct or equivalent location shall be counted by hand by election officials at the precinct, and a representative of each political party with a candidate on the ballot, as well as any interested member of the public, may observe the officials as they count the ballots. The previous sentence shall not apply with respect to provisional ballots cast under section 302(a).'
There was a moment of stunned silence when the announcement was made. Not out of respect, so much, as out of disbelief, or awe. Then a thunderous roar of approval swept throughout the packed room, an explosion of jubilation which has probably not been rivalled since V-E Day. And I say that, noting that I was not even alive on V-E Day!
So, with such wonderful news regarding Congressional electoral bills in the recent past, what prompted me to make the inaugural SMTV post an urgent call to sign a petition to Rep. Kucinich?
Well, it was not just to ask for a tweaking of the language to get even closer to our goal of hand counts of paper ballots, though the removal of all machines would do that. It was because all of us who have been fighting for electoral transparency, and citizen oversight of our elections, realized that those forces opposed to our wishes would look for the very first opportunity to give the deep-six to our goals, and to derail HR 6200.
Given the election results this past November 7th, many of us expected the attempt, to thwart open and accountable elections, to happen sooner rather than later. Further, we expected the "poison" to come in a candy wrapper.
It is always easier to tell the public, "Here, this is exactly what you were wanting! Be happy!", while actually giving them something else, which only seems to be what was asked for, instead of what actually is needed to accomplishes the needed ends.
Doing this lets the "givers" to be long gone by the time the public finds that the candy wrapper is empty or, possibly, that the flavor of candy turns out to be something like "sugared frog eyes".
After the 2000 elections, we all learned this trick when we were given the gift of "HAVA". Either HAVA with a choice of plain DREs, or with useless paper trails.
Consequently, we expected something to be offered by the Senate to accompany Dennis Kucinich's HR 6200, but something which would do exactly the opposite of what we desired. All the while being told , "This is just what you asked for."
And, since most of us want hand marked paper ballots, counted at the precinct under the watchful eye of the citizenry, we fully expected to hear someone say,
"Here is the paper you wanted! Aren't you lucky?",
while they pass the Senate bill and slip out the side door.
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