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Kindra Muntz

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Kindra Muntz formed the nonpartisan Political Action Committee, Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections (SAFE) in January, 2006 to preserve freedom and democracy through verified elections, after two years of research on the problems of electronic voting.

As President of SAFE, Kindra spearheaded the petition drive for a county charter amendment for voter verified paper ballots and mandatory, random audits of election results, that passed in Sarasota County, Florida, in November, 2006 with 74,000 votes from people of all political parties. After continued opposition by Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning, Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent, and the Sarasota County Commissioners, the charter amendment was overturned at the State Appellate Court in October of 2007. SAFE appealed that decision at the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee May 7, 2008, and is awaiting their ruling.

In addition to the countywide effort for verified elections with paper ballots and mandatory audits of election results, Kindra co-founded the Florida Voters Coalition (FVC) in 2007 with three election reform activists from other Florida counties, to press for a statewide bill for paper ballots that passed in 2007. That bill provided for paper ballots, but failed to provide statistically significant audits, which are critical to verified elections. The FVC pressed unsuccessfully for strengthened statewide audit legislation in 2008, and will continue their efforts in coming years. For Kindra's work she received the 2007 Jim Barrett Social Justice Award of the Florida District Unitarian Universalist Association and the 2008 Nelson Poynter Award for Civil Liberties (along with the other three co-founders of the Florida Voters Coalition) from the ACLU Foundation of Florida. She continues to work with partners statewide and nationwide to effect needed election reforms in Florida and around the country.

In 2004, 2005, and 2006, Kindra was a volunteer Florida State Representative to Washington with VerifiedVoting.org on behalf of the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act" (HR550), now HR811. She became a member of VoteTrustUSA Leaders in 2006. She has spoken on a voting reform panel in Washington, appeared on CNN and Fox News, and spoken before the Florida Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on the problems of electronic voting.

Kindra worked in manufacturing management at General Electric Company's Aircraft Engine Group in Lynn, Massachsetts for 18 years, and received their Managerial Award in 1990. She was a retail broker at Merrill Lynch for five years, before retiring and moving to Venice, where she is active in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice, immediate past President of the Southwest Cluster of UU Congregations, and Secretary of the Board of the public charter Island Village Montessori School. Kindra is a graduate of Harvard University and Secretary of her Class of 1965 at Radcliffe.

www.safevote.org

OpEd News Member for 820 week(s) and 2 day(s)

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SHARE More Sharing        Thursday, April 22, 2010
Florida Victory for Home Rule! Voters won a key victory in the 2/11/10 FL Supreme Court Decision in Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections, Inc. et al v Browning,et al that upheld the right of voters to meaningful spot check audits of voting machine accuracy.Now those common-sense audits that do not conflict with state law,remain,and the right of counties to protect their voters beyond the minimum standards set by the state is once again validated.
(1 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Florida: URGENT ELEVENTH HOUR REQUEST - PROTECT YOUR VOTE--CALL tonight (4/20) or tomorrow before noon (4/21)!! THE STATE IS BACK AGAIN TO DEFEAT OUR COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENT FOR AUDITED ELECTIONS!THEY COULDN'T ACCEPT DEFEAT AT THE FL SUPREME COURT FEB 11TH,SO NOW ARE TRYING AGAIN TO CRUSH THE VOTERS BY GIVING ALL POWER TO THE STATE OVER ELECTIONS!This amendment would remove the right of the people to protect themselves by making sure their voting machines work properly, would deprive counties of right to home rule and more
SHARE More Sharing        Thursday, March 25, 2010
Delray FL screening of "Broadcaset Blues" Friday, March 26 Clear Channel neglects its emergency system,disaster strikes, and people die. Pentagon pundits profit from the same war they promote. Fox News gets a court ruling that news does not have to be true. Hate Radio rules. Media policy kills people in this country. Literally. It's killing our democracy, too. Lies & misinformation are churning our Union into chaos. Until now. We the People are taking the media back.
SHARE More Sharing        Saturday, September 5, 2009
Call Congress This Weekend to Demand Strong Public Option "With all the dishonest claims made by some politicians about alleged 'death panels' in proposed national legislation, the reality for patients today is a daily, cold-hearted rejection of desperately needed medical care by the nation's biggest and wealthiest insurance companies simply because they don't want to pay for it," said Deborah Burger, RN, CNA/NNOC co-president.
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(1 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Monday, May 4, 2009
It's official. We WON. IT'S OVER! Harmful election bill SB956 and its companion bill HB7146 that the Republican leadership in the FL House and Senate tried to push through the legislature in the last two weeks of the legislative session--HAVE BEEN DEFEATED.These bills would have limited the number of IDs that voters could use at the polls,restricted voter registration efforts,hamstrung petition-gatherers,and put almost all power over elections in the hands of
SHARE More Sharing        Wednesday, April 22, 2009
FL SB956/HB7149--Voter Suppression Bills--CALL YOUR LOCAL REP THURSDAY House bill 7149 (the new number) goes to the floor Friday, April 24th.The challenge now is to reach local legislators...all over the state.It is going to be an uphill battle, but your calls can help. Call your LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE THURSDAY, April 23rd, and tell them to VOTE NO ON HB7149. You can also call and leave a message this evening (Wednesday) or early morning.
SHARE More Sharing        Monday, April 20, 2009
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH IN OUR FLORIDA LEGISLATURE The New York Times and St. Pete Times articles cover it all. Call your legislators around the state, and let them know what you think of their voter suppression tactics. Tell them to VOTE NO on SB956 and House Bill PCB-EDCA 09-08. We can't let all power be concentrated in the Secretary of State!
(1 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Monday, April 20, 2009
Major Press Conference in Tallahassee Today Citizens groups from all over the state rallied in opposition to the dangerous voter suppression bill SB956 being fast-tracked through the Florida legislature at a press conference on the 4th Floor Rotunda of the Senate in Tallahassee this morning at 11:00 AM.Keep your calls going to legislators all over the state to VOTE NO on SB 956 and House companion bill PCB-EDCA 09-08.
SHARE More Sharing        Friday, April 17, 2009
FL Voters' Rights in Peril! URGENT ALERT! The Florida Legislature is planning a power-grab that will hurt voters, take away rights, and sweep out dozens of local ordinances. DO NOT LET OUR OUTRAGEOUS HEAVILY PARTISAN-CONTROLLED LEGISLATURE GET AWAY WITH THIS POWER GRAB THAT WILL HURT ALL VOTERS IN FLORIDA!!
SHARE More Sharing        Friday, April 17, 2009
Speak Out Against FL Senate Bill 956 This bill should be KILLED, not amended. It disenfranchises voters, hurts the citizen initiative processs, opens the floodgates for out-of-state-contributions to campaigns, and gives too much power to the Secretary of State. Please let your readers know they should contact their Representative and Senator to VOTE NO on SB956.
SHARE More Sharing        Friday, February 20, 2009
SAFE to argue before Florida Supreme Court Thank you for perseverance with us in this historic effort for the rights of voters to accurate elections.
SHARE More Sharing        Thursday, July 31, 2008
Florida Voters: Sign this! Sign the petition to call for an investigation of the voting machine companies still pushing the flawed touch screen DRE equipment. (Check the "featured media" video and "legal action" for the writeup on the nonpartisan lawsuit in Sarasota County.)
SHARE More Sharing        Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Re: Fox News Report of July 8th coverage of Sarasota County mock election July 8, 2008
SHARE More Sharing        Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Fox news coverage of Sarasota Cty. mock election, Tuesday, July 8th In Sarasota County, Florida, we are waiting for the decision of the Florida Supreme Court from the May 7th hearing on our county charter amendment for paper ballots, mandatory audits, with audits conducted before certifying elections. Our countywide effort could be the harbinger of verified elections statewide and nationwide.

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