Senator Edwards:

I heard your call for eliminating touch screen voting machines. Of course, being from South Carolina you are certainly aware of its use of the notoriously unreliable iVotronic touch screen voting machines. Last Friday afternoon, I looked into South Carolina’s use of these infamous voting machines, and I discovered that it’s PROHIBITED by South Carolina’s Constitution.

Some of the key information from my article "South Carolina Elections Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL!?!" published on Monday January 14, 2008 on OpEdNews.com follows.

Article II, § 1 of the Constitution of South Carolina states, "the ballots shall not be counted in secret." Although there is case law which supports the right to have votes counted in public, this is the election integrity jackpot, a Constitutional provision prohibiting counting votes in secret! No more need to refer to case law, evidence, or logic to argue against secret vote counting, at least in South Carolina.

You have courageously spoken out against touch screen voting. But, in case this is the first time someone else reading this has thought about how votes are counted on computers, they don’t understand that computers count in secret, or they think that fears about votes being counted on computers are unfounded, take a minute and think about three things: (1) How does a computer count votes? (2) Do computers sometimes malfunction? and (3) Do you have any security measures on your computer to protect against hackers?

The last two questions are really easy, but for those of you who haven’t yet thought of how computers count, it’s really simple. Computers count inside their case, with no oversight, just like they are told to do, unless of course, they malfunction or are hacked.

The cat is out of the bag. The people know about these problems, and they are becoming more and more aware of the damage that has resulted from them.

Those few of you who still think that we can trust having our votes counted in secret will be happy to know that your view is shared by many powerful and influential people. For example, Joseph Stalin said, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." If you want to roll back the evolution of civilization from citizen influence over government to a form of feudalism, then you might as well quit reading now.

South Carolina is the best opportunity to make a case against allowing computers to count the votes in secret. I’ve discussed this with two leading election law advocates who have also brought election contests, Paul Lehto and Andi Novick. They both think that this is the best opportunity to act that they have seen. The South Carolina Constitution prohibits secret vote counting! The election reform community EXPECTS one of the Presidential candidates to take action.

I’ve already heard from four, now five, radio shows that want me to come on as a guest speaker this week to discuss this issue. I’ll be on two shows tonight. This was discussed on Voice of the Voters last night.

Congressman Kucinich has a lot of support in the election reform movement, and he might take action on this. He came out against the Holt bill after meeting with me last summer. Now, we have a new Holt bill which is better, but it still has some shortcomings.

Congressman Ron Paul has been a consistent defender of Constitutional rights. It would seem like he would jump on this case. Maybe he is working on it, but he didn’t ask for a recount in New Hampshire. Also, he’s running out of time, and he doesn’t have your legendary trial skills and legal team.

You could sit back and wait to see whether someone else takes legal action, then join in or sit by and just speak in support of another’s effort. If so, you lose the opportunity to take the lead and grab the spotlight in the effort to stand up for the rule of law and the right to have our votes counted accurately.

Most importantly, if you act before the Republican primary, you can make it a non-partisan issue. You would be working to help make sure that even Republicans’ constitutional rights are respected. Certainly, that would make the Daily Show as well as all of the late night shows.

I can see it now, John Stewart saying, "John Edwards has taken legal action to protect the Constitutional rights of Republicans. You know, those guys whose leaders don’t care about Constitutional rights!" It would explode across America!

When Ellis Rubin, Luke Lirot and I filed suit last year to seek an injunction to get Max Linn, the Reform Party candidate for Governor of Florida, into the Gubernatorial debates, he got a lot of press. The campaign’s phones started ringing off of the hook. There was a major increase in requests for signs and bumper stickers. His poll numbers went from 5% to 8.7%, a 74% increase just for standing up for his right to debate! Of course, the media claimed that his support in their polls showed less than 2%, but they would not produce any evidentiary basis for their polls. We did, and we won injunctions twice!

I think that you would get an even bigger boost because as the Zogby poll shows, 92% were concerned about secret vote counting in August of 2006. It’s hard to imagine a poll showing more support for any subject! How many are concerned about debates? 25 to 30% at best. Plus, after all of the problems with the 2006 elections and the New Hampshire primary, I would say that even more people are concerned about election integrity now.

You know what to do, but to help expedite things, I suggest that you or your representative send a letter to the South Carolina State Election Commission pointing out that using touch screen computers to count the votes in secret violates the prohibition in Article II, § 1 against secret vote counting, and I would demand that they take immediate action to implement the use of paper ballots which are counted by hand in public to conduct the upcoming primary. I would notify them that you will take legal action as soon as possible to seek an injunction requiring that the election process comply with Article II or postponing the primaries until such time as they can be conducted in a Constitutional manner.

I suggest filing suit as soon as possible and making the argument based on South Carolina’s Constitution first, but I would also include the arguments based on the U. S. Constitution. Yes, the United State Supreme Court has ruled that counting votes in secret violates our Constitutional rights. Unfortunately, those rulings were forgotten by the public and ignored by those who forced computers which count votes in secret upon us. Also, I would include references to documented problems with the iVotronic machines.

As time is of the essence, I suggest that you take action immediately. The election integrity community expects you to take action. More than 92% of Americans want you to take action! Only the clueless do not care. Only the power hungry want to keep the votes counted in secret!

Where do you stand? My friend, John Russell, and millions of Americans think that you truly stand for the best interests of all Americans. I hope they’re right! I hope that you will take this opportunity to prove it to us all!

If you seize it, then it will catapult you into the limelight on two issues which already have widespread support. Our government should abide by the Constitution, and our votes should be counted in public, not in secret!

I know that there are registered Republican voters in South Carolina who would be happy to join as plaintiffs in this landmark case. If you want to call John Edwards’ campaign to volunteer or ask him to take action in South Carolina, the phone numbers are (919) 636-3131 for his national headquarters and 803-251-0168 for his South Carolina headquarters.

Carpe diem,

Mark A. Adams JD/MBA

Mark Adams speaks at the FCC Hearing in Tampa. This short video has a lot of information about my work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAni0WoI7LI

Zogby Poll on Electronic Voting – 92% are concerned about secret vote counting
http://www.zogby.com/templates/printnews.cfm?id=1163

South Carolina State Election Commission
http://www.scvotes.org/about_the_sec

Link to South Carolina Constitution Article II Right of Suffrage
http://www.scstatehouse.net/scconstitution/a02.doc

My article "South Carolina Elections Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL!?!" published on OpEdNews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_mark_a___080114_south_carolina_elect.htm

I am active in the election, judicial and media reform movements. I obtained the first injunctions getting a third party candidate into debates, and I have handled more Congressional election contests than any other attorney.

I practiced law in the banana republic of Florida. In 2006, I represented Max Linn, the Reform Party candidate for Governor of Florida, in successful lawsuits brought against the media to require his inclusion in the Gubernatorial debates.

I also represented John Russell, Clint Curtis, Frank Gonzalez, and others in contesting the official results of the 2006 elections in Florida state court and before the U.S. House of Representatives. See my articles for information about the cover-up of these contests and the evidence which we obtained showing that the votes were not counted accurately.

Naturally, the powers that be were not happy, so I was hurriedly disbarred without due process and in violation of my rights under color of law. For more on that, see "Justice" in Florida's Supreme Court!?! at https://youtu.be/tn5py2Nr_iU

I earned my BA in business administration with a major in finance and a minor in economics at the University of South Florida. I earned my law degree and my MBA at the University of Florida where I also worked as a teaching assistant in the Economics Department. Unfortunately, an education doesn't mean much in a third world country. For more on that, see my speech titled "No Justice, No Peace, No Prosperity" given at the National Judicial Reform Conference at Rice University at http://youtu.be/SZfMKZLfxgk

I have been involved in the judicial reform movement since 2003, the media reform movement since 2004, and the election reform movement since 2006. Before those years, I believed that judges followed the law, that our media told us the truth, and that our votes were counted. Beliefs that most of us once held and that many still hold on to. Unfortunately, I learned that these beliefs were no longer true. However, I believe that we can counteract the forces which have destroyed these institutions if we face reality and take action before it is too late.

Please remember that the American dream will die and our children will suffer if the people do not know what their government leaders are doing, if the people are not able to vote ineffective or corrupt leaders out of office, or if government actors can ignore the law and the facts with no repercussions!

Mark A. Adams JD/MBA