We should all remember the nightmare of Election night 2004 to regain any lessons learned. Election night 2004 and the first reports of voter suppression were rolling in, purposeful purges of new voters, thousands of provisional ballots that were never to be counted, purported terrorist threats so that vote counts could be crafted in secret, and an unknown amount of electronic vote flipping never to be disclosed because of selective recount rigging made to prevent a full recount.
And where was John Kerry, who had promised that he would use all of his resources to ensure that every vote would be counted? Like a stab in the back with a twist, he conceded electoral defeat at his earliest convenient media window. According to a radio interview with Mike Papantonio, who filed a Qui Tam lawsuit against elections software makers, John Kerry briefly admitted to knowing about the widespread voter disenfranchisement and fresh allegations of election fraud BEFORE conceding defeat.
The lesson learned: Democracy is too fragile and easily broken by those who would pretend to be our champion and protect it for us. We can not trust any smiling faces and seemingly earnest promises. The vote count must be a PUBLIC, transparently simple process. Paper ballots counted in a public manner by precinct workers and friendly neighbors posted and reported for all those present to verify and see.
Currently the Holt Bill HR 811, like the HAVA (Help America Vote Act) is another smiling face that on the surface seems like a reform helping to reinforce democracy, but in the particulars, the fine print entrenches poisonous secrecy into the vote counting. Electronic vote counting allows the voter to verify a paper printout of their votes, then buries that receipt in a lockbox, that never sees the light of day again. Your vote can be flipped, changed, and lost forever in a secret tabulating system that not so miraculously, narrowly avoids any mandatory recount triggers by just a single percentage point.
The HOLT bill HR 811 is another trojan horse. We have seen that shitty grin coupled with slimy promises once before. Our Constitutional Democracy is not perfect, but we must protect what little we have from layer upon layer of bad legislation. Follow this link to the Election Defense Alliance breakdown of the bad legislation that must be rebuked for further revision: http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/state_county_811_opposition
Or go to the article posted here by Dan Ashby to read more and act: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_dan_ashb_070418_action_alert_opposin.htm
Be a real patriot today!
