The “official” Voice of the Voters followed, hosted this week by Lori Rosolowski. Her focus was a remarkable meeting of the Bucks County [PA] commissioners, about whom I have written often as a former Bucks Countian.
Both Lori and Jim attended. The room was so packed to overflowing that would-be attenders had to be turned away. This was one of the first meetings in which Commissioner Diana Marsaglia was to participate, along with Commissioners Cawley and Martin, two veteran Republican incumbents.
The reason for the crowds was one agenda item to authorize $98,000 for an extension of their Electec (vendor of the county’s Danaher DREs) warranty. Another agenda item attracting so many people was a resolution to be proposed by Marsaglia, in support of HR 5036, Rep. Rush Holt’s (D-NJ) emergency legislation to fund counties moving from DREs to opscans, before the November elections.
In addition to the handful of Coalition for Voting Integrity (CVI) members, there were a few dignitaries, including the mayor of Doylestown, the county seat. The rest of the attendees, ordinary citizens, lined up for an hour to speak their minds about their right to verified voting. The emphasis was on what the people want. Twenty-five to thirty actually got to the microphone.
The focus was on moving forward. No direct criticism was aimed at the commissioners. Rep. Patrick Murphy, a long-time supporter of CVI, this week added his sponsorship to the Holt bill.
There was a call to the commissioners to support the bill and to urge Governor Ed Rendell to urge counties to “grab the money.”
The two commissioners refused to second the motion to approve Marsaglia’s resolution.
A surprise visitor next appeared, a guest on her own program, Mary Ann Gould. Her impassioned speech first aimed at the county government, controlled by the Chief Operating Officer along with the three commissioners.
She said that through her research she has found that there are other, more democratic ways of governing a county. She cited the two commissioners’ reasons for their dissent: worry that the bill will be changed in committee and on the House floor.
Calling her state “the worst of the worst,” Gould worried that Pennsylvania might become the next national embarrassment with its “vote into cyberspace on a magnetic wafer.”
She urged listeners to phone Gov. Rendell and emphasize the importance of voting with transparency and verifiability. “It’s time for him to take the flag,” she said. To reach Rendell, Pennsylvanians and fellow Americans who want to avoid another debacle, call 717-787-2500.
And what did the four-person government say back to the people? That 5036 was not fully funded and moreover, they hadn’t heard about the mishaps associated with their beloved Danahers in recent elections. They promises the attendees that they would investigate the issue further [go and catch a falling star].
“They work for us,” said Gould. What we need to exert is “an iron fist in a velvet glove.”At the federal level, listeners were urged to contact House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (202-225-4965) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (202-225-4131).
At their Web site voiceofthevoters.org, CVI will post a list of legislators who support 5036 and another of those opposed.
If 5036 doesn’t pass, said CVI’er Madeline Rawley, with their $456 million budget, the commissioners can still support it. It is “their moral duty to be the guardians of the people’s democracy,” she said.
Philadelphia is the cradle of our democracy, said Mary Ann, who called the commissioners’ meeting “inexcusable.” She once again referred to her state as “the quiet state”—no one is hearing about the tremendous controversies; we are in need of help.
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