Lulu Friesdat, founder and head of Smart Elections and Smart Legislation, spoke about her extensive experience as an election security journalist with major media outlets. Her focus today was on the importance of data and getting people to the polls and making sure that they vote, accomplished via collecting data and knowing about both voting technology and how the votes are being counted. Smart Elections is completely nonpartisan and Friesdat is currently looking for people to serve on its board of directors.
Julie Weiner of Citizens for Voting Integrity New York praised her state's use of paper ballots for voting, far superior to touchscreen voting. But it has never developed post-election audit procedures "adequate to catch or reverse errors in our computerized vote tally." Just this year we finally started requiring hand countshad they been in place in November 2020, she said, the progressive environmentalist Anthony Brindisi would have remained in Congress. He was denied a full recount even though highly favored to win and was replaced by a conservative who favors removing protections from streams under the control of coal mining companies.
Election protection and civil rights attorney Steve Spitz of Virginia said that his state is the last to prevent anyone with a felony conviction from voting permanently unless they appeal successfully to the governor. However, a constitutional amendment passed in Virginia this year in the General Assembly automatically restores voting rights upon release from prison; it must pass next year in identical language and then be ratified by voters in the November 2022 election. Many felons actually granted the franchise by Virginia's most recent two governors upon release from prison have no idea that they can register to vote, Spitz said. He encouraged listeners to join Andrea Miller in her efforts to reach all of these people and register them to vote.
A video of the entire four hours of yesterday's event can be found at electionprotection2024.org.
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