There is also the Daily News Op ed piece which needs responding to, which I'll try to get to at some point.
I share all this with you because I am hoping it will inspire or assist you in also writing to the papers in NY too. As I've said we've turned straw into gold. Last Tuesday the DOJ moved to force NY to buy existing machines and ignore NY's testing certification and escrow laws. By Wednesday the papers started writing about hand counting for the first time in NY. The discussion in NY to the extent there's been any has been about which machine to buy from the same vendors: DREs or PBOSs. It has not been about the people's interests. It has not been about the requirements of a democracy. I need you to help keep up this drum roll. What happens in NY can affect the nation.
thanks
and thanks to all who have written so far
andi
WHY GOVERNMENT RESISTS THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE: HAND COUNTED PAPER BALLOTS
Thank you for reporting on hand counted paper ballots for our elections. In order for the people to retain control over their government and sovereignty they must be able to observe the entire election process, particularly the vote counting. Computers prevent humans from observing the electoral process, particularly when these computers are secretly programmed by corporations. NYS law permits secret vote counting so long as a few members of the government can get in on the secret and so long as the people are never told. Only hand counting permits the people to see that their vote was counted as cast.
Not only do these computers conceal from the people how their votes are counted, but they have been repeatedly shown to be easily hacked and thus readily capable of ignoring our votes, changing the tallies and deciding the election outcome.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sued NYS insisting that NY abide by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which the DOJ says should be done with these proven to be vulnerable-to-hacking computers. NYS wants more time before it employs these theft-enabling computers. Hand counting also satisfies HAVA so long as we have a means for disabled voters to vote. Citizens must demand that they, not computers, count their votes. The Attorney General, representing NYS in the litigation, should stop defending NYS's interest in controlling the elections with secret vote-counting computers and stand up for the people's right to transparent, accountable elections. Anything less is un-American and undemocratic.
Andi Novick, Esq.
Rhinebeck NY
Coordinator, Election Defense Alliance and
Co-Founder, Northeast Citizens for Responsible Media
_______________________________
Hand Counted Paper Ballots for the People/ Computerized Elections for the Government
Democratic elections are the means by which we assert our right to be self-governing. In order to retain our freedom the people must have oversight of the entire voting process. This is rendered impossible by secret computer programming. For us to maintain control we must handcount our elections; the only means humans can observe. For the government to maintain control they must use computers, concealing the information from the people.
NY's Legislature and Election Commissioners insist the people must use computers. The Governor is uncharacteristically mute. The Department of Justice sued NYS to pressure it to use computers sooner than NYS government wants to. The Attorney General represents NYS in the litigation and believes his allegiance is to the Commissioners and the Legislature. No one is representing the people. Undemocratic, unobservable, secret vote counting must not be tolerated in a free country, lest our public servants become our masters.
Andrea Novick, Esq.
Rhinebeck, N.Y.
Coordinator, Election Defense Alliance and
Co-Founder, Northeast Citizens for Responsible Media
845 406 2795
349 Ackert Hook Rd
Rhinebeck NY 12572
Referencing: Restoring Confidence in the Balloting Process
______________________________
My letter to the Poughkeepise Journal (250 words) letterstoeditor@poughkeepsiejournal.com cc (newsroom@poughkeepsiejournal.com)
Preserving Our Right to Vote: Hand Counted Paper Ballots
The right to vote is the hallmark of democracy. I implore the Journal to report more diligently on this issue. On November 6th the Department of Justice (DOJ) threatened to take over NYS's elections and force us to vote on defective, vulnerable computers. You bemoaned that NY has yet to perform testing certification on these machines.
The fact is there are no computerized voting systems on the market for NY to test that would provide a means for secure elections because all computerized systems have been revealed to be vulnerable to hacking. The fact is the DOJ has stated it wants NY to buy these systems even though they have failed across the country and can be easily rigged to throw the election. The fact is NY would still have us vote on vulnerable-to-hacking computers.
There is only one way for NY to vote that avoids purchasing theft-enabling computers and is also consistent with the DOJ's insistence that we comply with the Help America Vote Act now: Hand Counted Paper Ballots. We must be able to observe our own elections. We can't see what computers do with our votes so there's no way to know our votes are accurately counted. Those who need assistance should have Ballot Marking Devices. Then all votes must be counted in a publicly observable manner. Any election process that cannot be observed and verified by human beings is an undemocratic secret vote count and must not be tolerated in a free country.
Andrea Novick, Esq.
Rhinebeck, N.Y.
Coordinator, Election Defense Alliance and
Co-Founder, Northeast Citizens for Responsible Media
349 Ackert Hook Rd
Rhinebeck NY 12572
845 406 2795
