Our electoral system is fundamentally broken. It's NOT going to be fixed by November. And we don't have a lot of time to make things right. Choose one action - any action. This is YOUR tool kit to help you and your group take action and monitor upcoming elections, so contribute input as desired. A FRAME OF REFERENCE: You own your government, it's not the other way around.

::::::::

Now is the time for your 2 cents: Citizen's Tool Kit to
Take Back Elections

Distribute to lists etc. as desired.

If you are worried about Election 2006, this message is for you. The Black
Box Voting CITIZEN'S TOOL KIT contains 20 modules, listed below. Begin
actively managing your elections by choosing one thing to do. This is your
chance to suggest improvements to the tool kit.

Choose one action - any action. This is YOUR tool kit to help you and your
group take action and monitor upcoming elections, so contribute input as
desired.

A FRAME OF REFERENCE: You own your government, it's not the other way
around.

When you own something, it's up to you to manage it. The Citizen's Tool Kit
was created through combined expertise with many of our nation's most
effective and experienced citizens, to help you learn the citizen management
skills that work. If you depend on others to do this for you, you may just
lose your country.

TELLING IT TO YOU STRAIGHT: WE'RE IN TROUBLE

Our electoral system is fundamentally broken. It's NOT going to be fixed by
November. And we don't have a lot of time to make things right.

What happens when the owner of a business doesn't do anything to manage it?
Pretty soon it doesn't exist. Let's not kid ourselves: The same thing can
happen to our democratic republic.

We need to take this seriously. Your children and grandchildren will inherit
the government you give to them. If you don't take action, who will?

Black Box Voting is not going to organize you, fix the government for you,
or manage your efforts. We WILL provide you with the tools to have a real
impact, either individually or by gathering together in small groups of 5 to
a dozen people. We will provide you with mentoring if you need it. This is
not a top-down initiative, it's roots-up, and it's your turn to reach for
sunlight.

If you've been under the impression that the American citizenry can win back
our elections by clicking "send" on an e-mail or writing letters to our
representatives, or even by passing a law, think again. Those of us who have
been in the trenches know: Laws are being ignored willy-nilly, public
records are being withheld from citizens, and the voting machines we're
using are junk.

If you aren't convinced, here is a presentation you can review -- it's
pictures and captions, a quick read (but due to so many pictures, a slightly
slow download, allow a few minutes even on high-speed connections):
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-presentation.pdf
You can also use this presentation to explain the situation to others.

CITIZEN'S TOOL KIT TO TAKE BACK ELECTIONS - Choose what interests you most
(links to each at bottom). Pick just one thing and take action.

MOBILIZATION MODULES
Module 1: Have a House Party
Module 2: Organize a Town Meeting
Module 3: Give a Speech to a Group

HARD CORE EVIDENCE MODULES
Module 4: Adopt Part of an Election: Check Out the System Testing
Module 5: Adopt Part of an Election: Check On Voter Registration Lists
Module 6: Adopt Part of an Election: Become a Poll Worker or Elections Judge
Module 7: Adopt Part of an Election: Monitor the Voting
Module 8: Adopt Part of an Election: Monitor the Counting
Module 9: Adopt Part of an Election: Check on the Chain of Custody
Module 10: Adopt Part of an Election: Audit for Accuracy
Module 11: Get Public Records and Freedom of Information Documents

CREATIVE & SPECIALTY MODULES
Module 12: Be the Media
Module 13: Adopt a Public Official
Module 14: Check Out the Money Trail: Who's Getting Paid?
Module 15: Accountability Check-up: Did the Election Follow Rules & Laws?
Module 16: Legal Actions

'PLAN B' MODULE
Module 17: Count the Votes Yourself

MODULES FOR CANDIDATES, CELEBRITIES, AND WEALTHY CITIZENS
Module 18: Actions for Candidates
Module 19: For Famous Voices (Action ideas for Celebrities)
Module 20: Actions for High Net Worth Individuals

Each module is being posted at Black Box Voting for your perusal and
commentary. Links to each module are also provided below. You can see the
modules as they go up, and read the comments of others, here:
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/36341.html

You can contribute your input by going to the above link -- you must be
signed in to post, so if this is your first time, just hit the "register"
link to the left, fill in the boxes and you're ready to go!

You can also comment by e-mail. Just hit "reply" to this message and send
your input along.

We'll take your ideas into consideration and update the Citizen's Tool Kit
as needed. To help you customize each module for your own community or
group, a page is also provided at the end of each module.

The entire Citizen's Tool Kit will be available module by module and as one
complete document.

CITIZEN'S TOOL KIT TO TAKE BACK ELECTIONS
INTRO http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-intro.pdf

MOBILIZATION MODULES
Module 1: House Parties
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-house-party.pdf
Module 2: Town Meetings
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-town-meeting.pdf
Module 3: Speeches http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-speaking.pdf

Additional modules are being added throughout the day. If the links below
don't work, wait a couple hours and try again as they are updated and added
all day today.

HARD CORE EVIDENCE MODULES
Module 4: Adopt Part of an Election: Check Out the System Testing
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-testing.pdf
Module 5: Adopt Part of an Election: Check On Voter Registration Lists
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-voter-registration.pdf
Module 6: Adopt Part of an Election: Become a Poll Worker or Elections Judge
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-pollworker.pdf
Module 7: Adopt Part of an Election: Monitor the Voting
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-voting.pdf
Module 8: Adopt Part of an Election: Monitor the Counting
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-counting.pdf
Module 9: Adopt Part of an Election: Check on the Chain of Custody
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-chain-of-custody.pdf
Module 10: Adopt Part of an Election: Audit for Accuracy
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-audit.pdf
Module 11: Get Public Records and Freedom of Information Documents
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-public-records.pdf

CREATIVE & SPECIALTY MODULES
Module 12: Be the Media http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-media.pdf
Module 13: Adopt a Public Official
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-adopt-an-official.pdf
Module 14: Check Out the Money Trail: Who's Getting Paid?
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-money-trail.pdf
Module 15: Accountability Check-up: Did the Election Follow Rules & Laws?
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-accountability.pdf
Module 16: Legal Actions http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-legal.pdf

'PLAN B' MODULE
Module 17: Count the Votes Yourself
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-count-the-votes.pdf

MODULES FOR CANDIDATES, CELEBRITIES, AND WEALTHY CITIZENS
Module 18: Actions for Candidates
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-candidates.pdf
Module 19: For Famous Voices (Action ideas for Celebrities)
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-celebrities.pdf
Module 20: Actions for High Net Worth Individuals
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit-affluent.pdf

Enjoy. If you have any questions or input, e-mail to crew@blackboxvoting.org
or post them on the forums at http://www.blackboxvoting.org

* * * * *

Be part of the solution: Please sign up for the NATIONAL HAND COUNT
REGISTRY:
http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-profile.cgi?action=register

Black Box Voting is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501c(3) elections watchdog
group supported entirely by citizen donations. We refuse funds from any
vendor or vested interest.

To support Black Box Voting: click to
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/donate.html or send to:
Black Box Voting
330 SW 43rd St Suite K
PMB 547
Renton WA 98055

Submitter: Joan Brunwasser

Submitters Website: http://www.opednews.com/author/author79.html

Submitters Bio:

Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of transparency and the ability to accurately check and authenticate the vote cast, these systems can alter election results and therefore are simply antithetical to democratic principles and functioning.



Since the pivotal 2004 Presidential election, Joan has come to see the connection between a broken election system, a dysfunctional, corporate media and a total lack of campaign finance reform. This has led her to enlarge the parameters of her writing to include interviews with whistle-blowers and articulate others who give a view quite different from that presented by the mainstream media. She also turns the spotlight on activists and ordinary folks who are striving to make a difference, to clean up and improve their corner of the world. By focusing on these intrepid individuals, she gives hope and inspiration to those who might otherwise be turned off and alienated. She also interviews people in the arts in all their variations - authors, journalists, filmmakers, actors, playwrights, and artists. Why? The bottom line: without art and inspiration, we lose one of the best parts of ourselves. And we're all in this together. If Joan can keep even one of her fellow citizens going another day, she considers her job well done.


When Joan hit one million page views, OEN Managing Editor, Meryl Ann Butler interviewed her, turning interviewer briefly into interviewee. Read the interview here.

While the news is often quite depressing, Joan nevertheless strives to maintain her mantra: "Grab life now in an exuberant embrace!"


Joan has been Election Integrity Editor for OpEdNews since December, 2005. Her articles also appear at Huffington Post, RepublicMedia.TV and Scoop.co.nz.