Breaking news in Pennsylvania, important updates from Virginia, New York States deja vu all over again condition. Where's a superhero when ya need one?

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STOP THE PRESSES

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.

Mahatmas Gandhi

In Pennsylvania, we are at stage three of Gandhi’s maxim. At the 59th minute of the eleventh hour, I received word that the Bucks County Pennsylvania newspaper, The Intelligencer, had today published a lengthy editorial that addresses directly, the circumstance in Bucks County, to include the flawed decision making of two of the three county commissioners. Bottom line? The Intelligencer is taking a stand and demanding that the Commissioners revisit their decision of January 6, 2008.

Stay tuned for this one as the sparks continue to fly as the Coalition for Voting Integrity and Voice of the Voters radio continue to pressure and educate those reluctant to do the right thing.

THE COPPERFIELD EFFECT

Americas elected and appointed officialdom along with the providers of the multitudes of electronic voting mechanisms in use nationwide have much in common with magician David Copperfield. And like Copperfield, the source and mechanisms of their magic are closely held secrets.

Voting in America has become more akin to a magic act than a predictable democratic process. Professional voting hucksters, like circus barkers, lure the innocent, naïve, and stupid with fancy promises of quick easy “modern” voting when using their “state of the art“(a sad state it is) computer based voting machines. Yeah, and P.T. Barnum, knowing human nature, said it best, “There’s a sucker born every minute”.

Barnum’s observation aside, there is a deep and profound divide between those that seek to drape democracy with a veil of clandestine voting processes, and those citizens who seek to shine the light of day into all halls where voting takes place. That light frequently shines brightest when listening to the nationally recognized voting integrity radio program, “Voice of the Voters”. Airing on The Renaissance Radio Station, WNJC1360 in Philadelphia, and on the web wwwdotwnjc1360dotcom, “Voice of the Voters” consistently breaks the latest news, and offers straightforward long lasting solutions concerning the systemic problems forming Americas voting integrity nightmare.

The broadcast of February 6, 2008 was another of the two hour specials, that came about by the joining of air time from the authors earlier program, “American Voices”, with that of “Voice of the Voters“. The first half of the program, introduced by the author and hosted by election savvy songstress (more on her vocalizations later) Lori Rosolowsky reaffirmed the pervasiveness of the voting predicament in this nation with an hour long discussion of the circumstance in the state of Virginia.

Ms. Rosolowsky’s first guest was Attorney Ivy Main, Policy Director for the New Electoral Reform for Virginia, “New Era”. Ms. Main related that the Registrars are not friendly to the idea of dropping Direct Recoding Electronic (DRE) voting machines. Coupled with a “Legislature that does not like to move fast”, and “Local election officials that were relying on vendors” for advice and direction of how to best serve the publics right to vote, produced yet again the perfect storm of ineffective government.

Attempting to stay afloat and steaming in the correct direction in that storm is State Senator Mark R. Herring, of Virginias 33 Congressional District. Senator Herring told Ms. Rosolowsky that his unofficially named “The Verified Voter Bill”, Senate Bill SB292 was created because he understands that it is “critically important in any democracy that voters have confidence in the voting process”. Meaningful elements of SB292 which the Senator mentioned were (1) requirements for Random Post Election Audits, (2) Effective Recount Rules and Guidelines. (Provides for a random audit of optical scan tabulators after each election to take place within 24 hours after initial vote counts are completed and before the election results are certified. The State Board of Elections will establish procedures for the audits, hand counts, and evaluating discrepancies between hand counts and tabulator tallies. The bill also requires that recount officials select a random sample of at least five percent of the optical scan tabulators used in the election being recounted and that the paper ballots counted by those tabulators be recounted by hand. If the hand count detects machine errors, then the recount officials may designate additional machines to hand count.)

The Senator went on to explain that “Virginia has a citizen legislature”, and “the process is very compressed”. Thus, two bills, his SB292 and a parallel bill SB35 (SB35 Requires hard copy optical scan ballots to be rerun through appropriately programmed tabulators in recount proceedings. Present law provides that the tabulator printout will be sufficient unless it is unclear or the court orders the ballots to be rerun.) of Senator Creigh R. Deeds of District 25, “should fair pretty well in the Senate, then to the house where it may take as long as two weeks”. As it stands, possibly as early as the end of February (2008) the citizens of Virginia may have some legislative help in acquiring a more meaningful voting process. To keep abreast of the bills progress and to contact legislators in the Commonwealth of Virginia, wwwdotvirginiadotgov.

Next to the fast moving broadcast was Dr. Alex Blackmore. Dr. Blakemore, one of the leaders of the Verified Voting Coalition of Virginia (VVCV) opened with “our recounts are a farce”, and “the recount is merely a reprint”. A computer scientist by training, he explained that there is ‘no provision in Virginia for looking at paper ballots in the precincts that use them‘, making an audit a moot point, except in very rare and specific circumstance. As far as post election audits in Virginia, “After the certification period, if the margin is within 1% a candidate can demand a recount, if the margin is within ½ of 1%, then the state will pay for it”, said Dr. Blakemore. Clearly, Virginias policy makers are far more confident in the accuracy of their voting systems than the voters and the contestants. Challenging races that are of such narrow margins creates the purrfect condition for the Copperfield Effect to take place where the election is magically stolen within a margin barely larger than the 1% threshold! Presto Change-o…ShazaaaAAM!

 

However, Dr. Blakemore went on to reveal that Virginias “finest minds in electoral officialdom” suffer from the same systemic stupidity as in virtually all the other forty nine states when he stated, “The court is allowed to order recount officials to examine the ballots, but have chosen not to”. Chosen not too is a phrase far too frequently applicable when referring to “decision” making processes by American bureaucrats. The simple truth explaining that unflattering phenomenon is that saying no is almost always safer for the decision maker than saying yes. Saying yes sometimes requires intestinal fortitude, which is in woefully short supply amongst Americas bureaucrats.

Jeremy Epstein was next to speak in the long line up of activists. Co-Founder of VVCV, Mr. Epstein echoed most of what was said and pointed out that one County in Virginia, Fairfax, has 1/6 of all of the states registered voters. Thus, if problems occur in that county the state wide results could be skewed and placed in doubt even in the minds of skeptical bureaucrats. He too noted that this is a problem that extents from sea to shinning sea, when he said, “four states from Super Tuesday are doing audits”.

Like so many devoted Americans working at the grassroots level, the committed soldier citizens from Virginia related a story that is being told, with minor variations, all across America. Election officials, County Commissioners, Secretaries of State, Governors, all seem to suffer from the same narrowed perception , selective blindness, and lack of backbone. In the face of massive failures of leadership, it is required that we ask how it is possible that “We the People” get it, and the elected and appointed officialdom do not.

Leading off the second hour was a voice familiar to the voting integrity community in Pennsylvania, Madeline Rawley. An always astute and eloquent voice amongst the many active members of the Coalition for Voting Integrity, Ms. Rawley called into the broadcast to share comments based upon her observations when attending the County Commissioners meeting on that same day, in Doylestown, the County Seat of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Little did she know that while she was reporting over the radio, that she was being quoted in a front page article in the Bucks County newspaper, The Intelligencer. While in attendance at the Commissioners meeting she gave public testimony and the paper quoted her, “The problem is no machine should stand in the way of a voter’s intended vote being counted”, she then followed with, “Show some leadership, and say THIS is what you want”!

THIS, was nothing more than to the three commissioners signing on to support the passage of Rush Holts HR5036, the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008, provisions of which will guarantee reimbursements of state monies invested in the conversion from DRE type magic box devices to a paper based verifiable system. The newest of the Commissioners, Diane Marseglia had written a letter endorsing the passage of HR5036, but her peers chose to seek safety behind the “advice” of the Counties Chief Operating Officer, who’s position is one of being skeptical of the repayment of monies from the United States Government.

Ms. Rawley also explained to the versatile host (Lori Rosolowsky spoke during that same Commissioners meeting and as is the custom she announced her name and spelled her last name for clarity. Commissioner Jim Cawley asked jokingly if she would spell it again. Lori, being the performer (notice I did not say ham) that she is took the opportunity to sing her name phonetically. It only took a few seconds and her spontaneous adlibbing would have received a standing ovation in any other venue, but still, she received a resounding round of applause, and her friendly openness cleared the stiffness from the bureaucratic atmosphere.)that the citizens in attendance, many of which were CVI members, were also encouraging the commissioners in the strongest polite language possible, that regardless of the status of HR5036, the state monies should be redirected to enable the replacement of DRE magic boxes. The score at the end of the meeting was, bureaucrats 1, American citizens 0.

Following Madeline Rawley was New York States tireless voting rights champion, Bo Lipari. Bo reported that “The Supreme Court inexplicably performs a rare reversal of election officials decisions”. Mr. Lipari’s sense is that in order for Liberty Election Systems to have prevailed with there injunction, that they had to have gone “judge shopping”. While the courts disastrous decision is a set back, Bo feels that “by and large they have won the battle here for paper ballots”. As I write this article, the Counties in New York must select the machines to be purchased, thus, look for an update next week.

Unable to contain her passion, Voice of the Voters normal on air host, Mary Ann Gould, called in from her sick bed to provide fifteen minutes worth of fluid oratory leaving listeners and guest hosts inspired. Mary Ann lead off with, “We are fighting for what’s right”! Her ire relative to that mornings debacle in Doylestown could not be contained, “What happened today in Doylestown is inexcusable!” was her exclamation.

Complimenting Commissioner Marseglia, stating that, “she spokes as a stateswoman”, she also was adamant in her belief that the “Counties Chief Operating Officer and the other two commissioners do not want the citizens to have proof of their vote!” Knowing that Pennsylvania, and Bucks County in particular are at great risk for becoming the next Florida, she is livid that, “they have the fall to say they will not support the bill”. In her next breath she said that, “I personally will work to see that they (commissioners) are removed from office”.

Her fears are justified, and she communicated her fear when she said, “If we don’t change Bucks County, we won’t change the State”. In essence, she is saying that Bucks County must be where the voting integrity grassroots makes its strongest stand. “Government serves the people” she explained, and added that the thinking in Bucks County is horribly skewed when they are “willing to spend a fortune on golf courses, and not on our vote”.

She closed her block of time with a plea to the public, that we call Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and tell him in strong polite terms that voting into a black box is unacceptable and that he must listen to the voters and give them a verifiable paper based system. Otherwise, the Madeline Rawley quote as it relates to politicians that do not “Get It”, is that they are either “Confused, Complacent, or Complicit”. Contact information will come at the end of this article.

 

Closing the broadcast was John Gideon with his west coast update. An explanation of “Double Bubble Trouble” where confusing ballot design, poorly trained poll workers, and machines that read in one dimension (as opposed to humans who can use their imaginations to solve real time problems) has created a condition where over 100 THOUSAND votes may go uncounted as a function of over thinking a simple paper ballot. It’s amazing how we out smart ourselves by trying to be too clever, only the ourselves in this instant is not the designer of a bad ballot, but over one hundred thousand registered voters. That event should be national news, yet only the blogging world seem to be aware.

While the adage that all politics are local demands that we fight voting integrity skirmishes at the city, county, and state level, it is the authors opinion that nothing short of an Constitutional Amendment will fully right the voting integrity ship. It is chaos in all fifty states, and until the bull is taken by the horns and the system of voting made into a standardized process (with control states for a checks and balance) then we should anticipate that the chaos will continue.

However, in Pennsylvania, the guns are a blazing. Volleys fired from both sides are producing direct hits, with the bureaucrats firing the heavy artillery that comes with their positions of authority, and the voting integrity grassroots firing accurate meaningful shots whose cumulative effect can be to fell the bureaucratic beasts in mid stride. The parallels between colonial times and now are significant. A one dimensional force of bureaucrats fending off the efforts of tireless civic warriors. It is a quiet revolution that must find a way to amp up the noise level.

To make noise at the Governors office in Pennsylvania, call Governor Ed Rendell, 717-787-2500. To pump up the volume in Bucks County, contact the Commissioners, 215-348-6000, and to make the issue resonate with Representative Bob Brady, Chair of the House Administrative Committee, 202-225-4731.

Calling in great numbers is vital. Call them all, then call a friend have them repeat the process. It’s winter in Pennsylvania, lets snow them in with phone call, after email, after fax, after US Postal. Let then know that you’re one angry hombre, and that you are no longer going to tolerate their arrogance and disconnect.

This article and others by the author, along with pod casts of previous “Voice of the Voters” broadcasts are available on wwwdotvoiceofthevotersdotcom.

Authors Bio:
Host of "American Voices" radio-Wednesdays 7-8PM Eastern & Co-Host of popular "Strait & Kall"radio programming- Thursdays 8-9PM Eastern, airing on WNJC1360 in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania radio market(live internet stream www.wnjc1360.com);

Frequent guest/co-host on "Voice of the Voters" radio.

Most importantly, a concerned and involved American.