A message from a friend in Ohio

That last message (about NOW doing a show on e-voting) was predicated
on
two little triumphs that happened to me this week.

We have a local (Cincinnati and environs) public affairs tv show that
runs on the local CBS affiliate on Sunday mornings at 11a.m. The host,
Dan Hurley, is someone I heard speak at a Democratic function earlier
this year, but I've never met him personally. I was impressed with him
at that event and also from the way he handles his weekly show--very
intelligent and fair-handed. Recently on his show, he provided an
email
address--which I tucked away for future reference.

So this past Sunday night, I emailed him (out of the blue), introduced
myself briefly, and asked him if he'd consider doing a show on the
documented problems and vulnerabilities of e-voting, focussing on the
just-released GAO report on the subject ('which was largely neglected
by
the media'). To my surprise, he answered the next day and said he
liked
the idea and would be in touch with me about who he might invite as
guest expert (along with some local BOE people). I'd given him a
couple
of brief examples of 'glitches' and questionnable practices that I
witnessed Nov 8 during our county's first time using Diebold
touchscreen
voting machines.

Without waiting for Hurley to get back to me, I indirectly sounded out
Bob Fitrakis from Columbus who has been the most articulate voice on
voting reform issues in Ohio since 2000--and Bob indicated he'd love to
do it. So I passed along his contact info to Hurley--who says he will
put this together 'after the first of the year.'

Needless to say, I'm thrilled!!

THEN...we heard last week that Ohio's Democratic Party Chair resigned
unexpectedly. A few days later, the only Democratic County
Commissioner
in Cincinnati (Hamilton County) announced that he is running for the
post pf State Chair. I've been in meetings with him (Todd Portune) and
was impressed with his sincerity and drive. Todd's email to his
supporters asked us to create some 'buzz' in favor of his
candidacy--even though it's the state excom who gets to vote. The vote
is set for December 19, so time is very short and there are quite a few
contenders around the state for this post.

Anyhow, knowing that it was an extreme longshot (yet fueled by my
previous victory) I emailed Dan Hurley again and said that surely his
agenda for his next two Sundays was already committed--but I wish there
were some way to get Todd on his show. Well...within the hour, he
emailed me back and said that he'd had a cancellation by one of this
Sunday's guests and was wracking his brain for how to fill a 15-minute
time slot when he got my message...'and I just left an urgent message
for Todd inviting him to be on this week's show.'

A couple hours later, Todd emailed me a big thank you. He jumped at
the
chance...and the taping of the show was set for today (Friday).

Whew! I was on top of the world!

So that's what got me thinking that it's not beyond the realm of
possibility that we could convince Brancaccio to devote an episode of
NOW to the subject of e-voting. We have such a huge job to educate
the voting public about the sorry state of the electronic voting
systems
that are being foisted on us. And nothing will change until there's a
groundswell of outcry from the public. We have to reach that tipping
point...just as we have with peoples' perception of the (il)legitimacy
of the Iraq war.

And to show that I'm carrying this to every angle I can conjure up, I
also sent a letter to the Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer
Reports
asking THEM to devote an issue of their publication to the insecurities
of the various electronic voting hardware AND software systems. I know
that's an extreme longshot, but a girl can dream. Gotta make noise on
every front we possibly can. Lotsa noise.

Gimme some more ideas...I'm on a roll!
And think about whether you might urge your own local public affairs tv
shows to cover this story, too--or local NPR radio affiliate that does
local interviews/issues. I'm gonna work on getting Fitrakis on WMUB,
Miami University/Oxford radio next.

What a great story! I hope they post the show on their website so we can all watch!

ALSO, Please forward this website to your contacts:
Who's Counting?

I'm trying to get involved in Columbus Community Radio Foundation (submitted my resume to them this weekend). Here's what I heard from them:
...CCRF to have access to the 6-9
am time slot 7 days a week and we intend to produce a daily morning
program that will include news, interviews, discussion, music, theater
and short pre-produced segments from independent producers from 6-8
Monday through Friday with Democracy Now taking up the last hour from
8:00 - 9:00 except on weekends.

They're looking for a low-power FM transmitter right now and the tower will go up soon. I'll see how this goes and keep you posted on developments as I learn more!
:patriot: