What actions can we take if the elections are truly fixed?

Since 2001, a few brave souls have worked to inform the American public of irregularities in our election system. I'm one of those who was not interested in this, believing the matter to be in the past. But, after reading RFK, Jrs. Rolling Stone article, I'm starting to wonder if our democracy might be failing. Certainly, if the accusations are true, the Republicans are using a combination of corrupt officials, legal technicalities, and technology to win elections they would otherwise lose. For them, at this point, the stakes are so high -- maybe even treason -- that they cannot afford to change course. They have to protect their majorities in the House and Senate at all costs, and I think they will.

This is the kind of issue that would have riled our forefathers in the direction of revolution. While we're not at that point yet, we need to do something and it needs to be more than an appeal to our Democratic leaders, a local court case, or even rallies in big cities.

Perhaps we encourage Democrats to register as Republicans and try to oust some of the most corrupt Republicans in their primaries. Perhaps we could withhold our taxes. Maybe we could use our economic power in some ways. Our enemies are formidable. Not only do they include the corrupt Republican machine, but they include the big investors (media, foreign countries, etc.) who don't want to destabilize our economy, the nonpolitical middle class who don't want to be bothered, the average Republican who will bend over backwards before believing their Party is corrupt.

What big ideas are there? And who can lead us? I think the only person who has the leadership skills for this type of issue is Al Gore. He has the big strong passionate voice that most others do not have. Perhaps he should lead, not as a candidate for president, but as leader of a third party.

That Rolling Stone article mortified me. If RFK, Jr. is correct, we're really fucked!

If we try to do anything nationally under the current Repuke regime, it will only make it worse. The Repukes have consistently phrased "election reform" in terms of trying to keep "dead people from voting", etc which is an attempt to disenfranchise even more voters.

We have to do it locally. It's up to each and every one of us. Raise awareness in your district. LTTE's, meet with your local BOE, even just word of mouth.

It really is up to us.

And the right to have one is in the Declaration of Independence.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security..."

I have taken special not of the last part of that section, where it states that it is not only our right to change our government once it has usurped our rights and become abusive, it is our duty.

If the current trends continue, if our constitutional rights continue to get trampled on, at some point there will have to be another revolution. What that means in practical terms I do not know. But it will happen, I believe, unless we can right the ship before it's too late.

what's real. Look at the facts for yourself. Has this election system been rendered non-transparent and unverifiable? The facts say yes, absolutely. By whom? By the biggest crooks in Congress, Tom Delay, Bob Ney (abetted by Bilderberg 'Democrat' Christopher Dodd) with their so-called "Help America Vote Act" of 2002. Why? Are transparent, verifiable elections hard to do? No, not really. People vote, and you count the votes in public view. It's a no-brainer. Why do the opposite--push the most non-transparent, unverifiable system possible on the states and counties? What could possibly be the motive? WHO is now counting all our votes, and HOW? Three big Bushite-connected corporations--Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia--are now counting all our votes with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code--code so secret that not even our secretaries of state are permitted to review it--with virtually no audit/recount controls. All by design. My, my, my--why would they do that?

Those are the most accessible and uncomplicated facts. You need to ask why you have never been curious about who is counting our votes and how. Why you haven't been curious about it is a VERY important question. I am not asking it to rag on you. What I am really asking is, to what extent have you accepted the brainwashing of the corporate news monopolies, the Bushites and some corrupt Dems, all of whom "black-holed" this critically important news topic--from its initiation by HAVA in '02, thru the '04 election, to now--specifically so that you and many others would never think about it, never question.

But now that you have an authority of sorts speaking up--RFK Jr.--you begin to see through the lies and illusions, and question what's going on. I'm glad for that breakthrough. But you really need to ask why it took an RFK Jr. to jog you awake.

The outrageous, illegal suppression of Dem votes by Repub election officials in Ohio and elsewhere is only half the story. That was EXTRA. That was done likely because Kerry's win was so big that the machines, which likely have to be pre-programmed--not so easy to change on election day--couldn't completely reverse it. Some Dem leaders have acknowledged the vote suppression; but most have been silent about Bushites gaining control of the tabulation of all our votes behind a veil of secrecy. Why? We need to ask THAT question, too. Why the utter lack of vigilance by the Dems over our right to vote? And why our own lack of vigilance, for that matter--we, the people?

Also, stop depending on a Great Leader (Al Gore) to come along and "save" us. Both these ways of thinking undermine our ability to see through "the Matrix" that the Bushites, the war profiteering corporate news monopolies, and some corrupt Dems have created as a substitute for a real political life and a real democracy. And they undermine our ability to act--to restore our democracy. If you're waiting for Al Gore to do it, then the Dark Lords have effectively disempowered you--or rather, they have convinced you that you are without power. (You most certainly have all sorts of latent power--and power in combination with others--that you don't yet realize; otherwise you wouldn't be here at DU.)

Yeah, we're in big trouble. Our country and our democracy have never been in so much peril. But I see a lot of hope as well--in people like RFK speaking out and people like yourself waking up to the reality of our situation. We need to RESTORE our right to vote--which has been taken away--and we need to RECLAIM our democracy and re-establish it on a basis of truth. These are big, world-shaking tasks, comparable to American Revolution I. We are in the midst of American Revolution II. Some people are already on the battlefields--in the state and local venues all around the country, where the decisions about voting system purchases are being made. Join the revolution!

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SOME RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II:

Practical suggestions for the immediate future:

1. ABSENTEE BALLOT VOTING. Promote absentee ballot voting. It's not the ultimate solution, by any means, but it at least provides a tangible paper record for challenging suspicious election results, and for recounts and investigations. (Absentee ballots were a great help to investigators in 2004.) Absentee ballot voting is also a form of protest against the machines. 50% of Californians are now requesting Absentee Ballots. If enough people do it, the machines will be obsolete; then we can work on getting rid of the central tabulators.

2. MONITOR THE ELECTIONS. Join with others to closely monitor the coming elections and gather and document evidence. See www.UScountvotes.org, and other resources, below. UScountvotes.org needs donations!

3. DEMAND INDEPENDENT EXIT POLLS. Demand that the Democratic Party fund INDEPENDENT EXIT POLLS. Exit polls are used worldwide to verify elections and check for fraud. The war profiteering corporate news monopoly exit polls cannot be trusted (they are doctored to match the results from the voting machines' secret programming code; rather than being used to verify elections, they are used to confirm NON-TRANSPARENT "official results"). The Democratic Party owes us, big time, for their lack of vigilance--and in some cases corruption--on electronic voting. This is one critically needed thing that they can do to help.

4. THINK LONG TERM. Saving our democracy promises to be a long hard struggle. We obviously can't get rid of these machines before the '06 elections, so focus on doing our best with the Diebold/ES&S handicap (a 5% to 10% "thumb on the scales" for Bushites and warmongers), and getting rid of these machines afterward, for '08 and beyond.

5. TELL PEOPLE THE TRUTH. They NEED to know it. Engage them in the fight. Bumper sticker: "Help Us Beat the Machines--VOTE!" There is nothing more demoralizing and disempowering than constantly losing and not knowing WHY. There is evidence that the machines CAN be beaten by massive turnout. Get people involved! Help them to SEE what's happening! THEY will solve the problem, ultimately--if they can only IDENTIFY what it is!

6. PRESSURE LOCAL/STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS. Right now, the best place to fight this fight is at the state/local level, where ordinary people still have some influence. Bush's Congress is NOT going to give us back our right to vote--they are the ones who took it away (with the collusion of some corrupt Dems). Don't look to the Feds--look to your local county registrar, your state election boards, your secretaries of state. Demand TRANSPARENT elections. Also educate and mobilize your local Democratic Party and other political party groups.

The first priority in this historic fight for American democracy is restoring our right to vote--the mechanism by which we exercise our sovereignty as a people. Without it, we have no power. We MUST change this.

Never give up on our right to vote! NEVER!

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II:

Hopeful signs - latest news:

California voters sue the state over Diebold:
www.VoterAction.org is suing the state of California and 18 Calif county registrars on behalf of 25 California voter/plaintiffs, on the illegal Diebold "certification" by Schwarzenegger appointee Bruce McPherson.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2180496
Seven of these counties have promised the judge they would use PAPER BALLOTS, and were dismissed from this lawsuit (4/27/06).
http://kcbs.com/pages/29285.php
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2249205

Maryland rejects Diebold:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x418263

Florida - anti-trust accusations against Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, re: heroic Florida election official Ion Sancho:
(FLA AG subpoenas the companies)
http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,110192,00.html
http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBKSY8W8LE.html
(info & discussion)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2183630

Utah county clerk fights back!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x419226

(Tide turning?) New York Times: "New Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems" (5/12/06)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2278829

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INFORMATION AND ACTIVIST RESOURCES for American Revolution II:

www.votersunite.org (MythBreakers - easy primer on electronic voting--one of the myths is that HAVA requires electronic voting; it does not.)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections--they need donations)


(Activist sites with links to state activist groups or info)
www.votetrustusa.org (news of this great movement from around the country)
www.votersunited.org (good general info, and state links)
www.verifiedvoting.org (great activist site)
www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml (fab compendium of all election info)

www.freepress.org (devoted to election reform)
www.bradblog.com (also great, and devoted to election reform)
www.TruthIsAll.net (analysis of the 2004 election)* :patriot: :applause: :patriot:
www.votepa.us (well-organized local group of citizen activists in Pennsylvania, where important legal issues are at stake, including state's rights over election systems)
Provisions of the PA lawsuit:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x423739

The Voter Confidence Resolution
http://tinyurl.com/rlnr2 (“We Do Not Consent”)
http://guvwurld.blogspot.com (GuvWurld blog main page)
http://tinyurl.com/amryg (Voter Confidence Resolution

www.debrabowen.com (Calif Senator running for Sec of State to reform election system)
www.johnbonifaz.com (running for Massachusetts Sec of State on strong election reform and antiwar platform)

*Some tributes to TruthIsAll, who is very ill:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417007
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417231
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x675477

Congressional bills:

Russ Holt's HR 550 requires a real paper ballot, bans secret software in "voting machines", and has more than 170 co-sponsors, but the audit required is too weak, it promotes electronic voting and centralized power, and the secret software might be permitted to continue in the central tabulators (the bill is not clear). At lot of discussion at DU of the loopholes/pitfalls in HR 550 (many DUers support the bill):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x422926
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x421136
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=422967&mesg_id=422967
To sign the HR 550 petition: http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html

(Note: Senate Bill-SB 330 and House-HR704 simply require a "voter verified paper audit trail" (VVPAT), which may be best for the moment.)


Also of interest:

Michael Collins (Autorank)'s searing election reform article for New Zealand's Scoop.com
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x971363

Bob Koehler (-- four recent election reform initiatives in Ohio, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the biggest flipover we've seen yet; the election theft machines and their masters are now dictating election policy! Title: "Poll Shock" 11/24/05)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col321.htm

Bob Koehler's latest: "Trust us: Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm
More Koehler:
www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

Amaryllis (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia lavish lobbying of election officials - Beverly Hilton, Aug. '05)
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340

HOWARD DEAN remarks on electronic voting machines 04/06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x994507

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Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

:think: :patriot: :woohoo: :patriot: :think:

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"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." --Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence