Election Reform Meet-Up last night

[IkeWarnedUs]

I went to the Election Reform Meet-Up in Chicago last night. 7 people showed up - none of them that heard through MeetUp.com or DU. All of them came because of the e-mails I sent out*. Great group of people who were at least somewhat familiar with BBV and very concerned.

We started out introducing ourselves and what brought us there. One man said he knew Bev and was very familiar with BBV research and issues. He and another man were invaluable in explaining the how BBV works and the potential abuses. We talked about Illinois' voting machines and whether or not our votes were secure. Then we talked about where to go from here.

Everyone there was involved with other election/peace/activist groups. We decided that we would secure a speaker for the next Meet-Up (Wednesday, November 12) from the board of elections to explain the status of voting machines in Illinois or at least Cook County. We all agreed to spread the word about the next Meet-Up to the groups we are involved in. We are also going to try to contact other Chicago area groups and perhaps put up some flyers.

We decided not to look to any particular group to "sponsor" the meeting, since we didn't want to distract from the BBV issue itself. As I said, none of these people heard about the meeting through MeetUp.com, but when I explained how MeetUp.com works, they agreed it would be a good vehicle to use to bring more and more people together.

A woman at the meeting said she has an attorney who is qualified and willing to take on a class action lawsuit if enough there is enough interest - in fact, that is part of what brought her to the meeting last night.

When I got home my husband showed me an article in our local paper saying this:

Cook County Clerk David Orr is planning a two day exhibition and demonstration of every type of election system on the market - from optical scans to electronic voting devices to touch-screen voting stations. It will be October 23 & 24 in the Grand Ballroom of McCormic Place South, 2301 S. Martin Luther King Drive. It is open to the public, civic organizations, elected officials and the media. Election jurisdictions across the state will also be able to send representatives to test the equipment.

We all exchanged contact info, so I will send it out to our little group.

Anyone else attend an Election Reform Meet-Up last night?




* post #18 - http://democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=412946#420399

[shance]

1. Great to hear!***

Sounds like you had a great group. Thanks for the post.

We're a little slow getting it moving here in Los Angeles. We'll definitely have the numbers for it next month.

Im glad you mentioned your email group*** (having a V-8 moment**) thats a great idea. Why didnt I think of that?

[proud patriot]

2. Great job

:bounce:

[Bushfire]

3. Some recent press for you IL DUer's

City, county agree punch card voting must go (Chicago / Cook Cnty)

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-vote09.html

Tazewell may buy touch-screens

http://www.pjstar.com/news/topnews/b0vsqeam028.html


found them here:

http://www.electionline.org/index.jsp

I cannot make my local meetups because of a class, but have been trying to get local activists into it. Was Hedda_foil at the Chicago meetup? She's pretty good about these things, and was planning on going to the voting machine convention.

[IkeWarnedUs]

4. thanks for the links

I don't think Hedda_foil made it. There were two other women, but neither were familiar with DU.

When you say 'voting machine convention' do you mean the exhibition on October 23 & 24 at McCormick place?

[Bushfire]

5. Yes

meant "exhibition". I posted when the Sun-Times ran the story on the exhibition in late Sept. Hedda_foil said she was aware of it. We need to get you folks in touch with each other.