Arnold is going for ballot initiatives while Shelley is under attack

[genius]

Is there a connection? Does Arnold think he can get rid of Shelley and then rig the elections?

[musette_sf]

1. Shelley is getting raked over the coals

for stuff that is so questionable (on the scale of Thug impropriety and crookedness)... yes, I think the Gropinator wants to get rid of him and get some Blackwell/Harris clone in. Good effin' luck, Arnie.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Now that we know their method of operation, is it possible to pull

another Harris, Blackwell election rigging?

[mitchtv]

3. Don't worry "democrats" are lining up to destroy shelley

they would prefer a"perfect" republican to an imperfect Dem

[Liberty Belle]

4. Check out State Senator Bowen, who is running for Shelley's job.

I actually got a personalized reply to an e-mail I sent her, introducing myself as a delegate and asking her views on voting machines and on abortion. Here's her response. Comments?

Dear xxxxx:

Thank you for your recent e-mail asking about my position on electronic voting machines, verifiable paper trails, and a woman’s right to choose. Your views on bills and issues facing the Legislature are very important to me.



As the new chairwoman of the Senate Elections, Reapportionment, & Constitutional Amendments Committee, I’m a strong supporter of the new state law requiring all electronic voting machines used in California to have a verifiable paper trail. As you may know, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1438 (Johnson) last year requiring any voting system used in the state after January 1, 2006 to have an accessible voter verified paper audit trail (AVVPAT). That bill passed the Legislature on bipartisan 31-0 and 73-0 votes and the Governor signed the bill into law on September 27, 2004. Despite the widespread use of touch-screen machines, many of the questions surrounding their reliability have yet to be answered. The potential for human error exists with any system and despite their electronic nature, the vote tally in a touch-screen system is not automatic. Votes have to be uploaded from the individual machines to the central tabulator that counts all of the votes in a given precinct, meaning the potential for human error is very real.



The other thing to consider is over 30% of California’s 16.5 million registered voters cast absentee ballots during this last election and that number is likely to hit 50% by 2008 or 2010. Given that, does it make sense to rush head-long into spending millions of dollars on touch-screen voting machines that, proportionally speaking, are going to be used by fewer and fewer California voters?



What we can’t lose sight of in the push to “modernize” the vote counting process is the reality that people need and deserve to have confidence their votes are going to be counted accurately. If they don’t, we’ll have spent millions of dollars on high-tech voting machines and lost something even more valuable in the process – the integrity of our voting system.



As for my position on a woman’s right to choose, I’ve always been 100% supportive of allowing women to retain complete control over decisions that affect their bodies and their health.



Thank you again for taking the time to contact me with your questions. If you need more information, please don’t hesitate to contact me again.



Sincerely,





Debra Bowen

Senator, 28th District



-----Original Message-----
To: [e-mail]


Subject: Questions from a delegate
Message:
I am a delegate to the state convention. I would like to know your position on a woman's right to choose. Also, since you are running for Secretary of State, your views on voting machines. Will you draw a line in the sand to keep partisan- owned voting machines--and any machines without verifiable paper trails--out of California?

[mitchtv]

5. I wish her luck in the Primary, but if there is one

negative word from her camp, it will be time to open the flood gates. I am still angry at the way Davis was treated= not perfect , so look what we got now , thanks in no small part to the likes of "Dems" like Bill Lockyer, Cruz Bustamante, Loretta Sanchez.We have much to learn from the pukes about solidarity. The worst Dem is a lot better than ANY Puke