How can we speak in one voice for election reform?

[AtLiberty]

Because we're limited in time and space on the media, what simple message/s should we be repeating to get the most mileage from our few words?

I'd like us to come to an agreement of three or four points we must make whenever we're in front an open mike.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. It should be illegal NOT to vote ($50 fine for example).

Election day should be a paid holiday, or on a weekend. Perhaps several days for convenience.

Every election should be IRV.

Paper ballots, hand counted.

[stellanoir]

2. see post # 6

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1822508

[snot]

3. I agree--we need our own "Talking Points"

Like any speech, should be very limited in number, carefully formulated to have the most impact. Three main ones at most, maybe a couple of side ones, all formulated to avoid susceptibility to distortion or sidetracking.

I also agree that this alone won't force the MSM to start covering our message; but it's a step in the right direction.

The Guardian article quoted in this DU post provides a start; many other good starts elsewhere: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373990

"On March 31, a group of university statisticians led by Josh Mitteldorf of Temple University issued a troubling report. They noted that while President Bush officially won by 2.5 percent of the popular vote, the exit polls showed John Kerry winning by 3 percent. According to the statisticians, the chances of a discrepancy this large are close to 1 in a million.

"Exit polls have proved to be exceptionally accurate in the U.S., in Ukraine, in Latin America and elsewhere. The 2004 discrepancy, like that of the invalid Ukraine election, was five times the usual discrepancy, a significant difference. The statisticians' report concludes that this discrepancy "is an unanswered question of vital national importance that needs thorough investigation."

[Amaryllis]

4. Secret vote counting has no place in a democracy. We MUST make

people aware of the tabulator issue, and the paper ballots, not vaper ballots issue.

[GuvWurld]

5. The Voter Confidence Resolution

Key point #1: U.S federal elections are conducted under conditions that ensure inconclusive results.

Key point #2: Because inconclusive results, by definition, mean that the true outcome of an election cannot be known, there is NO BASIS FOR CONFIDENCE in the results reported from U.S. federal elections.

Key point #3: When elections are conducted under conditions that prevent conclusive outcomes, the Consent of the Governed is not being sought. Absent this self-evident source of legitimacy, such Consent is not to be assumed or taken for granted.

The Voter Confidence Resolution also includes a list of reforms likely to ensure conclusive outcomes and create a basis for confidence. This is the frame that is letting me build bridges even with the head of the local Republican party.

The Voter Confidence Resolution will be getting a public hearing on July 6 at the Arcata, CA City Council. The prospects for passage seem solid. We need to see other communities follow. The frame for this trend then becomes:

Key point #4: Has the Consent of the Governed been withdrawn, YET?

This resolution provides a message and a means for us to speak in one voice. Even better, what I've linked to is really a template that is meant to be customized by each group or community that wants to support it. If the changes leave intact the key points above then the national collection of resolutions would appear to have this one voice component, despite minor differences; and each local version would have the one voice component borne of community meetings and consensus building.

Regardless of whether the one voice impression is created, it is essential that a healing unification occur among our countrymen. Stay mindful of tending to this. Instead of telling people about lies they shouldn't believe, or events that may have been spun into fantasy by their preferred infotainment source, talk to people about what they believe until you find them contradicting themselves. It is inevitable and it is the path to freeing people from their cognitive dissonance. Help people see how they lie to themselves and you will flip a switch that makes everything else above possible.

[GuvWurld]

6. Kick (eom)

[autorank]

7. AtLiberty, I couldn't agree MORE. When your figure it out, please go

tell the "debating society" that public airing of disputes amongst the election fraud statisticians is not a good policy. They fail to see my logic.

Excellent post!

:hi:

How many pollsters can dance on the head of a needle?

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Boredtodeath]

9. A few suggestions

Electronic voting is an unauditable, closed system owned not by the voters, but by corporate America even though it is financed with taxpayer dollars.

Instead of repairing the problems of election 2000, elections officials have opted to hide them behind a curtain of corporate secrecy.

Election officials have outsourced democracy to corporate America against the wishes of the voting public.

Re-naming our votes a "trade secret" serves no one but corporate America and certainly not democracy.

Instead of a more public demonstration of democracy, elections in the US are being hidden behind closed doors.

Electronic voting doesn't find a better way to determine voter intent, it seeks to destroy it.

[Boredtodeath]

10. And the best talking point coined by John Gideon

A successful election is one in which the losing candidate, and his supporters, have confidence in his loss.

[Boredtodeath]

11. One more

Will you be confident in electronic voting when the other party has control of the computers?

[riqster]

14. "Election officials have outsourced democracy"

Perfect phrase!

[Carolab]

13. This may help (from Voters Unite)

http://www.votersunite.org/info/BallotProgrammingIntro.pdf