Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday 9/19/06

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday 9/19/06




This Key might open YOUR Voting Machine!
Easily available on the internet for $7.95 for two
With your choice of alpha numeric code!

If you live in the United States and need keys for your office furniture, order them right here! All we need is the alphanumeric code that is stamped on the face of the lock or key.
Interesting fact: 17,988 keys have been cut to date!


We can cut keys for:
Allsteel Hirsh National
Anderson Hickey HON Steelcase
Chicago Hudson Storwall
Cole Hurd Taylor
ESP Ilco Teknion
Global Kimball Timberline
Harper Knoll Tennsco
Haworth Meridian Wesko
Herman Miller Myrtle Yale

AND the Access Panel Door on a Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine !

See this link for details...
http://www.office-environments.com/keysonline/keys.asp
and this DU discussion for context...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2162965




All members welcome and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.


2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.


4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.




Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[Melissa G]

1. Hotel mini-bar key opens Diebold voting machines.

Thanks to Lance_Boyle for the post and the Du discussion here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2162965

Hotel mini-bar key opens Diebold voting machines.
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1064

"The access panel door on a Diebold AccuVote-TS voting machine — the door that protects the memory card that stores the votes, and is the main barrier to the injection of a virus — can be opened with a standard key that is widely available on the Internet."

"Chris’s key was left over from a previous job, maybe fifteen years ago. He said the key had opened either a file cabinet or the access panel on an old VAX computer. A little research revealed that the exact same key is used widely in office furniture, electronic equipment, jukeboxes, and hotel minibars."


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2162965

[FogerRox]

2. Dont forget the $1.50 Smart card for Voter access (RFID)

Heres the Princeton Video playing on my laptop, in front is the card I use at the local laundrymat. Same card used in the diebold TS.




Oh yeah, 1st Rec, youre on your way.

[Melissa G]

22. Thanks, Roj! Keys, Keys, Everywhere! So easy to steal an election!

And they have the gall to talk about security...:nuke:

[Kurovski]

25. Someone get me a Toblerone, while you're at it...

Thanks Melissa G! (for the thread, forget the chocolate.)

[Melissa G]

3. Senator says media study suppressed

An Independent, Functioning Press is intrinsic to a Functional Democracy! We Must have a Free Press to restore our Country! Attend a hearing and Do Your Part to dismantle DYSFUNCTIONAL Media Consolidation!


Thanks to tuvor for the post and the DU discussion here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2518221
Senator says media study suppressed
By JOHN DUNBAR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on Monday ordered a formal investigation into why two agency reports on media ownership were never made public.

Martin was responding to a request by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who earlier in the day made public a second FCC study that she says was shelved by agency officials.

Last week, Boxer released a draft of an FCC study that showed locally owned stations air more news than local stations controlled by outside owners. A lawyer with the FCC told The Associated Press last week that FCC managers ordered the destruction of that report; the lawyer is no longer with the agency.

"I want to assure you that I too am concerned about what happened to these two draft reports," Martin stated in a letter sent Monday evening to Boxer. "I have asked the inspector general of the FCC to conduct an investigation into what happened to these draft documents and will cooperate fully with him."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/media_ownership

[Melissa G]

4. TX Public Hearing in Austin on Media Ownership

Thanks to acmejack for the post and the DU discussion here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=180x36733

Find out where these hearings are happening in your state!

Original message
Public Hearing in Austin on Media Ownership
Federal Communications Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein will visit Austin, TX on September 19 to listen to local citizens’ concerns about localism and diversity in the media. This Public Hearing is a rare opportunity for the public to discuss their issues on media consolidation.

WHAT: Public Hearing on Media Ownership
WHEN: Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: University of Texas – Jester Auditorium (A121A), 201 East 21st St., Austin Texas
WHO: FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein, local leaders and media representatives, concerned residents.

The Public Hearing on Media Ownership is taking place as the FCC prepares to review federal rules on media ownership. The FCC recently issued a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on whether the media rules are “necessary in the public interest as the result of competition.”

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/9/14/171216/873/130#c130

[kster]

5. KRNT

[Melissa G]

6. HACKED! High Tech Election Theft in America

Thanks to BeFree for the post and the DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x449853

HACKED! High Tech Election Theft in America
This new book presents to the American people the work of eleven experts on the issue of electronic vote fraud, stolen elections, and best solutions to the crisis. It explains how electronic voting has stolen our democracy; how elections in American have been privatized by large corporations; why the mainstream media is barely reporting it; and how imperative it is that Americans start TODAY to reclaim their elections.

Editors Abbe DeLozier and Vickie Karp have a mission; To lift the veil of media blackout on the most heinous crime ever committed against the American people: the theft of their democracy; to create the rightful indignation amongst our citizens; and to clearly show that the only solution is direct and immediate citizen involvement geared toward a return to paper ballot elections, hand-counted at the precinct level. Action steps for citizens are included in this expose.
Learn why election fraud is bigger than Watergate

• Convicted felons have been programming our election software.
• Corporate voting machine vendors have ownership ties to top politicians, defense contractors, and foreign governments! Why?
• Elections can be rigged and probably have been for years with the stroke of a keyboard. The truth about what really happened in Ohio in the 2004 presidential election.
• States are using millions of YOUR taxpayer dollars to buy unproven, faulty voting equipment, with no recounts or citizen oversight possible.
• The shocking truth mainstream media has not covered about the electronic voting systems used by 80% of America.
• Learn why you as an American citizen MUST REJECT electronic voting, and insist our government go back to PAPER BALLOTS, HAND COUNTED IN PUBLIC VIEW!

http://hackedelections.com /

Read a Review here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x449853

[Melissa G]

7. MEXICO: A Country with Three Presidents

Inter Press Service News Agency

MEXICO:
A Country with Three Presidents
Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Sep 18 (IPS) - Mexico's left plans to re-lay the foundations of the country with a symbolic "government" chosen by its followers, working through social activism, and a party coalition acting through the country's institutions. The challenge it faces is to persuade the Mexican people, among whom approval of the left is declining, to support its goals and strategies, observers say.

The opposition movement, which is easily "big enough to force concessions from the regime," will catalyse "grievances of all varieties" and create difficulties for the government of the conservative president-elect, Felipe Calderón, to consolidate its power, Manuel Camacho, one of the leaders of the left, told IPS.

At an assembly dubbed the National Democratic Convention, which according to its organisers drew a million people together on Saturday in the capital, the left designated former Mexico City mayor Andrés López Obrador as the country's "legitimate president.." The former candidate lost the Jul. 2 elections because of fraud, his supporters say.

The Convention, born of a proposal set forth by López Obrador on Aug. 13, met for nearly four hours on Saturday and will reconvene on Mar. 21, 2007. Delegates from every Mexican state took part, some of whom had been elected in party assemblies, although anyone can register to participate.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34768

[Melissa G]

8. Mexico says Chavez election remarks are meddling

Mexico says Chavez election remarks are meddling
Tue Sep 19, 2006 12:31am ET

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - President Vicente Fox accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday of meddling in Mexico's affairs by backing claims of presidential election fraud and refusing to recognize President-elect Felipe Calderon.

snip
Chavez said in a television interview at the weekend that leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was "robbed" at the July 2 election which he lost by less than a percentage point.

snip

Chavez said he did not recognize Calderon, a former energy minister in Fox's government, as Mexico's next president.

Mexico and Venezuela withdrew their ambassadors from each other's countries last year in a dispute after Chavez called Fox a U.S. "lapdog" for defending Washington's trade policies in Latin America.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=winterOlympics&storyID=2006-09-19T043147Z_01_N18248339_RTRUKOC_0_US-MEXICO-VENEZUELA.xml

[Melissa G]

9. LETTERS Unverifiable? Unacceptable

Sept. 18, 2006, 8:27PM
LETTERS
Unverifiable? Unacceptable



THE most disturbing portion of the Sept. 18 article on electronic voting was the comment made by Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, who spoke of critics spreading "distrust."

Trust should never be required regarding voting.

The principle of a democracy is that every person accepts the results of an election, and that the election can be meaningfully verified and audited.

Electronic voting in Harris County does not offer that.

We must have a voting process that gives us meaningful recounts and verifiable votes that can be monitored and audited.

The devil himself could run such a system and we can believe the outcome because we can verify it. We should never have to "trust" anyone.

snip
MARCOS HUERTA Houston
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4196325.html

[Melissa G]

10. Planned lawsuit to argue Texas AG is trying to dilute their poll strength

Politics



Sept. 19, 2006, 12:14AM
Some say voting law being used to scare minorities
Planned lawsuit to argue Texas AG is trying to dilute their poll strength


By POLLY ROSS HUGHES
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — Willie Ray, 69, said she thought she was teaching her granddaughter civic lessons in democracy, but instead the two black women in Texarkana ended up with criminal records for voter fraud.

Gloria Meeks of Fort Worth, also 69, said she stepped out of her morning bath last month and screamed.

Two voter fraud investigators from Attorney General Greg Abbott's office were peeking in her bathroom window, Meeks said in a sworn statement. Abbott's office declined to discuss specifics but said its investigation of Meeks has been "conducted professionally and properly, to the full extent allowed by law."

At issue for the women and others investigated by Abbott is a 2003 Texas law that makes it a crime to put other voters' absentee ballots in the mail or deliver them to election officials.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4196986.html

[Melissa G]

11. How Bad Is He? by Sidney Blumenthal

How Bad Is He?
by Sidney Blumenthal





Following is the introduction to Sidney Blumenthal's new book, How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime, recently published by the Princeton University Press.

No one predicted just how radical a president George W. Bush would be. Neither his opponents, nor the reporters covering him, nor his closest campaign aides suggested that he would be the most willfully radical president in American history.

In his 2000 campaign, Bush permitted himself few hints of radicalism. On the contrary he made ready promises of moderation, judiciously offering himself as a "compassionate conservative," an identity carefully crafted to contrast with the discredited Republican radicals of the House of Representatives. After capturing the Congress in 1994 and proclaiming a "revolution," they had twice shut down the government over the budget and staged an impeachment trial that resulted in the acquittal of President Clinton. Seeking to distance himself from the congressional Republicans, Bush declared that he was not hostile to government. He would, he said, "change the tone in Washington." He would be more reasonable than the House Republicans and more moral than Clinton. Governor Bush went out of his way to point to his record of bipartisan cooperation with Democrats in Texas, stressing that he would be "a uniter, not a divider."

snip
Few political commentators at the time thought that the ruthless tactics used by the Bush camp in the Florida contest presaged his presidency. The battle there was seen as unique, a self-contained episode of high political drama that could and would not be replicated. Tactics such as setting loose a mob comprised mostly of Republican staff members from the House and Senate flown down from Washington to intimidate physically the Miami-Dade County Board of Supervisors from counting the votes there, and manipulating the Florida state government through the office of the governor, Jeb Bush, the candidate's brother, to forestall vote counting were justified as simply hardball politics.

The Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore, by a five to four margin, perversely sanctioned not counting thousands of votes (mostly African-American) as somehow upholding the equal protection clause of the 15th Amendment (enacted after the Civil War to guarantee the rights of newly enfranchised slaves, the ancestors of those disenfranchised by Bush v. Gore). In the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia argued that counting votes would cast a shadow on the "legitimacy" of Bush's claim to the presidency. The Court concluded that the ruling was to have applicability only this one time. By its very nature, it was declared to be unprecedented. Never before had the Supreme Court decided who would be president, much less according to tortuous argument, and by a one vote margin that underlined and extended political polarization.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/blumenthal1.html

[Melissa G]

12. Campaigns trade punches

Campaigns trade punches
By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE
Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or [e-mail]
Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Under heavy bombardment from Republicans linking him to congressional liberals, Brad Ellsworth fought back Monday with language linking Rep. John Hostettler's, R-Ind., campaign to a lobbyist convicted of criminal charges.

The Vanderburgh County sheriff and 8th District Democratic candidate released a statement saying there is "something insidious" about Hostettler's campaign and accused it of accepting "dirty special interest money."


The Ellsworth statement drew a direct connection between Hostettler and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud.

snip

Though Hostettler has not been linked to Abramoff and has accepted no money from him, Ellsworth's campaign argued what it called "The Abramoff Connection" to Hostettler.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2006/sep/19/campaigns-trade-punches/

[Melissa G]

13. A Plan to Fix Our Broken Elections

A Plan to Fix Our Broken Elections

John Nichols

The Sunday Washington Post headline said it all. Echoing a theme that is finally being picked up by print and broadcast media that for too long has neglected the dramatic problems with this country's systems for casting and counting votes, the newspaper's front page announced: "Major Problems At Polls Feared: Some Officials Say Voting Law Changes And New Technology Will Cause Trouble."

Following a disastrous election day in Maryland that was defined by human blunders, technical glitches, long lines and long delays in vote counting so severe that some contests remain unresolved almost a week after the balloting, the Post declared that, "An overhaul in how states and localities record votes and administer elections since the Florida recount battle six years ago has created conditions that could trigger a repeat -- this time on a national scale -- of last week's Election Day debacle in the Maryland suburbs, election experts said."

No fooling!

Some of us have been writing and talking about this country's almost fully dysfunctional electoral systems for the better part of a decade. And the one thing that every serious observer of the electoral meltdown recognizes is that the people who have managed the mess ought not to be trusted to clean it up.

That's the message that underpins the candidacy of John Bonifaz for the Democratic nomination for Massachusetts Secretary of State.

snip
Bonifaz's Voters Bill of Rights promises to:

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=122699

[Melissa G]

14. Ney Resigns From Two House Committee Posts

Ney Resigns From Two House Committee Posts

Reported by: A.P.
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
Photographed by: 9News
First posted: 9/18/2006 8:43:10 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Bob Ney, who has agreed to plead guilty to federal corruption charges, stepped down from two House committee positions Monday but has said nothing about whether he will leave Congress.

The Ohio Republican said in two letters to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that he would immediately give up his position as chairman of the subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and a commission that governs lawmakers' use of public money to express opinions in mailings.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett on Friday called on Ney to resign, soon after it was announced that Ney had agreed to plead guilty to making false statements and conspiracy to commit fraud, make other false statements and violate U.S. lobbying restrictions.

State Sen. Joy Padgett, who accepted Ney's request to run in his place when he quit his campaign for re-election in Ohio's 18th District, also called for Ney to leave his seat in Congress.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2006/local/09/18/ney_lobbyist.html

[Melissa G]

15. House to debate controversial voting bill

House to debate controversial voting bill
By Cameron Joseph

In the midst of the midterm partisan rhetoric, the House tomorrow is scheduled to vote on a controversial election bill that would require voters to present a photo ID and proof of citizenship.

If enacted, the measure would go into effect for the 2008 elections.

Sponsored by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), the legislation was cleared recently by the House Administration Committee on a party-line vote.

Hyde and other supporters argue the bill would prevent voter fraud by keeping non-citizens from voting.

While most Republicans support it, Democrats worry that the Hyde bill prevents citizens who do not have the required identification from registering their votes.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/091906/voting.html

[freedomfries]

24. GA: Judge Bedford throws out Ga. photo-voter ID law!

Judge throws out Ga. photo-voter ID law

Errin Haines, AP
Houston Chronicle
September 19, 2006
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4199168.html

ATLANTA — A judge Tuesday struck down as unconstitutional the latest version of a new Georgia law requiring voters to show photo ID.

State Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. ruled that the photo ID requirement deprives otherwise qualified voters of the right to cast a ballot and adds a new, unconstitutional condition to voting.

"Any attempt by the Legislature to require more than what is required by the express language of our Constitution cannot withstand judicial scrutiny," he wrote.

The judge took issue with the burden placed on voters to prove their identity using photo ID. Even if voters are allowed to cast ballots without the required identification, they must return within 48 hours with photo IDs or their vote is forfeited.

...
The issue heads to Congress on Wednesday, when the House takes up debate on legislation that would require all voters to show government-issued photo ID proving their citizenship.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4199168.html

[Melissa G]

16. Election chief scolded over inflated turnout

Election chief scolded over inflated turnout
Edman says she knew of problem that led to recount, not of its scope
By LARRY SANDLER
[e-mail]
Posted: Sept. 18, 2006
Milwaukee aldermen chastised the city's election chief Monday over vote-counting errors that inflated turnout figures in last week's primary.

Recent Coverage
9/18/06: Bobot wants recount
9/16/06: Election officials hope to finish recount today
9/17/06: City's vote recount ends
9/15/06: City is counting every ballot by hand
9/15/06: Officials optimistic they'll fix election flaws
9/14/06: City ballots don't add up
9/14/06: Waukesha County voting bedeviled
9/13/06: Some polling places pile up glitches


"The core function of democracy is not being handled properly," Ald. Bob Bauman told Sue Edman, the executive director of the city's Election Commission. "If we can't even vote in our democracy, why bother to participate further?"

Edman said advance testing of the election system had been hampered by major problems with new voting machines for disabled voters.

After a Journal Sentinel analysis turned up a large discrepancy between the total number of ballots and the number of votes cast in the hottest races Sept. 12, city officials recounted every ballot by hand. The three-day count turned up about 46,500 ballots, instead of the 80,000-plus total that was originally reported.

snip
Aldermen on the Common Council's Judiciary and Legislation Committee said last week's errors were of particular concern because Edman was hired to avoid a repeat of the problems that marred the 2004 presidential election. A Journal Sentinel investigation of that election found discrepancies between the numbers of votes and voters, felons who voted illegally, and invalid addresses on registration forms.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=499014

[autorank]

17. Keys to the city, state, nation...what a deal at $7.95 Key and Rec.

[Melissa G]

18. Overhaul in elections could lead to debacle

Machines may confuse voting
Overhaul in elections could lead to debacle


The Washington Post


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 18. 2006 8:00AM


A
n overhaul in how states and localities record votes and administer elections since the Florida recount battle six years ago has created conditions that could trigger a repeat - this time on a national scale - of last week's Election Day debacle in the Maryland suburbs, election experts said.

In the Nov. 7 election, more than 80 percent of voters will use electronic voting machines, and a third of all precincts this year are using the technology for the first time. The changes are part of a national wave, prompted by the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 and numerous revisions of state laws, that led to the replacement of outdated voting machines with computer-based electronic machines, along with centralized databases of registered voters and other steps to refine the administration of elections.

But in Maryland on Tuesday, a combination of human blunders and technological glitches caused long lines and delays in vote-counting. The problems, which followed ones earlier this year in Ohio, Illinois and several other states, have contributed to doubts among some experts about whether the new systems are reliable and whether election officials are adequately prepared to use them.

snip

What is clear is that a national effort to improve election procedures six years ago - after the presidential election ended amid ambiguous ballots and allegations of miscounted votes and partisan favoritism in Florida - has failed to restore broad public confidence that the system is fair.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060918/REPOSITORY/609180341/1013/48HOURS

[Melissa G]

19. Common Sense Against Corrupting the Next Election:

Brent Budowsky: Common Sense Against Corrupting the Next Election: If Thomas Paine Were Here, Part 2
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Tue, 09/19/2006 - 5:29am. Guest Contribution
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
Let's begin today a national letter writing campaign sending hundreds of thousands of letters to every newspaper in America, calling for front page coverage of the dangers of another Constitutional crisis from another questionable election, and editorial campaigns to prevent this travesty while there is still time.

Amazingly, incredibly, unbelievably, six years after the Florida recount of 2000 America could well be facing a historic and profound election decided weeks after the vote, by courts counting votes, after voters finish voting.

snip
This lethargic attitude entirely misses the point and drives home exactly why the dangers of another election fiasco are so great. Already this year, there have been significant problems with voting and counting in Maryland, Illinois and Ohio: problems with polling booths that closed for poor reason; Problems with workers not trained for machines that arrived too late; Dangers with machines made with codes we are not permitted to know, by companies that may have foreign interests, and workers who dont know fully how they work.

In a national Congressional vote where control of the Congress could well be decided by a handful of votes, in a handful of contested districts, how on earth can the Chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission be so nonchalant on an issue at the heart of our American democracy? This is shameful. This is dangerous. This is wrong.

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/416

This is a paragraph about the author....

Brent Budowsky served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, responsible for commerce and intelligence matters, including one of the core drafters of the CIA Identities Law. Served as Legislative Director to Congressman Bill Alexander, then Chief Deputy Whip, House of Representatives. Currently a member of the International Advisory Council of the Intelligence Summit. Left goverment in 1990 for marketing and public affairs business including major corporate entertainment and talent management. He can be reached at [e-mail]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/416

[Melissa G]

20. Officials Acknowledge Communication Breakdown

ABC 7 News
( I know...we are boycotting this source.. but this zombie popped up on google.. They are still Dead!)



Officials Acknowledge Communication Breakdown
Tuesday September 19, 2006 7:26am


eVideo: Election Officials Work On Problems

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - Montgomery County elections officials say it could be Thursday before all the provisional ballots from last week's primary elections are counted.

Elections officials are counting thousands of paper ballots that were filled out because many polling places opened late. Among the problems was that election workers did not distribute the cards that activate electronic voting machines. Similar counts are occurring throughout Maryland.

Montgomery Board of Elections President Nancy Dacek says the problems show that elections officials have no way of communicating quickly with many of the county's 238 polling places in an emergency. She blames state officials for making things worse with last-minute changes and delays.

But State Board of Elections administrator Linda Lamone tells The Washington Post that any delays were caused by legal and bureaucratic factors that she couldn't control.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0906/362070.html

[Melissa G]

21. Would you pay $97 to vote?

Thanks to tpsbmam for the post and the DU discussion here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2164985

Would you pay $97 to vote?

http://www.commonblog.com/story /2006/9/18/15137/4369

On Wednesday, the U.S. House will vote on HR 4844, the Ehlers/Hyde bill, which requires all voters to show a photo ID that must also include proof of citizenship.

Ok, pull out your driver's license. Does it say, "This ID certifies that the holder is a U.S. citizen"? Unlikely. Based on preliminary research, we think that there are only three states--Alabama, Arizona, and Wyoming--that offer citizenship-verified drivers' licenses.

If you're not from one of those states, you'll need a passport in order to vote. That'll cost you $97 and six weeks of waiting, unless you want to pay more to expedite the process.

Of course, if the 75 percent of eligible voters who don't currently have a passport decide that they do indeed want to vote, the waiting time could increase significantly. Six weeks could become six months.

Does this make sense? Of course not. That's why we're urging all Common Cause members and friends to call their congressional representatives and ask them to vote against HR 4844. To find your House representative, go to http://wwwcommoncause.org/FindElectedOfficials .

1. It's a blatantly partisan attempt to limit the ability of some groups of voters to cast a ballot. No rigging of the rules allowed!
2. It places a burden on certain groups of voters--elderly, minority, poor, rural, and urban--and that's unfair.

3. Forcing voters to buy a passport at $97 is a de facto poll tax.

Please call today and ask your representative to vote against HR 4844.

[kpete]

23. dropping by to K&R

[Kurovski]

26. Kick to the top!

:kick: