Sarasota Co.(FL) paper ballot decision appealed by Jeb's Sec of State

[seafan]

What Secretary of State Sue Cobb is frightened of is that every county in Florida will start clamoring for paper ballots. We can't have THAT. :sarcasm:


Paper ballot question for Sarasota question appealed by state

BY DAVID ROYSE
September 25, 2006

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The state agency that oversees elections is appealing a Sarasota judge's decision to allow voters there to choose whether the county should have a voting system with a paper record in 2008.

Secretary of State Sue Cobb said Monday that the matter needs to be decided to maintain uniform rules for what constitutes a ballot.

The question of whether to use a voting system that includes a "paper trail" in the county will still be put to voters there Nov. 7.

State officials aren't asking judges to keep the question off the ballot, saying that even if voters say yes, there will still be almost two years to work through the legal ramifications and to void the vote if an appeal is successful.


snip

Cobb said Monday that by filing the appeal the Department of State wasn't making a statement about the validity of requiring "paper trails," but rather trying to comply with state law on what is and what isn't a ballot.

Kindra Muntz, the head of Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections, said it doesn't seem that way.

"It does seem to be that the bureaucrats in Tallahassee are threatened by the people of a county saying, 'We want verified elections,'" Muntz said. "We're impinging on their turf."

The Department of State asked the state appeals court in Lakeland, where it filed the appeal, to send the question directly to the state Supreme Court as a matter of vital importance that needs to be settled on a statewide basis.

snip

[ChiciB1]

1. I Live Here... And Our Local Supervisor Stated In The Local Paper

that she's very opposed to a paper trail! This County Sucks, big time. We had a small victory, but I talked with Kindra last Saturday and we have until 10-13-2006 until we will know something for sure, we think.

The BAD NEWS... is just what has been reported! Christine Jennings (D) is leading Vern Buchanan (R) right now to take over from Cruella... this is too SCARY for Jebby et al! I work down at the Venice Hdqrs. and we have had many R's come in to support our Democratic candidates, but I KNOW they want to "fix" this District again. We worked so hard and got the signatures in RECORD time. More than we needed to get the referendum on the ballot, but it's one road block after another!

I continue to work very hard here, but after this election and IF we lose again... I don't know if I will be abel to DO IT AGAIN!! It's so corrupt here! Can't prove, never will be able to... but I see that hand writing on the wall..... AGAIN!!!

Buchanan has LOTS of money and is getting more. I just wrote to MoveOn.Org for help in this district, Jennings has very little money! We are trying to get donations all the time, but HE just bought $450.000.00 worth of local ads, and they are NASTY!!!

[diva77]

2. at the very least, I hope you can run some parallel elections in your

area

see info here:

www.ecotalk.org/ParallelElections.htm

http://www.studycaliforniaballots.org/Pages/Main.html

[ChiciB1]

3. Thanks A Lot For The Information.... I'll Bring It To The Attention

of our local Democratic Club and Hdqtrs. See what they think!!

[diva77]

10. link correction for Lynn Landes' site

go to:

www.TheLandesReport.com

instead of the ecotalk site

[ChiciB1]

11. THANKS AGAIN! n/t

[diva77]

12. further refinement for link

it's hard to find this page - I had to comb thru the home page, so I'm posting the new and improved link (just in case someone's in a hurry) --

http://www.thelandesreport.com/ParallelElections.htm

[seafan]

4. Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections-----> www.safevote.org

http://www.safevote.org/

I'm sure you know of this site, but for the benefit of everyone, I'll list it here. There is a wealth of information there.

The attorney and a representative of this Sarasota organization were being interviewed on the Jim DeFede show this morning (local Miami) on 940 WINZ. They are doing some very important trail blazing in Florida, IMHO.

Keep fighting for stand-alone pen and paper ballots, hand counted at every precinct under direct public observation, and telephoned in to the Secretary of State's office We need to ditch all the machines, including optical scanners. (These scanners send numbers to a central vote tabulator, which is also very vulnerable to manipulation, unfortunately.)


Edited to add:

One thing the attorney from SAFE mentioned this morning is that Sarasota County is a "charter county", meaning that the voters DO have a say in what type of ballot they will use, and it is upheld legally. Apparently, not all counties are "charter counties." Need some additional info on just which counties of Florida's 67 fall into this category. (How much do we want to bet that Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Duval do NOT??)

[flyarm]

5. FLORIDA CHARTER COUNTIES..

IF THIS IS CORRECT OR IF I HAVE IT CORRECT..

these are florida charter counties..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Charter_counties_in_Florida
This category is for the charter counties of Florida. Charter counties have their own constitution and are self-governing.


Pages in category "Charter counties in Florida"
There are 18 pages in this section of this category.

A
Alachua County, Florida
B
Brevard County, Florida
Broward County, Florida
C
Charlotte County, Florida
Columbia County, Florida
D
Duval County, Florida
H
Hillsborough County, Florida
L
Lee County, Florida
Leon County, Florida
M
Miami-Dade County, Florida
O
Orange County, Florida
Osceola County, Florida
P
Palm Beach County, Florida
P cont.
Pinellas County, Florida
Polk County, Florida
S
Sarasota County, Florida
Seminole County, Florida
V

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Constitution

Counties and municipalities
Article VIII covers local government, distinguishing between charter counties and non-charter counties. Two key distinctions are set forth therein:

Charter counties may pass any laws that are not inconsistent with the Florida Constitution, whereas non-charter counties may only pass laws where the state legislature authorizes them to do so.
Municipal laws over-ride inconsistent laws passed by non-charter counties; for chartered counties, the charter itself will determine which law governs.


fly

[seafan]

6. Thank you, flyarm! Very interesting! This might give us a boost in

our fight for pen and paper ballots that are hand counted, ultimately. I am very surprised to see the largest Dem counties on the charter list. We might be able to raise awareness of voters' rights regarding ballot type even more now.

Back to work, thanks again.

[flyarm]

7. you are welcome..i have met Kindra..she is working with a

gal i have helped in Pinellas!!
I have been on top of whats going on in Sarasota all along..and we in Pinellas want Sarasota to succeed..so we can follow..but since Sarasota is so much smaller you had a greater chance to succeed than we did initially!!

You will set the precedence..as it is easier with a smaller county!!

we are with you all the way..and support everything Kindra is doing!!

she is a champ among Americans ..and for democracy!!

I will always salute her and her work!!

and all of you who are helping her in Sarasota!!

fly

[ChiciB1]

13. What This One Woman Started Is Phenomenal! Still Here In

Sarasota we are still having to FIGHT! I mentioned that Kathy Dent a Repuke Supervisor of Elections here is almost worse than Cruella. She's been attacked for doing underhanded things but as is with The Idiot nothing sticks! She does not want paper ballots and the Repuke County Commssioners don't either! Kindra is still fighting but we are in campaign mode and many of us are working to elect candidates and have just a certain amount of time to give. I helped with the petition drive, but am being asked to help devote more time to get Jennings & Shapiro elected. So much focus is on Jennings because she is currently ahead, but that may not mean a thing! It takes 60 seconds to "fix" a machine, and for some very STRANGE reason I see Cruella's numbers rising! What think you??? Another fix? Probably!! Wonder how Nelson is going to feel if he doesn't make it?? I printed out the information here and will take it to the Hdqtrs, but I don't know how far it will go.

I posted this at another thread earlier... and despite my resolve right now, I'm down to counting days!

Oh The Pain!!! My husband is out of town & just called to say he was coming home tomorrow and I had to vent some of my frustration! Told him that if we lose this election AGAIN that I WANT OUT!! I've said it before many times, but now I feel more determined than ever! It will take a couple of years maybe, because we have home & property to sell, plus we a are care-takers for his 94 year old mother who has severe Alzheimers. She COULD live to be 100, who knows because she takes NO medications, simply is in La La Land now, but it still healthy!

I have wondered for so long now what has happened to an America I once knew, but now am to the point that I don't much care. I've worked my butt off in so many campaigns but have lost all hope! Quite some time ago I decided "hope" is a 4-letter word.

Now I feel so much shame and desperation. It comes and goes but NEVER goes away completely. As a BOOMER what I have seen these past 6 years have made me feel alien to my own country of birth. November 7th looms large in my mind as I try to gather my thoughts of what is to come!

I fear the only thing that will keep in this country should we lose again is if I see that "We The People" will rise up against the corruption that has entrenched itself within! My husband says "where will you go?" I named a few places, would love to go to Australia but it may be too expensive, but Costa Rica seems my best bet! I feel HELPLESS anymore, but will work my butt off for this election as I have been for a long time now. Too many questions, have no answers and see a once great country falling to pieces! I just donated money to Webb in Virginia and Lamont in Ct, but heard on C-Span this AM that so many Democrats STILL want Mr. Lie and are "secretly" behind him!!! Chalk it up to just another betrayal, another punch in my gut, another blow to my psyche. C-Span has been having so many Repukes on lately and I'm hearing all these Wing-Nuts calling in again and I feel such DESPAIR!! Can't even go walk on the beach... another skanky, stinkin outbreak of Red Tide that makes you board yourself up inside because the smell is outrageous! Keith O is getting "death threats" and my voice is no louder than that of a squeaky mouse!

Sorry if I brought anyone down, just have to vent sometimes! Maybe it's living in Florida with Cruella up the road doing Jack-S--t for us, or F--k-Face Jebby screwing us so badly with several actions he's taken to make it almost impossible to afford insurance or health care, and then to see how totally out of touch those in D.C. are when it comes to those who don't have "big money!" Unions participation is down to 9% nationwide and black clouds on the horizon.

Yes, There's a FIRE just waiting for fuel, but will we FUEL THE FIRE??

FORTY days to go... do we stay or do we rise up and light the fire if they SCREW us again??? Or do we still live with APATHY and a sit by our PC's and blog-on??? I will know MY answer soon!

BTW, I just printed out Ani's best!!!

[rumpel]

8. Huh?

trying to comply with state law on what is and what isn't a ballot

Is she implying paper ballots are no longer considered a ballot, but only electronic ones, according to her "interpretations"?

What a stupid argument, but then again - these people try to argument that black is white...

Damn another court case to keep a close watch on!

[seafan]

9. I think you've surmised correctly. Don't forget that it is illegal to

hand recount any ballots in Florida that have already been counted by a machine. This sneaky little law was enacted by Jeb and his former Sec of State Glenda Hood. These people DO NOT WANT PAPER under any circumstances. Paper ballots are not *a certified voting method* as decreed by Ms. Sue Cobb, Jeb's current SOS, a big Republican donor, whom he appointed in December, 2005.

Isn't that special?


We can never take our eyes off of these people.

[hpot]

14. Do you have a reference link?

Does it affect public records requests?