Governor Dean speaks to NY Democratic Lawyers' Council, voting rights.

[madfloridian]

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/05/governor_dean_o_17.php

Governor Dean spoke to the NY Chapter of the National Democratic Lawyers Council last evening about the DNC's efforts to fight to protect the voting rights of all Americans:



"We know that there are real people, real legitimately registered voters in Indiana who were disenfranchised by the Indiana Voter ID law during the primaries there earlier this month. For example:

The newlywed couple from Marion County who were both registered voters had gotten married since they last voted in 2004. The husband was allowed to vote but the wife was not because her name changed and it did not match her photo ID.

Or the married woman from Vanderburgh County who was driven by her husband (she does not drive) to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get an ID presented her social security card, her medical card, even her voting card, but she was denied a photo ID because she did not have a birth certificate.

Or the Postal employee wearing her full uniform who could not vote because election workers deemed her U.S.-government-issued employment identification to be an unacceptable form of identification because it did not have an expiration date.

These are real people who were denied their right to vote. If even one legitimate voter is denied their right to vote, than these laws need to be overturned or blocked."


The New York Democratic Lawyers Concil, a chapter of the National Democratic Lawyers Council, is a statewide coalition of volunteer lawyers and law students committed to a simple yet fundamental proposition: that among the best ways to protect and promote a strong democracy is to protect and promote an accessible, open and fair election process.

Building on the tremendous election protection effort of 2004, the NYDLC/NLC will work closely with the Party at the national, state and local levels to promote voting rights and to identify and combat problems that undermine, either directly or indirectly, those rights. While the Council will work with the Party on other issues, its foremost objective is to organize early in every state and territory to carry out the Democratic Party’s commitment to this goal.

[Peace Patriot]

1. The best thing that the Democratic Party can do is to fund INDEPENDENT

EXIT POLLS in every Congressional election in '06, as "check and balance" verification against Bushite electronic voting corporations 'counting' all the votes with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, and virtually no audit/recount controls!

WHY are these not the first words out of Howard Dean's mouth every day, before every audience, and as the heading of every DNC letter?

It's beyond me.

The mean, dirty, illegal, insulting, criminal actions of Bushite Republicans to purge poor, minority and other Democratic voters from the rolls OF COURSE should be addressed and vigorously.

But the BIGGEST, MORE EGREGIOUS VIOLATION of democracy has been the installation of a NON-TRANSPARENT, BUSHITE-CONTROLLED election system virtually everywhere in the country.

And the REASON we have these Bushite Republicans VIOLATING the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with impunity is that they are no longer accountable to the people, because they have guaranteed election!

Get rid of their 5%-10% "thumb on the scales" advantage in elections--and you can't tell me they aren't doing that, when they have the power to, and have deliberately arranged for NON-TRANSPARENT vote 'counts'--and you will get rid of most violations of the Voting Rights Act, and violations of the Constitution, and heinous illegal wars, and massive thievery, lying and deceit, as well.

Dean is putting the cart before the horse. He's saying, "Please, p-a-l-e-e-z-e, Mr. Republican, please don't purge our voters!"--when we don't have the power to enforce existing election law, or prevent bad election laws.

Exit polls are used worldwide to verify elections and check for fraud. The war profiteering corporate news monopoly exit polls are not to be trusted (because, instead of using exit polls as a verification tool, they MATCH their exit polls TO the NON-TRANSPARENT, Bushite-controlled "official results." That's right--they DOCTOR their exit polls!)

We DESPERATELY NEED to verify the '06 elections--to gather evidence, to challenge suspicious results and to build the case for getting rid of these election theft machines. The Democratic Party owes us this--for their lack of vigilance--and in some cases corruption--on electronic voting.

INDEPENDENT EXIT POLLS, Dr. Dean!

And help us throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

[Stevepol]

2. Here, here. Huzzah, huzzah!! K&R because of response post #1