No vote left behind: A lawyer at every polling place in 2006

[Pale Blue Dot]

I'm reading Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election & Why They'll Steal the Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them) by Mark Crispin Miller. I agree with Miller's thesis that through a variety of measures, both small and large, the Conservative Movement in this country conspired to get Bush the votes he needed to "win" reelection.

I also believe that the Republicans are going to lose power this November, and the only weapon at their disposal to stop this from happening is to repeat the dirty tricks that were pulled in 2004. I am determined not to let that happened.

I have hatched an idea that I would like to explore further. I would like to organize an effort to get a lawyer at every polling place in the country in 2006; all day, no exceptions. During the election of 2004, I was a working the polls for Kerry in Bucks County, PA, which at the time was considered a crucial "swing" county in a crucial "swing" state. We had at our disposal 3 lawyers for the entire county, positioned at our headquarters, who went and checked several polling places during the day.

I think we need a lawyer at every polling place permanently during the day to ensure fairness in the voting and the counts.

I will be the first to admit that I am not the least bit prepared to run an organizing effort like this. However, I think that this is crucial for our country and our future, and I would like to solicit ideas to get this done. In particular, I need help with the following questions (and probably many more):

1. How do we locate and solicit lawyers, familiar with election law in their own state, who will be sympathetic to our cause?

2. How would we go about raising the necessary funds?

3. Are any actions like this currently underway anywhere else?

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please post them here or PM me. I would ask that the inevitable naysayers please be constructive, and not dismissive, in their posts. And if you like the idea, please keep this kicked. And if anyone is interested in helping with this effort, keeping in mind that it's in the extreme early stages, please send me a PM with the state you live in, and any experience you have that might be helpful. Thanks!

I'm currently in Connecticut.

[electropop]

1. Kerry supposedly had 10,000 lawyers standing by.

Maybe some of them could tell us how it was done, but leave out the part where they're ordered to stand down.

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. They were there at the end of the day. And he did tell them to stand down

I want lawyers at every polling place, all day, NOT hired by any candidate. And please reread my last paragraph. Thank you.

[electropop]

6. My suggestion is serious, despite my bitterness.

I don't think Kerry paid those people, though he (his campaign) did organize them. Yes, all day is far better than at the end, of course.

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. Thanks!

The lawyers in my county were volunteers. I have no idea of their effectiveness, but the county, and the state, did go for Kerry.

[Gothmog]

11. I was one of those lawyers

We had a lawyer at key polling stations in key Democratic counties all through Florida. There were 700 or so lawyers in Broward county alone and a couple of thousand in Florida. Every lawyer got a good briefing on Florida election law and attended a four hour training course. Out of state lawyers had to be stationed outside unless the local election offical let the lawyers in. We were all hooked up to a war room and could report things like diallowed voters who were refused provisional ballots.

The key concept was to have people on the ground to report any problems. The idea is that if we had a force on the ground in 2000, we could had help fixed the butterfly ballot by having handouts on the ground to explain the problem to voters.

I met some very dedicated lawyers from all over the country. It was truly a worthwile expierence.

[electropop]

13. Thank you gothmog.

Can you tell us anything about how it was organized?

[Gothmog]

14. They did a pretty good job

The DNC and/or the Kerry/Edwards campaign had a webpage for lawyers to volunteer for duty. I think that 12,000 or so ended volunteering. You could ask for certan states or the DNC would figure out where the need was the greatest. Once you were assigned to a state, they e-mailed a well done memo/book on that state's election law and you took a short course on line. The attorneys in Florida each took a three or four hour separate course. In Broward County, we had the union hall for one of the unions filled with lawyers.

You were then assigned a voting precinct and asked to be there all day. This meant buying a lunch. During the day we could call into the hotline if things came up. For example, my precinct lost its poll watcher (someone who was registered in that precinct and could stay inside all day). Headquarters hunted down her replacment or relief while I used the counter to keep track of voters who voted.

In addition, there were teams of litigators standing by to go for injunctions if any thing warranted it (these were all Florida attorneys) and other teams who went minority districts to watch for misconduct. We had 3200 attorneys on the ground in just Florida to try advoid a repeat of 2000.

Since then, the Kerry Edwards legal volunteers have become part of or members of National Democratic Lawyers Council. The idea is to be able to this wonderful group of legal volunteers available for future efforts. Here is a link to where one can register as part of the NDLC. http://www.democrats.org/page/s/nlc

[robinlynne]

3. It may be impossible to get that many lawyers, but having volunteers with

cell phones at every polling place, ready to call a lawyer for advice when needed might be doable. Election protection organizations have been doing that since 2000, probably longer, but I agree with you we need to protect EVERy polling place. In addition there are citizen's audit exit polls, which help to verify election results.
You can read about the california citizen's audit/ parallel elections at studycaliforniaballots.org. I don't know the address es for the other states, but people are doing it in many states.

[Pale Blue Dot]

7. Thanks you very much.

I've bookmarked the link. I know this may be impossible, but I don't want to start with that assumption. Thanks again!!

[Ksec]

4. THere are lawyers I know

who I wouldnt want at my polling place.
Overall its a good idea, but lets not pretend that doing this wont have its problems. Not all lawyers are honest people.

[Pale Blue Dot]

5. Of course it would have it's problems

So does everything else. Again, please read the last paragraph of my post. Thanks.

[SoFlaJet]

9. There's a joke in there somewhere I know it

maybe something like "yea they could have the polling sites at the bottom of the ocean"-Hey whaddayawantfrahme?I'm a friggin musician not a comedian

[acmejack]

10. Kick for lawyers

Hey, you guys I really didn't mean it when I told all those nasty lawyer jokes! Perhaps...

[MasonJar]

12. The problem with elections cannot be solved without a paper

trail. The machines can be "fixed" prior to the election. We have to have a paper trail. Call your senators and congressmen, everyday if necessary. Talk others into calling.

[Trish1168]

15. How can lawyers help this, when the computers are the problem?

Just wondering. The lawyers don't know how the machines are counting the votes.

[Pale Blue Dot]

16. If you read Miller's book,

You'll see that the voting machines are just one of many problems. The voting machine issues are real and need to be addressed. My project would address many of the OTHER issues related to a fair election.