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Stolen Elections

The big picture: When vote suppression, election manipulation, and misinformation add up to a stolen election. We remember Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 as prime examples for how tightly contested electoral races can be stolen.

AMNESTY: Support democracy for Honduras

From: 
Amnesty International
What's happening: 
Amnesty International today said it was deeply worried about the safety of victims of and witnesses to a shooting at a military blockade that took place in Tegucigalpa last night. The organization called on the Human Rights Prosecutor to urgently investigate the incident.

According to eye witnesses interviewed by Amnesty International, last night, four men were on their way back home when they saw a military blockade moved from its normal position, close to the Estado Mayor (military compound). They were not given any indication to stop or request to slow down so they drove past.

Immediately after, shots were fired by the military at the car. The men drove on and as they went into a new road, one bullet hit the driver, 32-year-old Angel Salgado, in the head. He lost control of the vehicle which then crashed into a taxi and injured several bystanders, including 45-year-old woman, who was also hit by a stray bullet. She is now in a serious condition in hospital.

At the time of writing, Angel Salgado was in hospital in a critical condition.

Eye witnesses said military personnel began cleaning the scene immediately after the crash occurred.

“We are extremely concerned about this case given Honduras’ track record of widespread impunity for human rights violations committed by police and military,” said Javier Zuñiga, Head of Amnesty International’s delegation in Honduras.

Amnesty International delegates in Honduras visited the hospital where both injured were being treated and heard the relatives of Angel Salgado had found it difficult to gain entry to see him.

The organization’s delegates also saw two men in military outfits passing by and going directly into the theatre where Angel Salgado was recuperating. The men said they wanted to check on his condition.

 
Until the authorities take serious action to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations, this will be another shocking example of how the lives of Hondurans can be devastated in a moment by the police and military, who act knowing that noone will ever hold them to account,” said Javier Zuñiga.
 
 

Help spread the truth about ACORN

From: 
Brave New Films
What's happening: 

Check out this short video by Brave New Films:

 

Join the call for UN election observers!

From: 
No More Stolen Elections!
What's happening: 

A coalition of U.S. pro-democracy organizations today petitioned the members of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations for international election observers for the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

Representatives of No More Stolen Elections!, True Vote, Liberty Tree, Global Exchange, and the Economic Human Rights Project filed the petition seeking international observers with embassies in Washington, DC on Thursday, October 30, 2008, and the New York City offices of the UN on Friday, October 31, 2008. The embassies we visited included those of UN ECOSOC member nations New Zealand, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, France, United Kingdom, and Sweden.

We want to make sure that if the election results are contested, steps have been taken so that the U.N. is able to participate in ensuring the integrity of the U.S. election.


You can read a summary of the petition here:



You can watch a video of our delivery of the petition here:

 

Move to Amend: Overrule the Supreme Court

From: 
Campaign to Legalize Democracy
What's happening: 

On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. Human beings are people; corporations are legal fictions. The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule.

 

We Move to Amend

 

We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United, and move to amend our Constitution to:

 

  • Firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
  • Guarantee the right to vote and to participate, and to have our votes and participation count.
  • Protect local communities, their economies, and democracies against illegitimate "preemption" actions by global, national, and state governments.

Organize a Voter Assembly

From: 
No More Stolen Elections!
What's happening: 

This may be the most important message you'll read today. Make plans to attend, or if need be, to organize a Voter Assembly in your community on the evening of Wednesday, November 5, the day after the election. Your participation in a Voter Assembly is very important.

A growing database of Voter Assemblies is here:

You should register the Voter Assembly you are organizing here:

Here is the plan. Regardless of the declared presidential victor, this Wednesday, we will gather in Voter Assemblies, and we will act:

    A.    If there is reason to believe that the election is likely to be stolen, as was the case in Florida 2000, we will act to prevent this from happening – pressing to prevent the theft and, if that is impossible, demanding a new, honest election.



    B.    If it is unclear whether voting rights violation rise to the level of election theft, as was the case in Ohio 2004, we will mobilize everywhere to demand a full and complete count of the vote.



    C.    If it appears that the election result was defined by the rigging of the process, we will rally nationwide to press for progress in enacting democratic reforms.

By Election Day, millions of people's right to vote will have been violated. In the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." This is especially true with voting: Voting rights violations anywhere threaten voting rights everywhere. So please, don't wait for a repeat of Florida 2000, or Ohio 2004, or worse, and don't think that your community is too distant from the problem to be involved. Get organized, and plan to assemble on November 5. Thank you.

Organize or attend a Voter Assembly in your community on November 7th!

This election is being threatened by unverifiable voting machines, voter ID laws that disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, restrictive election laws for third party candidates and voters who wish to vote early, as well as many other forms of voter suppression that we are likely to witness on November 6 and the weeks leading up to the election.

Sign the Pledge of Action!

Standing for Voters

From: 
www.StandingforVoters.org
What's happening: 

The Standing for Voters campaign is collecting pledges from candidates ready to commit to:

    -- no concessions before all valid votes are counted and all serious challenges resolved;

    -- challenging elections where necessary.

Take Action on Election Violations!

From: 
No Stolen Elections! (2004)
What's happening: 

January 6, 2005:

Take Action on Election Violations as Congress Meets to Certify the Vote!

More than a month has passed since voters cast votes for the President and Vice-President of the United States -- but every day, more and more stories surface that call into question the election's integrity.

Machines broke down, counted backwards, eliminated votes, and registered votes for the wrong candidate. progressive and African-American neighborhoods experienced by far the longest lines on election day, the most vote spoilage, the most elimination of provisional ballots, and the most victimization by precinct manipulation.

Four hundred thousand callers phoned voter protection hotlines, with complaints ranging from absentee ballots lost in the mail, to outright voter intimidation and disenfranchisement. And partisan election officials with conflicts of interest undermined voting rights in states from Ohio to Florida to New Mexico. Even progressive Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have questioned the elections' legitimacy, in a series of rigorous, painstakingly detailed letters documenting the unprecedented extent and scope of vote suppression, available at http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/

How can we have confidence in American democracy when so many questions about this election remain unanswered? In addition to the longstanding issues subtly undermining democracy -- corporate domination of the two major parties, plurality elections, and corporate media bias - the recent election betrayed democratic principles overtly.

Despite the efforts of a few valiant members of Congress, most of our Senators and Representatives have ignored our pleas for serious investigation into the "irregularities" that surrounded the 2004 election. But one more opportunity remains for these government officials to stand for democracy.

Take the Pledge of Action!

From: 
No More Stolen Elections!
What's happening: 

Many say the 2008 election is being stolen right now. If two stolen elections are two too many, are you prepared to accept a third?

IF you haven't already, please read the important call to action from Rev. Jesse Jackson, Barbara Ehrenreich, Bill Fletcher, Daniel Ellsberg, David Cobb, Frances Moore Lappé, Frances Piven, Holly Near, Jerome Scott, Jim Hightower, John Cavanagh, John Nichols, Manning Marable, Marcus Raskin, Maude Hurd, Medea Benjamin, Mimi Kennedy, Norman Solomon, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Robert McChesney, Starhawk, Tom Hayden, Van Jones, and many more.

Tell Congress to Act!

From: 
No Stolen Elections! (2004)
What's happening: 

From January, 2005

Please circulate widely!

Let's Keep the Pressure On!

Welcome Congress Back with a Demand to Defend and Expand Democracy!

Last Thursday, January 6, history was made when Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Oh.) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.) objected to the acceptance of the electoral college votes from Ohio because of the widespread disenfranchisement, suppression and fraud that pervaded the 2004 election. Organizing, protesting, lobbying and massive caller turnout led to their action, with support from over 30 Representatives and more than 12 Senators. And a public spotlight was shone on this critical issue.

None of this would have happened if not for the actions of literally hundreds of thousands of people who flooded Capitol Hill with emails, calls, faxes and visits.

Video the Vote

From: 
VideotheVote.org
What's happening: 

Take a look at this excellent video, and then, take action . . .

Organize a Voter Assembly in your community!

Date: 
November 7, 2012 - 12:00pm - 9:00pm

This election is being threatened by unverifiable voting machines, voter ID laws that disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, restrictive election laws for third party candidates and voters who wish to vote early, as well as many other forms of voter suppression that we are likely to witness on and before November 6.  Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 have taught us that our elections can be stolen if we do not act.

Event Contact
First Name: 
Jolie
Last Name: 
Lizotte
Email: 
lizotte@libertytreefoundation.org
Phone: 
920-312-4246

TRUTHOUT: Lack of transparency in exit polling makes it more difficult to know when an election is rigged

November 9, 2012
By: 
Victoria Collier
America's Media Just Made Vote-Rigging Easier
news photo

 

Stealing your vote is easier than ever now that the media has decided it can't afford the exit polling that helped track irregular ballot counts in more than a third of the states. Here's why it's important, and what you can do.

The news that America's mainstream media has cancelled exit polling in 19 states, means that insider election theft this November is now even harder to track, and therefore easier to get away with - something that scarcely seemed possible.

SALON: Is the GOP Stealing Ohio?

November 5, 2012
By: 
Brad Friedman
Is the GOP stealing Ohio?
news photo

Last week, Bob Fitrakis and Gerry Bello at FreePress.org reported an important story concerning what they described as “uncertified ‘experimental’ software patches” being installed at the last minute on electronic vote tabulation systems in 39 Ohio counties.

FREE PRESS: Why we must fight to prevent elections from being stolen through disenfranchisement and machine fraud

November 3, 2012
By: 
Joan Brunwasser, Sally Castleman, Victoria Collier, Bob Fitrakis, Lori Grace, Emily Levy, Mark Crispin Miller, Greg Palast, Jonathan Simon and Harvey Wasserman
Why we fight to prevent stolen elections in 2012 and beyond
news photo

Originally published October 31, 2012

With election day less than a week away, the spectre of another stolen election is upon us. The airwaves and internet are at last filling with discussion of this possibility.

When the first stories were broken by a handful of us after the fiascos of Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004, there was a stunning silence, followed by a wide range of attacks. Today the warnings about the possibility of another election theft are taken with increasing gravity.

The question is deep and profound, with a huge body of research and writing surrounding it.

But among the many concerns, two are key: massive disenfranchisement, and manipulation of the electronic vote count.

DISENFRANCHISEMENT:

FREE PRESS: Ohio's voting machines have "experimental patch" installed week before election

October 31, 2012
By: 
Bob Fitrakis and Gerry Bello
Will "experimental" software patches affect the Ohio vote?
news photo

Why did the Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted's office, in an end run around Ohio election law, have "experimental" software patches installed on vote couhttp://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2012/4766nting tabulators in up to 39 Ohio counties? Voting rights activists are concerned that these uncertified and untested software patches may alter the election results.

Democracy Now interviews Greg Palast about voter disenfranchisement in the 2012 elections

October 18, 2012
Greg Palast on "Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps"

Democracy Now discusses how voter suppression in the 2012 elections will prevent millions of eligible voters from being able to cast a ballot or have their ballot counted. Greg Palast is the author of the recently released New York Times bestseller, "Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps."

 

POLITICO: Voter ID laws may prevent millions from voting

September 23, 2012
By: 
Associated Press
Study: ID laws could deter millions
news photo

The combined effects of voter roll purges, demands for proof of citizenship and photo identification requirements in several states may hinder at least 10 million Hispanic citizens who seek to vote this fall, civil rights advocates warn in a new report.

Hispanic voters are considered pivotal to the presidential election this November, and are being heavily courted by both Democratic incumbent Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. If they turn out in large numbers, Hispanics could sway the outcome in several swing states.

NEWSWEEK: Serious doubts remain about the 2000 Florida recount's legitimacy

May 13, 2012
By: 
Michael Isikoff
The Final Word?
news photo

(originally published on November 18th, 2001)

After spending nearly $1 million, a consortium of big news organizations last week rendered what it once thought would be final word on last year's bitterly contested Florida recount.

The decision: a split verdict.

Gerrymandering at its Worst

February 29, 2012
By: 
Erin Schikowski
The Nation

GOP Lawmakers, Pledged to Secrecy, Told to Ignore Public Comments on Redistricting

February 6, 2012
By: 
Patrick Marley, Daniel Bice and Jason Stein
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 

As legislative leaders secretly developed new election maps last year to strengthen their majority, Republican lawmakers were told to ignore public comments and instead focus on what was said in private strategy sessions, according to a GOP memo that became public Monday.

Other newly released documents also show almost all Republican lawmakers signed legal agreements promising not to discuss the new maps while they were being developed.

GOP lawmakers fought releasing these new documents and testifying about the maps in a pending court case but relented after a panel of three federal judges based in Milwaukee last month found they had filed frivolous motions in trying to shield the information from the public.

WSJ: Diebold security flaws emerge as electronic voting spreads

October 25, 2004
By: 
Anne Marie Squeo
Make-or-Break Balloting; Election of '04 May Be Key To Future of Electronic Voting And Principal Player Diebold
news photo

THE HANGING CHADS and lost ballots of the 2000 presidential-election debacle made it seem a foregone conclusion that modernized, electronic-voting machines would be widely embraced the next time around. And so they will be. But paranoia about stolen elections and security flaws has made Nov. 2 a make-or-break event for the fledgling industry and its biggest player, Diebold Inc.

NATION: How the 2004 election could be stolen

August 16, 2004
news photo

On November 2 millions of Americans will cast their votes for President in computerized voting systems that can be rigged by corporate or local-election insiders. Some 98 million citizens, five out of every six of the roughly 115 million who will go to the polls, will consign their votes into computers that unidentified computer programmers, working in the main for four private corporations and the officials of 10,500 election jurisdictions, could program to invisibly falsify the outcomes.

HARPER'S: A citizens' guide to hacking the 2004 election

April 1, 2004
By: 
Brendan Koerner
Welcome to the Machine
news photo

That serious problems plague our new, computerized voting machines--on which 29 percent of U.S. voters are poised to cast their votes in November--has been apparent ever since $3.9 billion in federal funding for the machines was made available in 2002, in the aftermath of Bush v. Gore. In the years since, report after report has cautioned that the machines lack the security and robustness necessary to withstand the assaults of hackers or unscrupulous technicians. But no one seems likely to stop the rollout of the machines, more than 50,000 of which have been purchased by states.

HUMANIST: Touchscreen voting machines leave a paperless trail in districts where the polls do not match the results

January 1, 2004
By: 
Michael I. Niman
A brave new world of voting
news photo

Manipulating election votes, the act of stealing an American election, used to sound far fetched. While many people weren't always confident that voters would make fully informed decisions, it was always assumed that each vote would at least be counted. Then came Florida--and the whole quaint notion of elections got tossed out the window. The final 2000 election recount showed that George W. Bush didn't win but he came close enough to move in for the kill.

MANSKI: The Protest Wave: Why the Political Class Can’t Understand Our Demands

October 3, 2011
Ben Manski
Common Dreams

The protests that began in Wisconsin this year, and which now also fill the streets of Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, and this week, Washington D.C., have gotten the attention of the American political class. And how could they not? 2011 is becoming a remake of the 1999 Battle of Seattle, except this time the protests are ongoing, national and global, and the target is not just the World Trade Organization, but the entire edifice of corporate capitalism.

FRIEDMAN: Democracy's Gold Standard

September 14, 2009
Brad Friedman

Last March, the country's highest court found that secret, computerized vote counting was unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the country was Germany, and the Constitution violated by e-voting systems was the one that the U.S. wrote and insisted Germans ratify as part of their terms of surrender following WWII.

Paul Lehto, a U.S. election attorney and Constitutional rights expert, summarized the German court's unambiguous, landmark finding:

"No 'specialized technical knowledge' can be required of citizens to vote or to monitor vote counts."
There is a "constitutional requirement of a publicly observed count."

Additional Information: 

http://commonwealinstitute.org/blog/brad-friedman/democracys-gold-standard-extended-version

Prospects for Participatory Democracy in the U.S.A

December 1, 2008
Ben Manski

Location: Barcelona, Spain Presented at the International Seminar on Participatory Democracy "Participatory Democracy. Political Actors and Social Movements" Abstract Diagnosing Democratic Collapse The U.S. political system suffers from a potentially fatal condition, a malady that can be diagnosed as "Democratic Collapse." The causes of this collapse are known: First, the consolidation of corporate control of the establishment political parties. Second, the sacrilegious enshrinement of corporations as persons under law, entitled to constitutional protections against citizens and governments.

Additional Information: 

Ben Manski is a Fellow with the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution in its Local Democracy and Democratizing Education program areas. He served as Co-Chair of the Green Party of the United States from 2001 through 2004, and was active in the U.S. student, labor, peace, and environmental movements throughout the 1990s. Ben has a degree in law from the University of Wisconsin, and has written on the corporatization of higher education in the United States.

NICHOLS: Special Report on the 2008 Elections

November 5, 2008
John Nichols

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change.
And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. ~ Barack Obama<

~ NOVEMBER 5, 2008 ~

Additional Information: 

John Nichols is the Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine.
He is also a member of the Liberty Tree Board of Directors.

Advancement Project: Several Battleground States Not Prepared for Voter Turnout

October 9, 2008

Our recent Action Alert on fighting shortages of volunteers and voting machines focuses on the election officials and administrators of particular states that have been identified as likely problems. Advancement Project has released a poignant study detailing the failures of 7 specific swing states that will not have adequate capacity in terms of voting machines and volunteers to meet the expected record voter turnout for the upcoming Presidential election. Their release of this information follows....

SEVERAL BATTLEGROUND STATES NOT PREPARED FOR VOTER TURNOUT

Additional Information: 

For more information, feel free to contact Sabrina Williams (202/728-9557 or 305/904-3960) or Tia Gordon (202/728-9557 or 202/906-0149)

David Cobb: 'The New Voting Rights Movement' and 'Fighting The Corporate Takeover'

January 3, 2005
David Cobb

The Brad Blog at www.bradblog.com

INTRODUCTION {by Winter Patriot}: We are thrilled to announce that David Cobb will be with us for some live blogging on Saturday morning [late Saturday morning in the East, early Saturday morning in the West]. As most of you probably know, Mr. Cobb represented the Green Party in the 2004 Presidential 'Election'. He has indicated that he wishes to blog about two subjects, and he has sent us some very interesting links and text. So there's plenty to absorb before Mr. Cobb takes the hot seat as the first live blogger of the weekend.

Mr. Cobb's first subject:

Additional Information: 

To read the archive of the full blog post, visit http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001550.htm

How to Organize a Voter Assembly Manual

November 7, 2012

I want to organize a Voter Assembly in my community, where do I start?

Choose a Good Location and Time

Accessible, public spaces outside (parks, prominent intersections, or in front of civic buildings) are usually a good bet. If you need to use an indoor space then an accessible, public space such as a community center would be ideal.

Document: 
application/pdf iconVoter Assembly Guide.pdf

Ruckus: A Call for Nonviolent Direct Action

October 30, 2009

The Ruckus Society has developed an election-focused action toolkit you'll want to check out. As they say on their website:

Become an Election Integrity Activist on Election Night

October 7, 2009
What Can an Election Integrity Activist Do On Election Night?

Bev Harris of Blackbox Voting has put out a brief educational video about what citizens who want to ensure election integrity can do. She tells you exactly what to look for and video on Election Night to protect the count. You can take some easy steps to minimize election machine voter fraud.

Your help is needed. Thousands of citizens can ensure a fair election if they get active and involved in working for election integrity.

Voter Bill of Rights

September 26, 2009

From unreliable electronic voting machines and millions of uncounted ballots, to partisan election officials and 10-hour waits at the polls, it is clear that our electoral system is in dire need of an overhaul. To build a more just, secure, and robust democracy, please support the following 10-point Voter Bill of Rights:

1. Pass a Constitutional Amendment Confirming the Right to Vote

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