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An Emergency Call-to-Arms
From: |
Eric Smith |
Subject: |
An Emergency Call-to-Arms |
Date: |
Mon, 15 Mar 2004 05:24:04 +0900 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
address@hidden
(please distribute among your membership.)
An Emergency Call-to-Arms:
A Five-Step Battle Plan for YOUR Future
This is a call to arms to you -- as an American and a custodian of your
nation's future. Please act as if your life depends on it -- it well might.
We have been led down a dark, perilous road.
The journey has touched us all, from mothers and fathers burying children in a
war over nonexistent WMD, to firefighters and policemen promised vital funds
only to be cheated and asked to work for free. Millions of Americans have been
cut loose as corporations exploit foreign workers on the cheap and CEOs gorge
themselves on riches unprecedented in history. While Americans take second and
even third jobs just feed their families, the Bush Administration has poured
America's wealth into the greedy hands of defense contractors and tax-dodging
megacorporations, notorious companies like (#1 Bush donator Kenneth Lay's)
Enron or Cheney's wartime ripoff-artists at Halliburton.
Our environment, safety, economy, national security, labor protection and
Constitutionally-guaranteed rights have all been gutted and left to die in a
worker-hostile economy.
NOW WE FIGHT BACK.
Here's what we're facing:
This November, the Bush election machine has more than three times the spending
power of its opponenets(1)
And they are fighting dirty, just as they did in 2000, when they purged Florida
voter rolls(2), rioted to stop recounts(3), barred citizens from voting (ibid)
and even threatened the Vice President and his family on their front lawn (4).
This year, through gerrymandering, data theft from Congressional computers,
impeachments and recess judicial appointments, they are trying to consolidate
their unprecedented power. And they have a special election-season surprise in
store for us as well -- as the AFL-CIO argued before the Supreme Court last
December(5), the Bushites have MADE IT A CRIME FOR THIRD PARTIES TO CRITICIZE
THE PRESIDENT OR SAY THINGS TO INFLUENCE THE ELECTION during the election's
most critical phase:
"This blackout will become national in scope on July 31, 30 days before the
August 30-September 2 Republican National Convention . . . and it will then
continue without interruption throughout the remaining 60 days until the
November 2 election. Thus, from July 31, 2004 until the election, it will be a
crime for a union, corporation, or incorporated non-profit organization to pay
to broadcast any 'reference' to the President by 'name,' 'photograph,'
'drawing' or other 'unambiguous' means anywhere in the United States." (6)
They are ruthless, and will not concede victory without a vicious fight. Expect
the outlawing of gay marriage to "divide and conquer", marginalize opponents
and consolidate support from the religious right, a base estimated to be 30
million strong (7). Expect the Supreme Court to halt recounts again. Expect a
"surprise" discovery of WMD even after Blix, David Kay and Iraq's scientists
saying they were all destroyed. (8) Expect the "suprise" capture or
"destruction" of Bin Laden conveniently close to the election (9). Expect lots
of scary terrorism warnings and perhaps even an attack.(10) General Tommy
Franks has even suggested a second 9-11-scale attack will lead to martial law
in America (11).
None of this should deter you; remember it was the same group (Rumsfeld,
Cheney, Baker, Bush Sr., Perle, etc.) that armed and funded Hussein and Bin
Laden in the first place. The blood of our dead is therefore on their hands.
We must not underestimate the ruthlessness of those willing to start an
international war based on known and transparent lies -- virtually against the
will of the entire planet. Make no mistake; they are willing to throw away
American lives in their quest for global dominion. And if you rise up and
oppose them, you may be bullied, harassed and threatened, perhaps even by the
FBI.(12) YOU MUST NOT LET THIS DETER YOU. WE MUST NOT BE BULLIED INTO LETTING
THEM SEIZE POWER AGAIN!
And here we come to the deep, dark heart of the matter:
This year 28% of the vote (and counting) will be tallied on electronic voting
machines or scanners, which have been repeatedly hacked and can be used to fix
an election -- all without a trace. Below you'll find a link to the diagrammed,
step-by-step report of how e-vote activist Bev Harris hacked one(13). If you
think this is exaggeration, please follow the links listed below, where
everything has been well-documented and by the NY Times, the Washington Post,
CNN, ABC, CBS, the BBC, etc. (14)
Once paperless, effortlessly hackable (10) voting machines have been installed,
the situation will be PERMANENT -- we will never know or be able to prove if an
election has been stolen. And if it HAS -- those who have stolen it CAN NEVER
BE VOTED OUT. And without the fear of voter reprisal, whoever takes advantage
of such a situation could do literally anything they wanted and NEVER LOSE
POWER. It will mean the end of Democracy. And if you work for an activist
group, it will certainly mean the end of your organization.
We have less than six months to prepare to fight the biggest power grab in
human history.
Do your part.
Help save America.
There will not be a second chance.
A 5-STEP BATTLE PLAN:
I. LOBBYING (20 minutes approximately)
Tell your representatives to support Bills H.R.2239, 1986, and ESPECIALLY 2045
(14)
Online e-petitions:
http://www.truemajority.org/actionregister/
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=14993
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/348035553?ts=1079111375&sign[partner_userID]=304336170&sign[memberID]=304336170&sign[partnerID]=1
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/cleanvote.html
Congress
http://www.senate.gov/
Toll free: 1-800-839-5276
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
address@hidden
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
II. MEDIA BLITZ (one to three hours approximately)
Write a ltter and email or fax it to Radio & tv stations, newspapers &
magazines in your area:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
National Media Contacts:
CBS Evening News
212-975-3691
address@hidden
NBC Nightly News
212-664-4971
address@hidden
Peter Jennings : ABC World News Tonight
Tel : (212) 456-4025, Fax : (212) 456-2381
address@hidden
Washington Post :
address@hidden, address@hidden ,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
New York Times:
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden
USA Today: address@hidden
Houston Chronicle: address@hidden
San Francisco Chronicle: address@hidden
Los Angeles Times: address@hidden
Chicago Tribune: address@hidden
Washington Post: address@hidden
Newsday: address@hidden
New York Daily News: address@hidden
CNN HeadLine News executives :
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden ,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden,
USA Today :
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden,
Los Angeles Times :
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden, address@hidden
address@hidden, address@hidden ,
REUTERS :
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden, address@hidden ,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden , address@hidden ,
address@hidden, address@hidden ,
address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden ,
address@hidden ,
Associated Press:
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden , address@hidden
address@hidden , address@hidden
address@hidden , address@hidden
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden,
address@hidden, address@hidden
III. WITNESS E-VOTE EVALUATIONS (one afternoon)
Ask your elections board (about any e-voting purchase evaluations meetings to
be held in your district. As a member of the voting public, it is your legal
right to attend as a witness, although, out of convenience, they may try to
avoid giving you the information. Insist on your rights.
If you do attend as a witness, you may well be a victim of intimidation
tactics. Insist on voter-verified paper ballots. Bev Harris has written
comprehensive answers to arguments you will hear. DO NOT BACK DOWN OR BE
INTIMIDATED BY CIVIL SERVANTS -- they are your EMPLOYEES, paid by YOUR TAXES:
>From Bev Harris, http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org
Assertion: "Upgrading the printer already in the (Diebold) machine costs money"
Fact: Diebold has stated in writing that their pre-installed internal printers
are sufficient to generate a voter-verified paper trail.
Assertion: "The paper is very expensive"
Fact: No, thermal paper is the cheapest made. And with an estimated maximmum of
300 people voting at each touch screen. A LARGE precinct may have seven touch
screens, but many have just two or three. It might cost $15 per precinct to
print those ballots.
Assertion: "The paper won't last"
Fact: If the report to be by the machine will last the required amount of time,
the ballots will too, if printed on the same paper. The printer is there to
report totals at the polling place.
Assertion: "the machines will jam"
Fact: The printer is similar to models used in supermarkets and WalMart.
Remember: the total number of transactions, will be about 300. Do supermarket
and WalMart printers jam every 15 sales? No; They process thousands of
printouts without jamming.
Assertion: "the ink will run out"
Fact: There is no ink in a thermal printer
Question: "If a paper ballot record doesn't match a machine record, which is
the legal vote?"
Fact: The voter-verified paper must trump the machine unless a mechanical
defect or fraud is shown, because it is a physical record seen and verified by
thousands of individual voters, whereas the machine is bits and bytes that can
be changed by a single technician!
Assertion: "Paper ballot systems have been tampered with"
Fact: Yes, and machines have been frequently wrong as well. Do not allow
sidetracking of the discussion or assertions that you are "against electronic
voting" -- no, we want them to put paper in a printer and use it for auditing.
Assertion: "Officials won't know what to do with paper ballots and new laws
must be written."
Fact: Laws and procedures set up for optical scans are applicable.
Assertion: "A paper trail will only lead to demands for more complicated and
stringent auditing"
Fact: Yes, it will. We're asking for that anyway, with optical scanning. It is
still be cheap and efficient compared to many of the changes currently being
implemented to accomodate the sales of more touchscreen machines.
Question: "Why use machines at all if you're demanding paper ballots?"
Fact: Voting machines are helpful for the visually impaired
Assertion: "Paper ballots prevent the visually impaired from voting"
Facts: Wheelchair-assisted voters can use a touch screen with the same
efficiency whether or not there is a paper printout, and the visually-impaired
are can be provided with headphones for these machines. Nor does a paper
printout hinder their ability to vote.
Alternatives to the Diebold, Sequoia and ES&S machines (operated by heavily
partisan CEOs, designed to operate WITHOUT a paper trail, and whose code and
components are not allowed to be examined) exist.
Avante Systems has a machine that shows a printout through a glass screen.
After the voter confirms it is correct, the paper ballot is droped into a
storage box so it can be checked against the machine totals and the AccuPoll
system has a scanner that can pass over the printed ballot to verify votes.
Alternative, secure e-voting machines you can suggest to your elections
officials:
http://www.accupoll.com/
http://www.aitechnology.com/avantetech/home.html
IV. VOLUNTEER ELECTIONS MONITORING (three days approximately, including
preliminary training)
Vootewatch is organizing election monitor volunteers here:
http://www.votewatch.us/forum/register.php?
Bev Harris has outlined a point-by-point strategy on specifically what to look
for when monitoring electronic voting machines. It is also recommended that you
either download her free e-book "Black Box Voting", or better yet, purchase it
here:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org
>From Bev Harris, http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org
CITIZEN WATCHDOGS: What to look for and report -- Let's get good at this before
November!
Optical-scan systems and absentee ballots: We have information that all systems
recognize carbon-containing marks (soft lead pencil). Some DO NOT recognize all
inks. You may want to bring a soft lead pencil to the polling place with you to
mark your optical-scan ballots.
All Diebold counties (AccuVote and AccuTouch are Diebold brands) -- Ask that
the poll workers print a report and post a copy at the polling place at the end
of the day, whether they are required to or not. All Diebold machines, both
touch-screen and optical-scan, contain internal printers and have the ability
to print a polling place results report. This takes 60 seconds and costs
nothing, and is an important check and balance to compare with the county
results from the GEMS system, which we believe to contain security flaws. Votes
should not change from the polling place to the county.
Report any instance of mismatched polling place/county tabulations here. Do NOT
accept the excuse that they won't match because early votes, absentee,
provisional, or challenge votes were added into the polling place totals. That
is called "co-mingling" the data and is not an acceptable record-keeping
practice. Additional categories of votes must be accounted for as separate line
items.
Sequoia touch-screens do not have an internal printer. A printer can easily be
hooked up with a serial port. If you see printers, demand a polling place
report.
Watch for any "wandering vote tallies" on election night, especially if any
votes go DOWN. (Yes, this has been known to happen).
Late poll openings: Report these immediately and we'll try to get cameras
there. This is a form of vote suppression, often occurring in minority areas.
Late vote results: Report late incoming tallies. These can be indicative of the
county trying to resolve voting machine anomalies before filing reports.
Observe how many cords come in and out of the voting machines. Report any
evidence of networking the machines together. Report any time you see more than
a simple power cord plugged in while the election is in progress.
Wardrive election sites. See if you can pick up wireless signals either during
or after the election. Wireless communication is not permitted. Also, report
any use of cell phones for vote transfers, which is also not permitted.
Election workers: Report the procedures used for training if they seem
insecure. For example, we have already had reports that in Georgia, some poll
workers were told to take voting machines home after training; Georgia flag
artwork was uploaded right before the election; and other unwise and insecure
procedures were followed.
Go visit the polling place at the end of the day and see how secure it is. We
had reports recently of machines left in the polling place unattended.
Felony watch: In some states, IT IS A FELONY for technicians who are not sworn
elections officials to touch the vote database in any way, shape or form after
votes have been cast. In fact, if you look at Chapter 13 of Black Box Voting,
the San Luis Obispo incident was probably illegal (Diebold tech Sophia Lee was
tied to a live vote database that appeared on the Internet five hours before
the polls closed).
Watch for statistical anomalies. Look at everything. Time is of the essence, as
these analyses take some time and there are only a few days before the election
is certified.
V. LEGAL CHALLENGES (indeterminate)
Author Lynn Landes has questioned the constitutionality of voting machines.
http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachinesUnconstitutional.htm
If your organization has the wherewithal to raise a legal challenge on these
(or other grounds) here are some resources below:
Election campaign and civil rights lawyers listed for every city:
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Election%20Campaign%20&%20Political%20Law
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Civil%20Rights
Institute for Justice:
http://www.ij.org/index.shtml
Center for Indiviual Rights:
http://www.cir-usa.org/intake.html
Class actions:
http://www.bigclassaction.com/civil_rights.html
Southeastern Legal Foundation:
http://southeasternlegal.org/
Electronic Frontier Foundation attorneys:
address@hidden
address@hidden
address@hidden
address@hidden
address@hidden
address@hidden
Other challenges:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/local_news_04d49255058760a400d8.html
http://www.electionguardians.org/actions.htm
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/dieboldlawsuit.pdf
Pax Christi is also organizing an international group of elections monitors.
More information here:
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=887
REFERENCES
1 (GOP:$115,667,827 ; Dems:$44,175,502).
http://www.opensecrets.org/parties/index.asp
2. Greg Palast, Harper's Magazine "The Great Florida Ex-Con Game"
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=122&row=2
3 a."Unprecedented" -- internet preview of the film
http://www.unprecedented.org/UnprecedentedPreview.htm
3 b. Lynn Landes: "Mission Impossible - Federal Observers & Voting Machines"
http://www.ecotalk.org/FederalObservers.htm
4. Barabara Walters interview"The Note":
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/791744/posts
5.McConnell vs the Federal Election Commission
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/1637/
6. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0404/hentoff.php
7. "Bush Assures Evangelicals of Commitment to Marriage Amendment"
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/politics/12EVAN.html?pagewanted=print&position
8a. Online Journal: "Wag the Osama"
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/031004Burns/031004burns.html
8b.NewsNet5: "Ridge Sidesteps Question On Bin Laden's Capture"
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2917298/detail.html
9. U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=3/13/2004&Cat=4&Num=011
10. Aljazeera.net: "Purported Al Qaida Statement"
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2CDD53D6-7AF7-40C7-AF88-32A16072F81B.htm
11. NewsMax: "Tommy Franks: 'Martial Law Will Replace Constitution After Next
Terror Attack'"
http://infowars.com/print/ps/franks_martial.htm
12. The New McCarthyism, the Progressive:
http://www.progressive.org/0901/roth0102.html
13. Scoop: "Inside a US Election Vote Counting Program"
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm
14a. NY Times: "Hack the Vote"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/120303A.shtml
b. CBS: "Electronic Voting Causing Concern"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/03/eveningnews/main591185.shtml
c. UK Independent: "All the President's Votes?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1013-01.htm
d. Salon: "Will the Election be Hacked?"
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/02/09/voting_machines/index_nphtml
e. BBC: "Concerns over US Computer Voting"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3489877.stm
f. ABC News: "Avoiding Another Florida Fiasco"
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/SciTech/Voting_machines_040305-1.html
g. "Comparison of Senate Bills 1980, 1986, and 2045"
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/senate_bill_comparison.asp
You are encouraged to distribute this document freely and widely.
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
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