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Tuesday, November 23
Invitation to Ohio Recount: Please RSVP!
by
Trish Nelson
on Tue 23 Nov 2004 06:28 AM CST
 Invitation to Ohio Recount: Please RSVP!
From David Cobb and the Cobb-LaMarche team
Greens, Libertarians, Independents, Kucinich-Dean-Kerry Democrats and Republicans [are] ready to restore integrity to our voting system. We insist that the legitimacy of representative government be defended from the flagrant threats to the public's confidence that
this and the previous election have engendered. But a recount
without providing independent oversight of the process will not provide
meaningful feedback on the problems or improve public confidence in the
system or this year's result.
We're asking you to consider coming to Ohio with us.
We estimate we will need nearly 2,000 volunteers to monitor recount activities in all 88 Ohio counties. As I write this, we are still nearly $20,000 shy of our fundraising goal for the Ohio recount (even as we continue to consider the problems in New Mexico and other states). Please send your friends and family to our site and urge them to volunteer and /or contribute to this vital work.
We have asked Holly Hart, of Iowa, to lead our efforts to coordinate the participation of volunteers in this important historical effort to reclaim public confidence in our elections. She needs your help. So far, 600 volunteers have stepped forward. We will need at least 1,400 more before we arrive in Ohio. First she needs help communicating and coordinating with 2,000 people over the next few days.
If you can help organize within Iowa to mobilize volunteers to come to Ohio, and to help us raise this campaign's profile within your community and state, please contact Holly at saveballot@yahoo.com. Holly also needs someone to coordinate buses
to Ohio. Please e-mail your name, phone number, city or town where you live, and how you would like to help.
From an election protest in Denver Nov. 18
Our efforts are already well under way.
- On Monday, Common Cause, the National Voting Rights Institute, Demos, the Fannie Lou Hamer Project and People for the American Way Foundation issued a joint statement in support of the Cobb and Badnarik demand for an Ohio recount.
- In the past week, we have raised over $200,000 of the initial $250,000 our staff has budgeted for this effort.
- On Friday, November 19th, our attorneys delivered a bond to guarantee our $113,600 recount fee.
- We are organizing now to train, house and feed the folks on the ground in Ohio who will monitor the recount.
- Our efforts have now been endorsed by Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
The
corporate media is busy ridiculing our efforts to defend democracy in
Ohio and by extension in the rest of our nation as well. We need
your help to counter the attacks. We are inviting everyone who
has lent their support to this campaign to follow up with letters to
the editor explaining why you are supporting this recount effort.
Click here for ideas on what you might include in such a letter.
We need
an election system we can trust. The problems in Florida in 2000
and the problems in Ohio in 2004 will repeat themselves in 2008 unless
we do something about it. Our elections should be administered by
an independent non-partisan commission, and not by the state chairs of
presidential campaigns.
Again we thank you for your participation in this
Democracy Movement. We look forward to seeing you in Ohio.
Yours for a just, sustainable and democratic future,
David Cobb and the entire Cobb-LaMarche Team
Wednesday, November 3
Kerry Can Win Ohio: A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 03 Nov 2004 06:08 PM CST
 Kerry Can Win Ohio: A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
International Labor Communications Association
The media has collapsed and Kerry has conceded, but we don't have to.
According
to CNN, Bush is ahead in the count in Ohio by 136,221. According to the
Toledo Blade, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has said the number
of provisional ballots could be about 175,000. Blackwell also told the
Blade that in the last election 90 percent of the provisional ballots
ended up being declared valid and being counted, a figure also reported
by CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen.
There is
good reason to believe that the provisional ballots are
disproportionately for Kerry. This is because many of them are the
result of Republicans challenging voters at the polls.
Therefore, Kerry can win, and we need to demand that every vote be counted.
The
provisional ballots are expected to be counted in 10 days. Meanwhile,
state law allows Republican and Democratic challengers to examine the
envelopes and to challenge their eligibility to be counted.
We need
massive public pressure in Columbus, Ohio, to demand a fair count. If
you can't go to Ohio, call the Democratic National Committee at
202-863-8000 and tell them that you want the count monitored. Send them
an Email on this page:
http://www.democrats.org/contact
Write letters to the editors of your local newspapers.
Call your local radio and television stations.
Write or call your Congress Members and other elected officials.
Tell them all we want an accurate count.
In
addition, numerous possible cases of Republican wrongdoing in Ohio are
being investigated, and we must be prepared to act quickly and in great
numbers. Various such cases in Florida four years ago were discovered
too late.
There
are numerous complaints from Ohio of lines at the polls being longer in
heavily Democratic precincts, also a result of Republican challengers
and part of the Republicans' plan. Other complaints include rejected
registrations, polls not open on time, and voters turned away.
See: http://www.ilcaonline.org/
There are numerous complaints from Ohio of lines at the polls being
longer in heavily Democratic precincts, also a result of Republican
challengers and part of the Republicans' plan. Other complaints include
rejected registrations, polls not open on time, and voters turned away.
Go here at ILCAonline
and here:
http://www.alternet.org/election04oh/20384/
and here:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/electionwatch/state.php?state=OH
and here:
http://cleveland.indymedia.org/features/election_protests
Also watch for a related release from the Institute for Public Accuracy:
http://www.accuracy.org/
We may also need to demand investigation of the voting machines in
Ohio. A year ago the head of Diebold, the company that produced the
machines, boasted of his intent to help Bush carry Ohio.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm
Remember what happened in Florida in 2000.
For updates, watch http://ILCAonline.org
For questions or information, contact:
David Swanson
ILCA Media Coordinator
dswanson@aflcio.org
202-974-8037
Tuesday, November 2
Exit Polls Come In, Look Pretty Good
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 02 Nov 2004 06:04 PM CST
 Exit Polls Come In, Look Pretty Good
Take it with a grain of salt
1) Click here to learn just what an exit poll is and what it may or may not mean.
2) Buzzflash lists some early exit polls and some explanations.
Buzzflash updates may be posted here.
3) Buzzflash seems to be using MyDD as a source, which may or may not be available, depending on the amount of traffic on their server.
4) Wonkette has some exit polls, too.
5) And if the server is not too busy, I hear Slate.com has some exit polling info, too.
Of course, exit polls do not reflect rigged voting machines.
Zogby is predicting a Kerry victory,
giving him 311 electoral votes to Bush's 213. Darrell said that
Tucker Carlson was practically giving Bush's concession speech on
CNN. But, KEEP VOTING, Iowa!
Be A Media Watchdog: Help Stop Tonight's Dangerous Media Spin
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 02 Nov 2004 02:00 PM CST
 Be A Media Watchdog: Help Stop Tonight's Dangerous Media Spin
by Timothy Karr, Media for Democracy
Click here for The Des Moines Register's list of tonight's television coverage.
Only hours remain before voting stations close across America.
Mainstream
media outlets are standing by with million-dollar, election night
extravaganzas ready to break news as it happens. Whether they'll get
the story right or fall victim to the election spin cycle depends not
only on their skills as reporters, but also on our vigilance as media
watchers.
You can help safeguard our democracy against media mishaps by taking part in Media for Democracy's MediaWatchBlog.
http://www.citizensmediawatch.us/blog/
MediaWatchBlog
is an interactive blogging tool designed to help every American become
an effective election media monitor on November 2.
Keep an
eye out for over-eager and partisan media - those who might be tempted
to disrupt the democratic process with premature victory projections,
biased reporting and oversight. MediaWatchBlog allows you to file
reports on suspicious media coverage in your community and over your
air.
http://www.citizensmediawatch.us/blog/watchdogs
Media
for Democracy staff will vet and post citizen reports for further
fact-checking by Media for Democracy's members. Other members are
invited to debunk media misinformation and to help us create a rapid
response to media organizations that cross the lines of fairness and
accuracy.
In cases
where media abuses merit special action, Media for Democracy will
launch a nation-wide alert that includes special grassroots action by
our 65,000 members as well as real-time releases to press that draw
attention to the ongoing abuses of our media system.
With your help, tonight we can safeguard our election against possible media abuses before the damage can't be undone.
Stay Tuned and Ready,
Timothy Karr
Media for Democracy
Today is Election Day!
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 02 Nov 2004 04:02 AM CST
 Today is Election Day!
by Linda Thieman
Iowa Voting Hours: 7am-9pm
Nebraska Voting Hours: 8am-8pm
All right, people, this is it! I suppose I need not state the
obvious, but today is Election Day, the day that we have been working
towards for 2 years now.
We, the Deaniacs, Kucitizens, fellow progressives, and dare I say, the
World, need just ONE MORE DAY from you before you take your
well-deserved rest.
Here's what you can do:
1) VOTE! If you haven't yet voted, make getting to the
polls your top priority. This year, the fate of the world hinges
on high voter turnout, because high voter turnout will favor the
Democrats.
2) Help others vote. I assume most of you have already
chosen the way you plan to volunteer today. If not, please do
what you can to make sure your friends, family and elderly neighbors make it to
the polls.
3) Don't watch reports about the final trends in polls on GOP TV - and by
that, I mean, every channel. From what I've seen, the polls are
being greatly distorted and misinterpreted to make it look like the
race is dead even when Kerry actually has an advantage.
4) Don't forget the incumbent 50% rule - if an incumbent
president polls at less than 50%, and we'll include the junta puppet in
that category just for the sake of argument, he's in big trouble.
Bush's polling figures represent his cap; Kerry's represent his floor.
5) Read this assessment of the race by Jimmy Breslin. Point
by point, he outlines why he thinks the election will go to
Kerry. He makes a lot of sense.
6) Read here why high voter turnout is important.
And from the bottom of my heart, a BIG THANK YOU to all of you who have
dedicated so many hours and so much hard work to taking this country
back. Bless you.
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