Ban Touchscreen Voting - FWIW

Ban Touchscreen Voting
Do you remember the Stolen Elections of 2000 (Florida) and 2004 (Ohio)? We will never forget them, because we fought hard after both elections to count every vote.
And now we can finally do something about it by passing Rep. Rush Holt's "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act."
Sign our petition to Congress:
http://democrats.com/ban-touchscreen-voting
In 2000, the Republican Supreme Court blocked a manual recount of 175,000 never-counted paper ballots and appointed George Bush as President, with disastrous consequences for our nation and the world. And in 2004, many disputed Ohio votes were cast on touchscreens, so a manual recount was impossible.
After 2004, grassroots activists across the country fought to ban touchscreen voting and to require full manual recounts in close elections. Thanks to activists, the closest race in 2008 - the Minnesota Senate battle between Al Franken and Norm Coleman - used paper ballots which were recounted entirely by hand. This careful and precise manual recount changed the result from a Coleman lead of 477 on Election night to a Franken lead of 312 today.
But a Minnesota-style recount would be impossible in one-third of the U.S. because of paperless touchscreen voting. That's why Congress must pass Rep. Rush Holt's "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act" to ban touchscreen voting and require manual recounts in close elections.
Sign our petition to Congress:
http://democrats.com/ban-touchscreen-voting



2. Cheney's Iraq-Torture Scandal

In 2002 and 2003, Dick Cheney ordered the torture of key prisoners captured in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Cheney says he ordered torture to stop another terrorist attack, but the evidence is now clear: Cheney wanted false "confessions" to justify the unprovoked U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Please sign our petition to Congress and Attorney General Holder:
http://www.democrats.com/iraq-torture-petition
Those "confessions" were featured in key pre-war speeches by Cheney, George Bush, and Colin Powell that betrayed Congress, the American people, and the world.
Thus the "Torture" scandal and the "Iraq" scandal are not two separate scandals, but one massive and historically disastrous scandal: the Iraq-Torture Scandal.
Cheney claims his torture "saved hundreds of thousands of lives." In reality, it cost hundreds of thousands of lives - innocent Iraqi lives. It also killed over 4,300 U.S. soldiers, maimed hundreds of thousands more, cost U.S. taxpayers $3 trillion dollars, and profoundly damaged U.S. credibility and security.
Dick Cheney understands the enormity of his crimes and launched a public relations war to protect himself, including carefully-chosen TV interviews and speeches. His daughter (and chief defender) Liz Cheney admitted her father's greatest fear is prosecution.
It's time for Congress to investigate the massive Iraq-Torture Scandal - and for the Department of Justice to prosecute Dick Cheney for creating it.
Please sign our petition to Congress and Attorney General Holder:
http://www.democrats.com/iraq-torture-petition

3. Break Up the Banks - Town Hall Meetings
In April, we joined A New Way Forward to hold nation-wide protests against Washington's massive bailout of the banks that created our financial crisis.
During the week of June 8, A New Way Forward will hold Town Hall Meetings to build support for breaking up the banks. If they are "too big to fail" then they are "too big to exist."
Please sign our petition to Congress:
http://www.democrats.com/break-up-the-banks
Find a Town Hall Meeting near you, or help organize one:
http://www.anewwayforward.org/demonstrations/
Thanks for all you do!
Bob Fertik
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Forward this message to everyone you know!
To subscribe, create a free Democrats.com account here:
http://www.democrats.com/user/register

Free & Equal Elections West Virginia Ballot Access Bill Signed into Law

Bill Reduces Signature Requirements for Independent and Third Party Candidates Read More at FreeAndEqual.org

Almost a month since the West Virginia Legislature passed an improved ballot access bill, Governor Joe Manchin signed HB 2981 into law on May 8th, lowering the signature requirements to place Independent and Third Party candidates on the ballot.The new law lowers the petition signature requirement from 2% of the last vote cast, to 1%. In addition, the law moves the non-presidential petition deadline from May to August, so that it now matches the presidential petition deadline.Free & Equal applauds the West Virginia Legislator and Governor Manchin for putting aside partisan struggles and passing a law that significantly reduces the hurdles that Independent and Third Party candidates must jump through to place their names on the ballot.This law is the most significant ballot access improvement that has been enacted so far this year. Now that the law has been signed by the Governor, the only states that will have no procedure for a minor party or independent presidential candidate to get on the ballot -that is at or below 2% of the last vote cast in a midterm year- will be North Carolina and Oklahoma.OK HB 1072 is currently in a conference committee in Oklahoma, and Free & Equal will continue to monitor its progress. Free & Equal also plans to help introduce an appropriations-related ballot access bill in North Carolina for the 2010 legislative session.

Free & Equal Elections is a non partisan organization dedicated to eliminating restrictive ballot access laws that target Independent and Third-Party Candidates.Free & Equal will challenge these laws, through lobbying of state legislators, court challenges, and initiatives.

For More Information, Log on towww.FreeAndEqual.org
While you're there, why not make a donation to support ballot access reform?
Free & Equal Elections407 S. Dearborn StreetSuite 1170Chicago, IL 60605 Telephone: 312.320.4101Fax: 1.866.309.7803

Freedom to Tinker blog

As usual, I don't know how many of you follow the Freedom-To-Tinker blog--so here is a fairly recent item on the status of some FLOSS concepts in the never-ending mess with e-voting:

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/dwallach/open-source-vs-disclosed-source-voting-systems

Here is one part of the article that I think goes to the heart of the philosophy underlying FLOSS:

"Disclosing the source code only results in a complete forfeiture of the software's security if there was never any security there in the first place. If the product is well-engineered, then disclosing the software will cause no additional security problems. If the product is poorly-engineered, then the lack of disclosure only serves the purpose of delaying the inevitable."

One of the responders to the article also expresses the fundamental point rather well:

"When bad guys discover secrets, they keep quiet. They reuse the secrets or wait for a great opportunity to exploit. If most secrets are being discovered by black hats, most secrets will stay hidden from public view and will be used to compromise election after election or at least important elections. When white hats find flaws, they make noise, the result being that security bloopers get rooted out much quicker."

It seems to me that high school students (soon to be old enough to vote) and college students ought to be exposed to these ongoing techno-political debates. What would be the best ways for teachers in the fields of computer science, social studies, &c (as many areas as possible) to collaborate in the construction of relevant inter-disciplinary curricula? Of course (as is usual with high-tech topics), some of the students will be more knowledgeable than some of the teachers--but that can be a plus *IF* it is handled right.

Joel



Reply

An article that I handout to my students, presents the following scenario:

"Would you, while travelling far from home, take medicines of an unknown brand given to you by a self-proclaimed “doctor”, without documentation, and hence without (independent) assurance about the nature and proper working of the ingredients?"

The article is titled "Increased security through open source" and you can find it online here:
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0801/0801.3924v1.pdf


Though, I think that I first saw it in ACM's Communications.

My experience is that, for most students, it is a good introduction into security issues related to open source software. And with the help of a few discussion questions can spark a lively classroom discussion.

I suspect that many other teachers would find the article useful as well.

Let me know what you think,

Uno

Candidate Kick Off

Great song: Vote

Check out the song, Vote, by Emma's Revoluation.

We're not done. You're fired.

http://www.myspace.com/emmasrevolutionfans

From one of my adopted home towns, Christchurch, NZ

With MMP having now proven the principle of proportional representation in Parliament, "where is it at local level?" we may well ask. The time is right to Have Your Say.

Christchurch City Council, to great credit, currently has its "Representation Review For the 2010 Local Authority Election" open for consultation, until Monday 9th of February 2009 - http://www.ccc.govt.nz/HaveYourSay/ConsultationView.aspx?ConsultId=573#CompleteDescription

This is a very important opportunity to express your views to the City Council, in that the results are binding for the next two local body elections in 2010 and 2013 (fixed for six whole years!) A number of electoral issues are covered by the proposal, such as ward boundaries etc, and voting system. If there are many amongst us who have read the international literature, and know Single Transferable Vote to be an even better electoral system than MMP or FPP, then now is the time to say so, clearly.

First Past the Post (FPP) is the status quo, but STV has long been established in parts of government throughout Australasia. Indeed, given that a legal challenge to Hutt City Council at the start of the current decade saw the Local Electoral Act and Local Government Act - and last year the Local Government Commission - weigh in firmly on the side of STV, we could also ask "Where is the progress?" ... That goes for every FPP council, and the confusing, mixed-system ballot paper they would seek to reproduce from 2007.

Don't let this all-influencing electoral reform issue fall through the action gap between Christmas and Waitangi, as the legislation also guides. Help create a fairer, more representative local democracy, by submitting promptly to the City Council's welcome consultation process, as best you can. They will form a response.

For some detailed relevant extracts and research links, see http://www.infohelp.co.nz/stv.html

STV's day in Christchurch is surely here. Stand up for equity - stand up for STV.

Kia ora, Rik


Richard Tindall
Cashmere, South Christchurch , O-Tautahi
Info about Rik Tindall: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/riktindall

Voting in MN