BBV: League of Women Voters rebel against Kay Maxwell.

[Eric J in MN]

Many members of the League of Women Voters disagree with President Kay Maxwell's position that electronic voting machines which don't print paper ballots are fine.

There are elections within the League soon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5183090/

[althecat]

1. Cool... great catch eric

[BeFree]

2. What's up with those women..

Can't they see computer voting is snake oil to democracy?

What is it about GIGO that they don't grok?
I was told by one of them that there are too many other ways to steal the vote. Fine, dig it. But geez, when thousands of votes can be stolen with the click of a mouse - without ANY trace - seems they'd be a wee bit more alarmed.

Hope they get themselves a President who understands.

[AndyTiedye]

4. 2 Polls on that Page -- DU them Both!!

one on requiring a paper trail, currently yes 76/12
one on the prez election, currently 59Kerry/39Bush/2Nader :party::thumbsup::-)

[hedda_foil]

3. There's a takeover attempt afoot over BBV!

Kay Maxwell may be very surprised very soon.

[dusty64]

5. Good. Whats up with

this infiltration of populist groups by rightwing corporate scum lately?

[PATRICK]

11. Reagan legacy

or a longer period of amoral pork barrel lobbying. 25 years of trying to accommodate to the right to get something for their agenda. Without going Nader on this issue it is a lax establishment drift with power positions even more susceptible to crony elitism than in government. Even with ideology and commitments otherwise, even advocacy groups have moved into an elitist Olympus of moribund member activity, slick institutions, and pure pride- even as they collaborate with their natural enemies.

The most dangerous example of that is the most controversial. What the AFL-CIO has done to stay legislatively effective as everything declines around them. The slow death by people mitigating the worst effects of the Right has seen them also crossing the line, inevitably, and enabling that overall decline.

Of course, if you study their board members, the tendency to more reflective "bi-partisan" leadership has guaranteed infiltration or at best blindness.

The LWV by nature needs to be above parties and has been defeated anyway, no thanks to one certain party that intends to destroy democracy.

[loudsue]

13. Re: the take-over of Union leadership by neocons....

It's happening everywhere, isn't it? NAACP is the one that pisses me off the most, for some reason. How in the HELL has the NAACP become so infiltrated? Under correct leadership, the NAACP could be as it once was....a major leader for the populist agenda. But under the leadership of the past 5 years or so, they've taken a turn.

The ACLU, the LWV, the NAACP, the AARP, the AFL-CIO, and many of the County and State Dem Party organizations have been co-opted by the right wing.

We have to be more active and vocal at every level of the organizations who can support us. If we don't, we're toast.

:kick::kick::kick:

[Merlin]

6. The Bev Harris website features the LWV battle.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org

(We co-wrote the lead piece.)

[BevHarris]

7. You guys did a great job with that!

Dr. Barbara Simons, the computer scientist who is running for League of Women president, wrote me to commend us on the article -- which, of course, was about 7/8 written by you, R.D. and J.D. --

And I'm gratified to see many more of us pulling together on next week's editorial, which will be signed by a coalition of voting integrity groups.

Shoulder to shoulder. It's the only way we'll win this thing.

I am thrilled that Rachel Konrad featured the LWV fight in the Associated Press. The election is actually this Saturday, with the meeting going on from Jun 12-15.

There are handouts designed for the LWV on Black Box Voting (.org)

These were prepared by Merlin, and are designed to hand out to League members in Washington D.C. -- all the information is on the BBV web site.

Bev Harris

[BevHarris]

8. Watch more heads roll: State Elections Director David Elliott OUT

Problems with David Elliott are discussed in Chapters 13 and 15 of Black Box Voting
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-13.pdf
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-15.pdf

and I think he's sprinkled around a few more places.

We wondered about it when he took an extended leave of absence around the time that Andy Stephenson's lawsuit entered the discovery phase. Andy's lawsuit was on using uncertified software in Washington State, something Elliott was supposed to oversee.

I got a report today that Elliott is OUT. Apparently Secretary of State Sam Reed, who was sued by Andy over the uncertified software situation, scapegoated David Elliott. (They hired a triple-dipping Republican lackey for the spot, who has no election experience at all.)

The Elliott exit is important --- he was a key figure in the National Association of State Election Directors for many years, a major player on the national scene pushing vapor ballots, and he helped write some of the standards that our hopelessly flawed certification system is based on.

Now, League of Women Voters is under fire.

And the Florida State Elections Director just quit -- didn't like all that new felon purging they wanted him to do, I imagine.

Bev Harris

[Merlin]

9. This is something DU people MUST get involved in!

Here's an important issue we can really help influence.

We must put the pressure on our local officials, write LTTEs, and generally make waves about the importance of requiring Voter Verified Paper Ballots wherever there are touch-screen computer voting machines.

We can make a difference. Look at what that bunch of button-down, right wing lackeys did when they "demonstrated" in the courthouse halls in FL during the '02 recount which our supremes halted. Making noise can make a difference!

[Bushfire]

10. afternoon kick

:kick:

[KittyWampus]

14. Very Cool!

League of Women Voters seems to be taking their organization back.

[loudsue]

12. I hope LWV is able to pull off this revolution.....

I wonder if they're using black boxes to tabulate their votes for their "new" officers?

No doubt!

:kick::kick:

[Eloriel]

15. Needs a kick

since voting is tomorrow.

[Joanne98]

16. kick