Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Sunday 5/22/05

[Wilms]

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Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.


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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371394


Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[Wilms]

1. An intriguing idea for election reform goes to a vote in British Columbia

Opinion

An intriguing idea for election reform goes to a vote today in British Columbia

By Matthew Soberg Shugart

Posted on Tue, May. 17, 2005

Fair elections are a cornerstone of democracy, but are California's elections fair? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said our electoral system is ``rigged to benefit the interests of those in office, not the interests of those who put them there.''

Since legislators are the ones who draw the lines that define legislative districts, that result is no surprise. Schwarzenegger advocates the creation of a non-partisan panel to draw district lines.

This is well-intentioned, but it is very feeble compared with the opportunity voters in British Columbia have today. They can adopt a system that removes the incentive to gerrymander and represents minority viewpoints better.

-snip-

But if approved, British Columbia's reform would ``blow up the boxes'' of politics-as-usual far more than Schwarzenegger's plan. If the voters agree, their 79 provincial legislators will no longer be elected from 79 separate districts. Instead, adjacent districts will be combined into multi-member districts. The plan is called BC-STV, for British Columbia Single Transferable Vote. It is similar to STV systems already used in Ireland and Cambridge, Mass.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/11665975.htm

[Wilms]

2. Lessons for Ontario from B.C. on election reform

Lessons for Ontario from B.C. on election reform

LARRY GORDON

On Tuesday, British Columbians stunned Canada's political elite by voting strongly in favour of adopting a proportional representation voting system. While the Yes vote fell just short of the 60 per cent threshold set by the government, the implication is clear: Significant amounts of Canadians are ready to scrap our dysfunctional first-past-the-post system and adopt Canadian versions of proportional representation.

This historic vote was just the first in a series of upcoming provincial referendums on new voting systems. Ontarians should pay particular attention, because Premier Dalton McGuinty has pledged to follow B.C. by convening a randomly chosen citizens' assembly on electoral reform.

The assembly will study voting system alternatives and hold public hearings. If the assembly concludes Ontario needs a new system, their recommendation will go to a referendum, probably held with the 2007 provincial election.

-snip/more-

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1116539413620&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

[Algorem]

3. Washington Election Battle Heads For Courtroom

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=780075

WENATCHEE, Wash. May 22, 2005 — In a nondescript courtroom in this small farming town, America's electoral system is about to stand trial. The battle over Washington's contested governor's election touches on many of the questions that divide this country between rural and urban, Republican and Democrat, red and blue and echoes frustrations of the past two presidential elections.

Republican Dino Rossi is challenging Gov. Christine Gregoire's victory in the closest statewide election in national history, alleging widespread problems including illegal votes cast by felons and dead people.

The challenge goes to trial Monday, months after Gregoire was sworn in. Rossi won the first count and a machine recount, but the Democratic stronghold of Seattle pushed Gregoire to a 129-vote win in a final, hand recount of 2.9 million ballots.

In rural Washington, the complaint is pretty simple: They're tired of Seattle choosing their political leaders...

[Wilms]

4. Voting machine critics continue to request receipts

By Jack Gurney

Pelican Press

05/22/05

Voting machine critics continue to request receipts

A segment of local voters will remain unhappy with Sarasota County's paperless touch-screen voting machines until they can see tangible evidence their ballots have been accurately recorded by computers, and printed copies are available for recounts.

How many of these voters shun public forums and hold their frustration in check is impossible to measure, but a vocal handful continue to gather and articulate their concerns when various organizations provide them an opportunity.

The Sarasota/Manatee Chapter of Common Cause hosted such a gathering earlier this week at the Selby Public Library in downtown Sarasota, and a crowd of about 50 filled an upstairs conference room to quiz Elections Supervisor Kathy Dent.

"We held the meeting because there is a paranoia out there about these machines," said Chapter President Mitchell Zavon. "Common Cause has worked to get big money out of elections since it was founded. It has been a tough fight for the last 30 years."

-snip/more-

http://www.venicegondolier.com/NewsArchive3/052205/vn4.htm