They fought. Now it’s your turn. In the last presidential election, millions of votes were never counted. Voters in minority communities were disproportionately disenfranchised through illegal disqualification, intimidation, and faulty voting machines. The nonpartisan Election Protection coalition needs you to stand up and defend voting rights on November 2.
Working Assets, People for the American Way Foundation and The Election Protection Coalition are asking for Election Protection Volunteers to go to states where voting rights are at greatest risk. In particular, they are seeking lawyers, law students and clergy.
This appears to be a great program to help support disenfranchised voters.
This is the campaign I’ve been involved with through the EFF, lately… everyone’s highly motivated and realizes that we could very well have a Florida 2000 this November… however, imagine the same situation in at least a dozen states with nothing to actually recount!
There is also the VerifiedVoting.org TechWatch program (google it) where techies will be used in a geek army to document election incidents and irregularities… the digital photos, audio, etc. from the TechWatch effort will be used as evidence in subsequent recount proceedings and, if necessary, a whole shitload of litigation.
what is it that gets people talking? i guess the social aspect of persons being social, with all its graces, is key to getting the vote out.
so much information is exchanged: when persons are simply together, information will travel fast. The best way to get the vote out is via meeting of concerned citizens.
i find the best places are houses of worship: I find that when one just get out and speaks, people will visit.
interesting conversation about the idea of preserving the right for a group to speak together over at david Wienberger’s site (just discovered it)
there are so many others that are outside the process. how do you get these persons to group and vote?
just got back from a poetry reading: i actually just taught a punk rocker/goth how to blog and taught her about all the persons that got mad at me with this tool;-)
it seems that one needs something to get persons to group: it used to be religion: now its sports or music, sometimes poetry.
but more and more, young persons do not want to vote and tell me about the wonders of anarchy: i am scared of real anarchy.
it seems the VerifiedVoting thing will not work: already, patriot like laws are preventing photographs of any government building. go to a homeland security meeting yourself and witness how the cops are being briefed and then come back here and blog what you witness….they are being briefed on how to confiscate cameras and personal recording devices; arresting anyone who gets near election centers with such recording devices…
let see what happens; but i am afraid that we are going to be less free after this next election.
you are going to have to p2p it and do traditional witness/evidence collection. people are going to have to testify the old fashion way and deal with cross examination: but persons are not willing to fight like that. its only the activist that want to fight like that; not the persons who need to vote.
PS: Danah, i hope all is well with family.
stef
hey, Danah, thanks!
We’re already working with working assets on voter registation, will start getting the word out on this effort soon.
craig