No Stolen Democracy

P.S.

That last post and this one are from Albany, NY, before I get back into my car and drive back to Boston. After a lot of work, a small group of people from Albany was able to get a meeting with Senator Schumer's aide here. I drove in late last night so I could be here in the morning to join them. I am not optimistic that Schumer will come through (nor was I before), but the meeting was not entirely unproductive, either. I'll write a fuller report later.

In the meantime, keep at the Senators.

Call.

Write.

Rally.

Act.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Wednesday, January 5th.
* Freedom Winter Bus Ride on the way to Washington DC for 2:00 P.M. Press Conference.
* 10:00 A.M. College Park, Maryland. "Save Our Votes" March continues on to Washington, D.C.
* 12:30 - 1:30 P.M. Boston, Massachusetts. Last Day of Vigil at Sen. Kerry's House.
* 2.00 P.M. Washington, D.C., National Press Club. Press Conference.
* 2:00 P.M. Washington, D.C. Freedom Winter Ohio Bus Riders meet with Senators.
* 7:00 P.M. Washington, D.C. Freedom Winter Dinner and Tent Revival Meeting at Cherry Hill Park campground.

Thursday, January 6th.
* 9:00 A.M. Washington, D.C. Rally & Vigil Outside FBI Headquarters.
* 10:00 A.M. Washington, D.C. (Lafayette Park). Defend Democracy Rally, featuring David Cobb and John Bonifaz.
* 10:30 A.M. Washington, D.C. (Lincoln Memorial). "Save Our Votes March" continues, marching to Capitol Hill.
* 11:00 A.M. Washington, D.C. March from Lafayette Park to Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill.
* 12:00 Noon - 4:00 P.M. Washington, D.C. (Capitol Hill). Defend Democracy Rally and Vigil, featuring Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. and David Cobb.
* 4:00 P.M. Washington, D.C. Freedom Winter Bus Ride departs to Columbus, Ohio.
* Transportation notices for January 6th.

Open Letter To Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer

Dear Senator Clinton and Senator Schumer,

I am writing both of you to ask that you join with the Maxine Waters and John Conyers and the other Representatives who will object to the Electoral College votes of one or more states on January 6, 2005. By now, you have received Representative Conyers' letter, and numerous communications from American citizens, acquainting you with the alarming irregularities and violations that occurred in the 2004 presidential election. I won't rehearse the facts here.

Instead, I am going to make a moral appeal to you, based on the merits of my father, whose name was Paul Greenberg. Both my parents are New Yorkers, children or grandchildren of Jewish immigrants for whom New York City held all the promises of the great American democratic ideal. My father passed away in 1997. If he were still alive, he would be one of your constituents, and he for sure would be writing you this letter. I live in Boston now, but it is up to me to tell you his stake in your actions as Senators on January 6, 2005.

My father devoted his entire working life to the betterment of New York City and New York State. In the 40s and 50s he was an organizer for a number of unions and eventually Assistant President of the United Furniture Workers. In the mid to late 60s, he was Executive Director and Legislative Representative for the Liberal Party of New York. In 1967 he was Executive Staff for the New York State Constitutional Convention.

Perhaps one of his most notable contributions was to the New York City School Board election system. From 1969 to 1973 my father oversaw the change of the NYC School Board elections to a proportional representation system. He was Executive Director of the Proportional Representation Committee to change the electoral system. And in 1973 he was Director of Special Unit For School Board Elections to supervise the first election under the new system. My father did this enormous task because he believed it would lead to a more truly democratic process that would be more inclusive for the minority communities who are served by the New York City Schools.

My father's beliefs about democracy were deeply influenced by his work for a previous employer in the early 1960s. In 1962 and 1963, he was Special Assistant to the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. My father worked for Dr. King in the New York City office of the SCLC, raising money and performing other administrative functions. He also worked in Birmingham in 1963, in the midst of the famously intense and dangerous struggles that went on in that year. Like many other participants in the Civil Rights Movement, my father worked incredibly hard, many times risking his life, because of his conviction that the values of American democracy should apply to all Americans.

Though your experiences have not been the same as my father's, I am certain that you share his conviction that American democracy ought to be a democracy for all. I am also certain that if you were to spend just thirty minutes getting acquainted with the known irregularities and violations in the 2004 Presidential election in Ohio, and with the sham recount that is now "complete," you would be persuaded that we have no way to tell what the result was in that state. If you spend more than thirty minutes, if you spend a fraction of the time citizens devoted to preserving American democracy have spent in the months surrounding the election, you will know that what is at stake is not the result of this election but the very life of our democracy.

My father devoted his life to strengthening American democracy. I think he died believing he had been to the mountain and seen the promised land where his children and grandchildren would reside. From where I stand today the mountain is very far. In just a few months we will celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Yet if my 23 month old son were to ask me today if I will get to the mountain and see what his grandfather saw, I think I would have to hang my head and say I just don't know.

I am doing my part, working with Coalition Against Election Fraud. And there are dozens of organizations and thousands of individuals who also want to make the journey. As United States Senators both of you have a unique opportunity, with your colleagues from the House of Representatives, to lead the way. Objecting to the Electoral College votes of Ohio, New Mexico and Florida may be a political risk. It is also your sacred duty. Our democracy hangs in the balance.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Greenberg
Coalition Against Election Fraud (http://caef.us)
No Stolen Democracy (http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com)

Ray Beckerman's Letter To Senators

(reprinted from December 9th):

Dear Senators Clinton and Schumer:

1. I and my wife are constituents of yours. 2. I am a lawyer by profession. 3. This year I worked as a voter protection hotline volunteer in Ohio from October 30th through November 2nd. 4. I learned of massive, systematic, flagrant disenfranchisement and voter suppression, affecting many hundreds of thousands of voters and would-be voters whose rights were trampled upon by criminals. 5. In addition, since the election, (a) I have learned of many other disenfranchisement techniques which occurred during and prior to the election, and (b) Secretary of State Blackwell has engaged in a systematic effort to defeat the Cobb/LaMarche recount from having any effect. 6 .It is clear to any thinking person that any set of electors appointed by Secretary Blackwell has not been lawfully selected. 7. In addition to what occurred in Ohio, there is overwhelming evidence that the State of Florida (a) engaged in many of the same techniques employed in 2000 there, and (b) engaged in a massive electronic vote tabulation fraud. 8. Accordingly, any electors sought to be seated by either Ohio or Florida are without authority under the law. 9. I am aware that you may not have the ability to prevent Mr. Bush from achieving a second unlawful coup d'etat, this one plunging our country irrevocably into dictatorship from its tradition of democracy. 10.But you are in a much better position than the rest of us to stand up and be counted so that history will be able to say which side you were on. 11.This matter is of such seriousness to us that I want to make it clear to you that if you fail to oppose the seating of the electors from the states of Florida and Ohio, as you failed to take action in 2000, my wife and I have determined that (a) we will never again vote for you, (b) we will never again contribute to your campaign, and (c) we will urge all our friends and relatives to do likewise.

Sincerely yours,

Ray Beckerman

(via Ohio Electoin Fraud.)

Ask Schumer Not To Certify The Election While He's In NYC

Call to Action:

TURN UP THE HEAT ON ASKING CHUCK SCHUMER
TO OBJECT TO CERTIFICATION OF THE ELECTION

Dear New Yorkers:

During the recess of Congress we can make our voices heard more
clearly by calling Senator Schumer's New York office, 212-486-4430.

Turn up the heat. Let Senator Schumer know we want him to object to
certification of the Electoral College vote. Objecting to
certification would be a mandate for a government by we, the people.
Objecting to certification would be a mandate for reliable,
transparent voting technology with equal access to voting for all.

On January 6th, Congress meets to certify the Presidential election.
If even one House member and one Senator object to the electoral votes
of any state, this objection will be recorded: the vote will not be
automatically approved. This has happened only once before -- in 1877.
Its occurrence once again would draw historic attention to our
shattered democracy.

Call Senator Schumer at 212-486-4430 this week through Monday, January 3, 2005.

In 2000 no Senator would join the Representatives from the
Congressional Black Caucus to challenge the electoral vote. Therefore
in 2004, we are asking you to contact Senator Schumer and tell him not
to certify the election on January 6, 2005.

For more information on voting irregularities and violations and for
guidelines on approaching Senators, see our website,
http://www.caef.us.

Sign our petition to the Senators:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/senatorsnocertify

Coalition Against Election Fraud
web: http://www.caef.us
email: [email protected]

Jesse Jackson Calls on John Kerry and Hillary Clinton To Contest Electoral Vote

Ohio electoral fight becomes 'biggest deal since Selma' as GOP stonewalls
by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
December 22, 2004

In a December 21 conference call with activists from the around the US, Jackson said he has urged Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to stand with US Representatives who intend to challenge the Electoral College's expected approval of George W. Bush for a second term. A challenge by US Representatives in 2000 failed because no Senators would join their motion.

    Jackson says this year will be different, urging election protection activists to stay focused over the holiday season. "We can't let [the Republicans] get away with this, he told the conference call. "Do not underestimate the outrage of the people. We are a legitimate force for democracy, here and around the world."

    "We will count every vote," he said, and make sure "every vote counts."

    Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus have strongly questioned Bush's purported victory, pointing out that more than half the votes cast in Ohio and the nation were recorded on electronic voting machines owned by Republicans, with no audit trail.

    Conyers recently conducted hearings at Columbus City Hall to take testimony from Ohioans who were deprived their right to vote. Another public hearing in Mahoning Valley, at the Warren Heights and Trumball Library, documented "thousands of complaints of voting irregularities" that helped throw the vote count to Bush. Election observers have testified under oath that more than a dozen voting machines in Mahoning County regularly switched Kerry votes to Bush votes while voters watched in amazement. Some 580 more absentee voters were certified than were identified by election board officials. As in Franklin and other counties, there were also strategic machine shortages in largely Democratic precincts. The November vote, said one observer, was "the crime of the century."

    As dozens of volunteer attorneys pour into the state to help with the recount, Blackwell's stonewall has prompted widespread suspicion about what the Republicans are hiding.

    On Monday the expanded legal team issued subpoenas to top election officials in 10 counties where vote-count fraud is suspected.

    The rapid filing of subpoenas, the first step in interviewing people under oath, provoked the shrill rejection from Blackwell. Though Blackwell is a state constitutional officer, his business office is in a private building, where protesters - including former California Congressman Dan Hamburg - -have been arrested without apparent provocation.

(Whole thing.)

Call to Action: HELP US STOP CERTIFICATION OF THE ELECTION ON JANUARY 6

Dear Friends and Concerned Citizens:

We can still have an impact on the course of this election.

We are a group of citizens concerned about the 2004 Presidential election. There were 57,000 complaints of voting violations delivered to the House Judiciary Democrats (http://tinyurl.com/4ykbt). When hundreds of thousands of voters are affected by machine problems and acts of voter suppression, it calls our American Democracy into question.

On January 6th, Congress meets to certify the Presidential election. If even one House member and one Senator object to the electoral votes of any state, this objection will be recorded: the vote will not be automatically approved. This has happened only once before -- in 1877. Its occurrence once again would draw historic attention to our shattered democracy and lead to an outcome that none of us can know.

In 2000 no Senator would join the Representatives from the Congressional Black Caucus to challenge the electoral vote. Therefore in 2004, we are asking you to contact as many as you can of the key Senators, listed below, as well as your own Senators, if you think you can reach them on this issue. Tell them not to certify the election on January 6, 2005.

Sign our petition to the Senators:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/senatorsnocertify

Contact these Senators at 1-800-839-5276 or 1-877-762-8762 connecting all offices.

Barbara Boxer CA-D
Robert Byrd WV-D
Mark Dayton MN-D
Thomas Harkin IA-D
Jim Jeffords VT-I
Edward Kennedy MA-D
Patrick Leahy VT-D
Carl Levin MI-D
Joseph Lieberman CT-D
Barbara Mikulski MD-D
Barack Obama IL-D
Olympia Snow ME-R
Charles Schumer NY-D

If you live in the same state as any of the Senators on our list, email us at [email protected] to share information about activist efforts in your area or to get involved in organizing. If you want to start something yourself, we have experienced organizers who can give you guidance. We want to know any information you gather on the potential of a specific Senator to object to certification of the vote.

See our site for a more detailed summary of violations, citations and other information about the 2004 election and what you can do.

Please get involved. Pass this on to others.

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ELECTION FRAUD 2004

There were 57,000 complaints of voting violations delivered to the House Judiciary Committee. Machine problems and acts of voter suppression affected hundreds of thousands of voters.

Machine problems include electronic touch screen machines in Florida that began counting votes backwards and others that reported the wrong candidate as people voted. Touch screen machines are inherently dangerous because most leave no paper trail, because they are relatively easy to tamper with -- and above all because they hide the voting process from the voter and prevent traditional citizen oversight.

Hanging chads were once again a problem, this time in Ohio. Just as in Florida in 2000, the greatest ballot spoilage -- ballots cast but not countable -- occurred in predominately African American precincts.

Some voters were turned away illegally. Others were given provisional ballots that were later discarded. Inexcusable waits of up to ten hours caused an unknown but easily guessed number of voters to give up without voting. Many were sent to the wrong polling place. Many experienced intimidation. Tens of thousands were purged from voting lists. Absentee ballots did not arrive or went uncounted. African American, low-income and younger voters were disproportionately disenfranchised.

Significant discrepancies between the exit polls and the official results occurred -- but only in swing states. Exit polling, which has been reliable for decades, was suddenly inaccurate. Jonathan Simon points out that the disparity between the exit polls and the official tallies almost always favored George Bush -- statistically improbable.

These are the kinds of problems that led the Ukrainian people to take to the streets and the international community to stand up and cry foul. The Voting Rights Act makes voter suppression illegal. The 14th amendment of our Constitution says that if voters are disenfranchised, the vote of the Electoral College should be adjusted proportionately.

Currently the votes are being recounted in Ohio and The Supreme Court of Ohio has before it a lawsuit claiming election tampering on the part of the Bush campaign.

We must be able to trust that our electoral processes are fair and just. This is a non-partisan issue. Join us in opposing the certification of this election.

We're targeting Senators because on January 6th, Congress will meet to certify the election. If even one House member and one Senator object to the electoral votes of any state, that objection will be recorded and the vote will not be automatically certified.

After the 2000 election Representatives from the Congressional Black Caucus were willing not to certify, but they couldn't find one Senator to support them. Don't let that happen again.

Our list of Senators consists of those we think are most likely to respond to our request. Contact them, as well as those of your own state. Tell them not to certify this election and that this election cannot stand unquestioned. If you have any first hand stories, the Senators need to know.

Coalition Against Election Fraud
web: http://www.caef.us
email: [email protected]