Let the Ulster County Leadership Know We Want to Keep Our Levers

Image via Wikipedia

From Ruth Wahtera, for the AAUW Public Policy Committee:

Back in December, our AAUW Public Policy Committee sponsored a viewing of the HBO documentary Hacking Democracy and a presentation by attorney Andi Novick. Andi is leading the suit against NY State to retain our lever system.

Glenn and I usually disagree about things political; he usually votes Republican and I vote Democratic. But we both came away feeling this is a non-partisan issue we can work on together.

Well, things are heating up. Dutchess County has passed a resolution to keep lever machines. Columbia County will vote on a similar resolution this week. We need to make our voices heard here in Ulster County.

Why keep our lever machines?

• Optical scan and touch screen voting machines can be hacked; to date, no electronic voting system has been able to meet the NY State standards for certification. In fact, testing for certification was suspended in October 2008 because the company contracted to test equipment, SysTest Labs, lost it's Federal certification as a testing lab.

• The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) does not mandate a statewide switch to electronic voting. NY filed a HAVA plan, accepted by the Federal Court, and implemented it. NYS has met the HAVA requirements.

• NY's constitution requires that voters be able to see how votes are counted -- paper ballots and lever machines are the only systems that meet these criteria.
  

• Costs - this is no time to spend millions of our tax dollars implementing a flawed electronic system when the current system works better. This is a budget cut we can all get behind.
  

I've set up a Citizen Speak message you can send NOW to Ulster County Legislature Chairman Donaldson and our new County Executive Michael Hein. You can add your personal comments at the bottom. It will only take a minute. Here's the link.

If you'd like more information, you can find it on our new blog Save NY's Lever Voting Machines or on Andi's blog Re-Media Election Transparency Coalition.

And please ask your friends to send a message, too.

Women Determined to Vote in 1871

Image via WikipediaN.Y. Suffragists Took the 14th to Polling Booths in 1871

By Louise Bernikow
WeNews historian

Nov. 7, 1871: New York women, determined to vote, confront election officials.

(WOMENSENEWS)--Victoria Woodhull and her sister, Tennie Clafin, truly maverick spiritualists, stockbrokers, publishers and political activists, always commanded public attention. When they called the press to their apartment on Election Day, 1871, reporters responded and listened as the sisters and 10 other women announced that they were about to become the first women to vote in the city of New York.

"Unterrified, indomitable," one reporter wrote, "each determined female unsheathed her parasol and swore to vote."

At the crowded polling place, the inspectors refused the women's ballots. Woodhull demanded to know if it was "a crime to be a woman" and began reading aloud from the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, to no avail. The group left to begin work on a lawsuit that they hoped would become a test case against the government for preventing legitimate citizens from casting ballots.

The action was neither spontaneous, nor unique to the flamboyant Woodhull. Confronting election officials was part of a new national strategy. Since the first convention for women's rights in 1848, an organized and growing movement had tried petitions and speeches, legal arguments, lobbying and withholding tax revenues, without success.

Now they leaped on the language of the post-Civil War constitutional amendments, particularly these words from the 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside." The new tactic was to announce that women were citizens and already entitled to the vote.

In April 1871, women in Washington, D.C., including Belva Lockwood--the first female attorney to argue before the Supreme Court and, in 1884, a candidate for the presidency herself--had attempted to register and tried to cast ballots. After being barred, they filed cases at the District of Columbia Supreme Court against the Board of Registration and the election judges. While Woodhull was marching to the New York City polls, Matilda Joslyn Gage was confronting local registrars in upstate New York.

And in Rochester, N.Y., Susan B. Anthony was organizing for another assault, which would take place a year later. In 1872, while Victoria Woodhull was audaciously campaigning for the office of president, Anthony also read out the words of the 14th Amendment at her local polling place. She and 14 other women were rejected, but Anthony would stand trial for trying to vote. Hers would become, while not exactly the test case the women with Woodhull and Lockwood hoped for, a media and legal spectacle that brought women's citizenship claims even more intensely to the nation's attention.

Louise Bernikow is the author of seven books and numerous magazine articles. She travels to campuses and community groups with a lecture and slide show about activism called "The Shoulders We Stand On: Women as Agents of Change." She can be reached at louise@womensenews.org.

Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org.
(Used with Fair Use from the web).

So it's finally time to VOTE

Here's some information we hope you won't need tomorrow when you vote.

Know Your Rights
If you are an eligible voter, you have the following rights:

• If your name is not on the official voter list but you believe you are eligible to vote in that precinct, even if an election official challenges your vote, you have the right to cast a provisional ballot.
• If you are in line when the polls close, you are entitled to vote no matter how long it takes to get to the booth.
• In many states, employers must allow you time to vote at some point during the day. You can't be fired for being late due to long polling lines. Check your personnel policies with your employer.
• You have the right to vote without being intimidated by anyone.
• Visit the Election Protection website at 866OurVote.org for more information on your rights.

What if Something Goes Wrong?

First, document it. If there are specific individuals challenging your right to vote, intimidating voters, or interfering with the process, try to get their names. Write down exactly what happened, including the time of day, descriptions of the people involved, and any other details you can remember. A cell phone camera could be very useful in this process, if you have one.

Then, report it. There are many organizations that will be working to respond quickly to complaints of voter intimidation, suppression, and fraud. Here's who to call.

• 1-866-OUR-VOTE. This hotline has been set up by the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition to ensure that all voters have an equal opportunity to participate in the political process. They have hundreds of lawyers standing by to immediately respond to problems at the polls. Call as soon as possible after you encounter problems.
• Share your experiences with others and ensure that the media and watchdog groups are aware of any problems by using the citizen-driven election monitoring platform Twitter Vote Report.
• Voters who believe they have been the victim of racial discrimination in voting should contact the U.S. Department of Justice at 1-800-253-3931 in addition to the 866-OUR-VOTE number.

FactCheck.org: FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeFrom Ruth Wahtera:

The researchers tell us that people vote their emotions, not the facts, and I believe it. But, I still like to know the facts. When it comes to the presidential and vice presidential debates (actually, to any national election), I count on FactCheck.org to sort out truth from fiction. They research the claims, explain the issues, and provide their sources.

Here's the beginning of their analysis of the debate last night:

FactCheck.org: FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate: "FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate
October 3, 2008 The candidates were not 100 percent accurate. To say the least.

Summary
Biden and Palin debated, and both mangled some facts.

* Palin mistakenly claimed that troop levels in Iraq had returned to “pre-surge” levels. Levels are gradually coming down but current plans would have levels higher than pre-surge numbers through early next year, at least.

* Biden incorrectly said “John McCain voted the exact same way” as Obama on a controversial troop funding bill. The two were actually..."

You can subscribe by email, RSS, or visit their website. They also provide a quick video every week and after each debate, if you'd rather watch.

I encourage you to learn the facts. Check them out.

Register and Vote -- Need We Say More?

How Did Your Members of Congress Vote?

AAUW has issued its annual Congressional Voting Record on issues important to women. We're fortunate that our Federal elected officials support key legislation. But, if you have family or friends who live outside Ulster County, you might want to forward them a link so they can check out their representatives.

How Did Your Members of Congress Vote? « AAUW Dialog: "The good new is that this Congress was noticeably more supportive of AAUW’s positions in the areas of education, economic security, and civil rights, with more than half the representatives and senators supporting AAUW’s issues on at least 80 percent of the votes in this voting record. However, we know that barriers still remain and that AAUW must continue to work to break through those barriers. With the November elections just around the corner, we urge you to hold your elected officials accountable for their votes and to know where the candidates stand on issues that are important to women and their families."