MyDD :: Election Protection

Election Protection

by Chris Bowers, Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 07:29:46 PM EST

If GOTV or traveling out of state isn't your thing, on Election Day you can help prevent the election from being stolen ala 2000 by volunteering with Election Protection. This should especially be right down the alley of those folks who are petrified of electronic vote counting machines and voter disenfranchisement.

After what happened to Gore, the Kerry team has prepared extensively for a close election with recounts, disputed ballots, electronic machines, and voter disenfranchisement. Check it out:

Sen. John Kerry, bracing for a potential fight over election results, will not hesitate to declare victory Nov. 2 and defend it, advisers say. He also will be prepared to name a national security team before knowing whether he's secured the presidency.(...)

Six so-called "SWAT teams" of lawyers and political operatives will be situated around the country with fueled-up jets awaiting Kerry's orders to speed to a battleground state. The teams have been told to be ready to fly on the evening of the election to begin mounting legal and political fights. Every battleground state will have a SWAT team within an hour of its borders.

The Kerry campaign has recount office space in every battleground state, with plans so detailed they include the number of staplers and coffee machines needed to mount legal challenges.

"Right now, we have 10,000 lawyers out in the battleground states on Election Day, and that number is growing by the day," said Michael Whouley, a Kerry confidant who is running election operations at the Democratic National Committee. (...)

On Election Day, Whouley will head the so-called "boiler room," probably in Washington, that tracks vote counts and ensures Kerry doesn't concede too soon. Whouley was the aide who, after noticing Florida was too close to call in 2000, called Gore's team in Tennessee and told them to put the brakes on the concession speech.

If nothing else, on many fronts--fundraising, voter registration, debate rapid response, GOTV, legal challenges to Nader, election aftermath--Kerry and allied Democratic groups are clearly better prepared to win the Presidency than Gore and allied groups were in 2000. I sometimes wonder if the Democratic Party of the 1990's would even be within striking distance in this campaign.

Tags: General 2008 (all tags)

Permalink :: 23 Comments :: Post a Comment

Learning from the Bushies (none / 0)

Kerry's people learned the lesson from the Bushies. Bush declared victory and put together a transition team so that anything Gore's people did looked like an attempt to steal the election from the rightful winner.

by bolgia7 on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 07:51:40 PM EST

vote totals (none / 0)

One thing I think we have to do is demand the vote totals for each state down to the precinct level. Some states offer this, and some don't, but there are rarely rules to require or prohibit this detail. With enough noise, we can get it, and then we'd have strong suggestive evidence of touchscreen fraud if there was any.

by tunesmith on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 08:38:35 PM EST

No retreat, no surrender (none / 0)

Gore was a gentleman and bowed out. But Kerry has killed men who threatened him. When is the last time a man like that was elected President?

We're going to have to fight till the last dog dies.

by Louise on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 08:46:55 PM EST

Re: No retreat, no surrender (none / 0)

Well, the Chimp's Daddy was a combat pilot, but I don't know enough about his war record to know if he shot down any enemy aircraft; plenty of pilots went through the war without a single confirmed kill. Before that, the last one was probably the previous JFK, but I don't know a whole lot about his combat record, either. The last one who I know for a fact actually shot enemy soldiers with his own hand weapon was Theodore Roosevelt -- and if I could choose one progressive President from America's past to resurrect and run against the Chimp, Teddy would be the one.

Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for President! Beat McCain!

by Alex on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 09:39:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No retreat, no surrender (none / 0)

I still think the Big Dog would wipe the floor with Bush. There were few that were in his league.

by yitbos96bb on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:22:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No retreat, no surrender (none / 0)

George H.W. Bush's Navy service:

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq10-1.htm

Definite shooting and bombing, and a confirmed sinking of a ship; presumably Japanese sailors died. You can say this about the man, he served with honor and in great personal danger; and he stayed truer, by far, than his son, to conservative principles.

That's how bad it is. This Democrat would like Bush 41 back. ;-)

by Dan Hartung on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 03:57:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No retreat, no surrender (none / 0)

And this progressive would be relieved to have Nixon back instead of Bush 43!

by beowabbit on Mon Oct 25, 2004 at 02:43:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No retreat, no surrender (none / 0)

President Reagan killed people in the movies. Does that count?

by Natural on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:12:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No retreat, no surrender (none / 0)

"killed men who threatened him"? I get your point, but it seems to take its cue from right-wing macho blather.

The last President who killed a man prior to Bush 41 was almost certainly Lyndon Baines Johnson:

1941
Johnson ran for the remaining term of Senator Morris Sheppard upon Sheppard's death. On June 28, he lost a hard-fought race to conservative W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel by 1,311 votes. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, Johnson became the first member of Congress to volunteer for active duty in the armed forces (U.S. Navy), reporting for active duty on December 9, 1941.

1942
Johnson received the Silver Star from General Douglas MacArthur for gallantry in action during an aerial combat mission over hostile positions in New Guinea on June 9. President Roosevelt ordered all members of Congress in the armed forces to return to their offices, and Johnson was released from active duty on July 16, 1942.

That's hardcore, man. Sitting Senator, Silver Star.

by Dan Hartung on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:03:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No retreat, no surrender (none / 0)

Whoops. Sitting Congressman; he lost the Senate race, but retained his House seat, because it was a special election. He didn't reach the Senate until 1948.

by Dan Hartung on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:05:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Is it just me... (none / 0)

Or does this sound better planned than our campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq?

-John.

by jrrl on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 08:57:29 PM EST

It's so sad that this is necessary (none / 0)

What a sad and sorry commentary on our times. To not do this would be foolish and imprudent indeed. Knowing he'll need it demonstrates JKs very firm grasp on reality and the times he lives in. I'm glad he's up for it, it would turn my stomach.

by Bruce The Moose on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 09:26:29 PM EST

Stealing the vote in Philly (none / 0)

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/special_packages/election2004/9951952.htm

Is that the sound of lawyers circling, flapping their bat-like little wings?

by Canuckistan on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:16:39 PM EST

What state is priority for assistance? (none / 0)

I'm trying to figure out what state a small group of people assisting GOTV would be most helpful for Oct 31-Nov 2. I wish there was more info on Colorado since that looks like an opportunity for not only a potential steal, but also to pick up a senate seat.

I guess the question is "Where is the race the tightest that could use some help?" Even if the question can't be answered - where does one turn for additional info?

Thanks.

by Natural on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:16:57 PM EST

What a relief (none / 0)

to read this and see that they are ready to stand and fight. I'm falling in love with my party again! Is there a place we can donate to help out?

by Pandora on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:19:30 PM EST

Re: What a relief (none / 0)

Why the Kerry-Edwards 2004 General Election Legal and Accounting Compliance Fund (GELAC) of course!

by Bruce The Moose on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:07:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Thank you... (none / 0)

and done!

by Pandora on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:57:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Please explain Massachusetts to me. (none / 0)

So Kerry and the Red Sox both played the same way: drive your fans to despair by falling behind early, then somehow rally at the end. Is this "strong finisher" trait some kind of cue to the Massachusetts mind? Do Boston garbage collectors kill time for 80% of their shift, maybe even throw some garbage back out of the truck, and then somehow get it all done in the final hours?

Maybe IQs are so high there that everyone gets bored until they're losing, like gifted kids in school.

I hope Kerry doesn't do foreign policy like this.

Peace, JW

by urbanist1962 on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 01:15:43 AM EST

Re: Please explain Massachusetts to me. (none / 0)

Well they also let balls go under their legs and hold long time grudges (See Dukakis and Bucker...I still don't think Bucky F%$&ing Dent would get out of Boston alive if he paid the town a visit.)

by yitbos96bb on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 10:29:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Further Resources (none / 0)

There is more than one Election Protection organization. First is the Kerry-Edwards-DNC Election Protection Task Force, a crack team of lawyers such as Eric Holder and Ron Kirk who will manage any overall legal challenges and strategies (no Warren C, this time, whew -- this is no job for a statesman). They have teams of lawyers recruited and trained, but may always need more.

Then there's the DNC's Voting Rights Initiative, open to all kinds of volunteers:
http://www.democrats.org/vri/volunteer/index.html

There's also, tangentially, the 160 OSCE monitors who will be spread out across the US looking at whether best practices are followed. They can't challenge results, but they can report problems afterward for Congress and the President to act on.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/08/international.observers/

Then there are the private groups. The one you linked is explicity non-partisan.

There's Election Protection itself:
http://www.electionprotectionvolunteer.org/electionprotection/index.cfm?mktcode=EI001
(Common Cause/Working Assets/PFAW)
Also via:
http://www.electionprotection2004.org/
(These guys are focusing on areas with concentratinos of fraud, vote suppression, etc., such as minority-heavy cities.)

Voters Unite!
http://www.votersunite.org/
(Verified Voting spinoff -- opposed to computer ballots)

VoteWatch:
http://www.votewatch.us/

And a Vote Watch resource page:
http://vote2004.eriposte.com/

I know there are a couple of others, too, but I can't pull them all up just now.

by Dan Hartung on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:27:38 AM EST

I keep reading this . . . (none / 0)

but I responded to an e-mail asking lawyers to volunteer for KE04 election protection and all I've gotten are the usual campaign e-mails, only delivered to my work e-mail instead of my home or blog e-mails. And I'm in Colorado. So I wonder what the heck is really going on.

by Colorado Luis on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 11:23:06 AM EST

Re: I keep reading this . . . (none / 0)

CO Luis, I have personal knowledge of a Chicago attorney who has been spending weekends in Milwaukee organizing a legal team. This is serious and active. I don't know, though, how they recruited people, or that every state committee is so organized. I'll pass a message to this guy and ask him what he suggests.

by Dan Hartung on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 06:46:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

monitor Nader votes precinct by precinct (none / 0)

As I found when analyzing Florida 2000 data, there were frequent and very suspicious surges in many precincts for Nader and others. In Seminole county precinct 28, 429 voters suddenly appeared out of nowhere during the recount. 1015 voters are listed in precinct 28 in the Senate and other race lists, However, 1444 people are listed as voted on the presidential recount data sheet. In total, 620 additional voters were mysteriously added to the votes casted list. I guess there were alot of problems with precinct 28s voting machines? But fortunately Seminole county vote counters recounted late into the morning on November 9th with Republican congressman John Mica himself overseeing the process. From the Orlando Sentinel, "they were running each individual ballot through the voting machines. Any ballot the machine rejected was then examined by hand, and if the will of the voter could be determined, they prepared a new ballot to replace the original rejected ballot and added this newly created ballot to the count." Very convienient indeed, Seminole county was the last county to report and the additional 384 votes(net 98 votes for Bush)gave Bush his 327 vote lead which would have been erased by Gore's additional 286 votes. Before the Seminole county recount Bush led by only 229 votes, Gore's additional 286 votes would have given Gore a 57 vote lead at the end of the first recount.

Bush's recount leaders-------
Seminole county: 384 votes
Polk County: 194 votes
Volusia county: 143 votes
Palm Beach county: 105 votes
Martin county:106 votes
Dade county: 77 votes
Okolusa: 50 votes

Good thing Seminole came through in a clutch since only 6 out of 67 counties delivered more than 50 additional votes for Mr. Bush.

by gasperc on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 11:37:34 AM EST

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