<nettime> An Emergency Call-to-Arms

["Eric Smith" <snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp

(please distribute among your membership.)


An Emergency Call-to-Arms:
A Five-Step Battle Plan for YOUR Future

This is a call to arms to you -- as an American and a custodian of your =
nation's future. Please act as if your life depends on it -- it well =
might.

We have been led down a dark, perilous road.

The journey has touched us all, from mothers and fathers burying =
children in a war over nonexistent WMD, to firefighters and policemen =
promised vital funds only to be cheated and asked to work for free. =
Millions of Americans have been cut loose as corporations exploit =
foreign workers on the cheap and CEOs gorge themselves on riches =
unprecedented in history. While Americans take second and even third =
jobs just feed their families, the Bush Administration has poured =
America's wealth into the greedy hands of defense contractors and =
tax-dodging megacorporations, notorious companies like (#1 Bush donator =
Kenneth Lay's) Enron or Cheney's wartime ripoff-artists at Halliburton.

Our environment, safety, economy, national security, labor protection =
and Constitutionally-guaranteed rights have all been gutted and left to =
die in a worker-hostile economy.

NOW WE FIGHT BACK.

Here's what we're facing:

This November, the Bush election machine has more than three times the =
spending power of its opponenets(1)

And they are fighting dirty, just as they did in 2000, when they purged =
Florida voter rolls(2), rioted to stop recounts(3), barred citizens from =
voting (ibid) and even threatened the Vice President and his family on =
their front lawn (4).

This year, through gerrymandering, data theft from Congressional =
computers, impeachments and recess judicial appointments, they are =
trying to consolidate their unprecedented power. And they have a special =
election-season surprise in store for us as well -- as the AFL-CIO =
argued before the Supreme Court last December(5), the Bushites have MADE =
IT A CRIME FOR THIRD PARTIES TO CRITICIZE THE PRESIDENT OR SAY THINGS TO =
INFLUENCE THE ELECTION during the election's most critical phase:

"This blackout will become national in scope on July 31, 30 days before =
the August 30-September 2 Republican National Convention . . . and it =
will then continue without interruption throughout the remaining 60 days =
until the November 2 election. Thus, from July 31, 2004 until the =
election, it will be a crime for a union, corporation, or incorporated =
non-profit organization to pay to broadcast any 'reference' to the =
President by 'name,' 'photograph,' 'drawing' or other 'unambiguous' =
means anywhere in the United States." (6)

They are ruthless, and will not concede victory without a vicious fight. =
Expect the outlawing of gay marriage to "divide and conquer", =
marginalize opponents and consolidate support from the religious right, =
a base estimated to be 30 million strong (7). Expect the Supreme Court =
to halt recounts again. Expect a "surprise" discovery of WMD even after =
Blix, David Kay and Iraq's scientists saying they were all destroyed. =
(8) Expect the "suprise" capture or "destruction" of Bin Laden =
conveniently close to the election (9). Expect lots of scary terrorism =
warnings and perhaps even an attack.(10) General Tommy Franks has even =
suggested a second 9-11-scale attack will lead to martial law in America =
(11).

None of this should deter you; remember it was the same group (Rumsfeld, =
Cheney, Baker, Bush Sr., Perle, etc.) that armed and funded Hussein and =
Bin Laden in the first place. The blood of our dead is therefore on =
their hands.

We must not underestimate the ruthlessness of those willing to start an =
international war based on known and transparent lies -- virtually =
against the will of the entire planet. Make no mistake; they are willing =
to throw away American lives in their quest for global dominion. And if =
you rise up and oppose them, you may be bullied, harassed and =
threatened, perhaps even by the FBI.(12) YOU MUST NOT LET THIS DETER =
YOU. WE MUST NOT BE BULLIED INTO LETTING THEM SEIZE POWER AGAIN!

And here we come to the deep, dark heart of the matter:

This year 28% of the vote (and counting) will be tallied on electronic =
voting machines or scanners, which have been repeatedly hacked and can =
be used to fix an election -- all without a trace. Below you'll find a =
link to the diagrammed, step-by-step report of how e-vote activist Bev =
Harris hacked one(13). If you think this is exaggeration, please follow =
the links listed below, where everything has been well-documented and by =
the NY Times, the Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, the BBC, etc. (14)

Once paperless, effortlessly hackable (10) voting machines have been =
installed, the situation will be PERMANENT -- we will never know or be =
able to prove if an election has been stolen. And if it HAS -- those who =
have stolen it CAN NEVER BE VOTED OUT. And without the fear of voter =
reprisal, whoever takes advantage of such a situation could do literally =
anything they wanted and NEVER LOSE POWER. It will mean the end of =
Democracy. And if you work for an activist group, it will certainly mean =
the end of your organization.

We have less than six months to prepare to fight the biggest power grab =
in human history.

Do your part.

Help save America.

There will not be a second chance.

A 5-STEP BATTLE PLAN:

I. LOBBYING  (20 minutes approximately)

Tell your representatives to support Bills H.R.2239, 1986, and =
ESPECIALLY 2045 (14)

Online e-petitions:
http://www.truemajority.org/actionregister/
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=3D2&item=3D2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=3D14993
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/348035553?ts=3D1079111375&sign[=
partner_userID]=3D304336170&sign[memberID]=3D304336170&sign[partnerID]=3D=
1
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/cleanvote.html

Congress
http://www.senate.gov/
Toll free: 1-800-839-5276
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

State elections boards
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html

State Attorneys General
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php

State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/

Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm

Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election =
Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)

II. MEDIA BLITZ (one to three hours approximately)
Write a ltter and email or fax it to Radio & tv stations, newspapers & =
magazines in your area:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/

National Media Contacts:
CBS Evening News
212-975-3691
evening@cbsnews.com

NBC Nightly News
212-664-4971
nightly@nbc.com

Peter Jennings : ABC World News Tonight
Tel : (212) 456-4025, Fax : (212) 456-2381
PeterJennings@abcnews.com

Washington Post :
abramowitz@washpost.com, colemanm@washpost.com ,
letters@washpost.com , hadarm@washpost.com ,
kingc@washpost.com , milbankd@washpost.com ,

New York Times:
nytnews@nytimes.com, oped@nytimes.com,
president@nytimes.com, publisher@nytimes.com,
society@nytimes.com, washington@nytimes.com,
web-editor@nytimes.com, letters@nytimes.com
USA Today: editor@usatoday.com
Houston Chronicle: viewpoints@chron.com
San Francisco Chronicle: letters@sfchronicle.com
Los Angeles Times: letters@latimes.com
Chicago Tribune: ctc-TribLetter@Tribune.com
Washington Post: letters@washpost.com
Newsday: letters@newsday.com
New York Daily News: voicers@edit.nydailynews.com

CNN HeadLine News executives :
cameron.baird@turner.com, dave.willis@turner.com,
bill.schneider@turner.com ,
james.broyles@turner.com, jason.evans@turner.com,
lou.dobbs@turner.com , moneyline@cnnfn.com ,
kathy.slobogin@turner.com , paul.varian@turner.com ,
judy.fortin@turner.com, bill.galvin@turner.com,
susan.jalali@turner.com, kurt.kasting@turner.com,
tim.mallon@turner.com, wade.mckinney@turner.com,
jerry.mihoch@turner.com, stephanie.minter@turner.com,
dennis.newman@turner.com, alan.schrack@turner.com,
rolando.santos@turner.com, steve.shusman@turner.com,
jennifer.c.thomas@turner.com,

USA Today :
editor@usatoday.com , fanklam@usatoday.com ,
jbacon@usatoday.com , lbranson@usatoday.com ,
dcolton@usatoday.com,

Los Angeles Times :
dean.baquet@latimes.com , op-ed@latimes.com ,
john.carroll@latimes.com , janet.clayton@latimes.com ,
letters@latimes.com , latmag@latimes.com ,
marjorie.miller@latimes.com, john.puerner@latimes.com
james.rainey@latimes.com, bill.stall@latimes.com ,

REUTERS :
michel.gelbart@reuters.com , eddie.evans@reuters.com ,
editor.reuters@reuters.com, daniel.grebler@reuters.com ,
stephen.jukes@reuters.com , reshma.kapadia@reuters.com ,
andrew.mitchell@reuters.com , dick.satran@reuters.com ,
david.schlesinger@reuters.com, eddie.evans@reuters.com ,
washington.daybook.newsroom@reuters.com,
miami.newsroom@reuters.com, michel.gelbart@reuters.com,
boston.newsroom@reuters.com, toronto.newsroom@reuters.com ,
mexicocity.newsroom@reuters.com ,

Associated Press:
info@ap.org, msilverman@ap.org,
gjohnson@ap.org , hjung@ap.org
tkorte@ap.org , sthomsen@ap.org
etompson@ap.org , ntrott@ap.org
rtanner@ap.org, mtighe@ap.org,
kathleen.carroll@ap.org, dcrary@ap.org,
adinnocenzio@ap.org, jaffleck@ap.org,
mfeldman@ap.org, paula.froke@ap.org,
tfuentez@ap.org, kgazlay@ap.org,
chanley@ap.org, bharpaz@ap.org,
lheinzerling@ap.org, rherschaft@ap.org,
hitalie@ap.org, sjacobsen@ap.org,
ajesdanun@ap.org, tkent@ap.org


III. WITNESS E-VOTE EVALUATIONS (one afternoon)
Ask your elections board (about any e-voting purchase evaluations =
meetings to be held in your district. As a member of the voting public, =
it is your legal right to attend as a witness, although, out of =
convenience, they may try to avoid giving you the information. Insist on =
your rights.

If you do attend as a witness, you may well be a victim of intimidation =
tactics. Insist on voter-verified paper ballots. Bev Harris has written =
comprehensive answers to arguments you will hear. DO NOT BACK DOWN OR BE =
INTIMIDATED BY CIVIL SERVANTS -- they are your EMPLOYEES, paid by YOUR =
TAXES:

>From Bev Harris, http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org

Assertion: "Upgrading the printer already in the (Diebold) machine costs =
money"
Fact: Diebold has stated in writing that their pre-installed internal =
printers are sufficient to generate a voter-verified paper trail.

Assertion: "The paper is very expensive"
Fact: No, thermal paper is the cheapest made. And with an estimated =
maximmum of 300 people voting at each touch screen. A LARGE precinct may =
have seven touch screens, but many have just two or three. It might cost =
$15 per precinct to print those ballots.

Assertion: "The paper won't last"
Fact: If the report to be by the machine will last the required amount =
of time, the ballots will too, if printed on the same paper. The printer =
is there to report totals at the polling place.

Assertion: "the machines will jam"
Fact: The printer is similar to models used in supermarkets and WalMart. =
Remember: the total number of transactions, will be about 300. Do =
supermarket and WalMart printers jam every 15 sales? No; They process =
thousands of printouts without jamming.

Assertion: "the ink will run out"
Fact: There is no ink in a thermal printer

Question: "If a paper ballot record doesn't match a machine record, =
which is the legal vote?"
Fact: The voter-verified paper must trump the machine unless a =
mechanical defect or fraud is shown, because it is a physical record =
seen and verified by thousands of individual voters, whereas the machine =
is bits and bytes that can be changed by a single technician!

Assertion: "Paper ballot systems have been tampered with"
Fact: Yes, and machines have been frequently wrong as well. Do not allow =
sidetracking of the discussion or assertions that you are "against =
electronic voting" -- no, we want them to put paper in a printer and use =
it for auditing.

Assertion: "Officials won't know what to do with paper ballots and new =
laws must be written."
Fact: Laws and procedures set up for optical scans are applicable.

Assertion: "A paper trail will only lead to demands for more complicated =
and stringent auditing"
Fact: Yes, it will. We're asking for that anyway, with optical scanning. =
It is still be cheap and efficient compared to many of the changes =
currently being implemented to accomodate the sales of more touchscreen =
machines.

Question: "Why use machines at all if you're demanding paper ballots?"
Fact: Voting machines are helpful for the visually impaired

Assertion: "Paper ballots prevent the visually impaired from voting"
Facts: Wheelchair-assisted voters can use a touch screen with the same =
efficiency whether or not there is a paper printout, and the =
visually-impaired are can be provided with headphones for these =
machines. Nor does a paper printout hinder their ability to vote.

Alternatives to the Diebold, Sequoia and ES&S machines (operated by =
heavily partisan CEOs, designed to operate WITHOUT a paper trail, and =
whose code and components are not allowed to be examined) exist.

Avante Systems has a machine that shows a printout through a glass =
screen. After the voter confirms it is correct, the paper ballot is =
droped into a storage box so it can be checked against the machine =
totals and the AccuPoll system has a scanner that can pass over the =
printed ballot to verify votes.

Alternative, secure e-voting machines you can suggest to your elections =
officials:
http://www.accupoll.com/
http://www.aitechnology.com/avantetech/home.html

IV. VOLUNTEER ELECTIONS MONITORING (three days approximately, including =
preliminary training)
Vootewatch is organizing election monitor volunteers here:
http://www.votewatch.us/forum/register.php?

Bev Harris has outlined a point-by-point strategy on specifically what =
to look for when monitoring electronic voting machines. It is also =
recommended that you either download her free e-book "Black Box Voting", =
or better yet, purchase it here:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

>From Bev Harris, http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org

CITIZEN WATCHDOGS: What to look for and report -- Let's get good at this =
before November!

Optical-scan systems and absentee ballots: We have information that all =
systems recognize carbon-containing marks (soft lead pencil). Some DO =
NOT recognize all inks. You may want to bring a soft lead pencil to the =
polling place with you to mark your optical-scan ballots.

All Diebold counties (AccuVote and AccuTouch are Diebold brands) -- Ask =
that the poll workers print a report and post a copy at the polling =
place at the end of the day, whether they are required to or not. All =
Diebold machines, both touch-screen and optical-scan, contain internal =
printers and have the ability to print a polling place results report. =
This takes 60 seconds and costs nothing, and is an important check and =
balance to compare with the county results from the GEMS system, which =
we believe to contain security flaws. Votes should not change from the =
polling place to the county.

Report any instance of mismatched polling place/county tabulations here. =
Do NOT accept the excuse that they won't match because early votes, =
absentee, provisional, or challenge votes were added into the polling =
place totals. That is called "co-mingling" the data and is not an =
acceptable record-keeping practice. Additional categories of votes must =
be accounted for as separate line items.

Sequoia touch-screens do not have an internal printer. A printer can =
easily be hooked up with a serial port. If you see printers, demand a =
polling place report.

Watch for any "wandering vote tallies" on election night, especially if =
any votes go DOWN. (Yes, this has been known to happen).

Late poll openings: Report these immediately and we'll try to get =
cameras there. This is a form of vote suppression, often occurring in =
minority areas.

Late vote results: Report late incoming tallies. These can be indicative =
of the county trying to resolve voting machine anomalies before filing =
reports.

Observe how many cords come in and out of the voting machines. Report =
any evidence of networking the machines together. Report any time you =
see more than a simple power cord plugged in while the election is in =
progress.

Wardrive election sites. See if you can pick up wireless signals either =
during or after the election. Wireless communication is not permitted. =
Also, report any use of cell phones for vote transfers, which is also =
not permitted.

Election workers: Report the procedures used for training if they seem =
insecure. For example, we have already had reports that in Georgia, some =
poll workers were told to take voting machines home after training; =
Georgia flag artwork was uploaded right before the election; and other =
unwise and insecure procedures were followed.

Go visit the polling place at the end of the day and see how secure it =
is. We had reports recently of machines left in the polling place =
unattended.

Felony watch: In some states, IT IS A FELONY for technicians who are not =
sworn elections officials to touch the vote database in any way, shape =
or form after votes have been cast. In fact, if you look at Chapter 13 =
of Black Box Voting, the San Luis Obispo incident was probably illegal =
(Diebold tech Sophia Lee was tied to a live vote database that appeared =
on the Internet five hours before the polls closed).

Watch for statistical anomalies. Look at everything. Time is of the =
essence, as these analyses take some time and there are only a few days =
before the election is certified.

V. LEGAL CHALLENGES (indeterminate)

Author Lynn Landes has questioned the constitutionality of voting =
machines.
http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachinesUnconstitutional.htm

If your organization has the wherewithal to raise a legal challenge on =
these (or other grounds) here are some resources below:

Election campaign and civil rights lawyers listed for every city:
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Election%20Campaign%20&%20Poli=
tical%20Law
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Civil%20Rights

Institute for Justice:
http://www.ij.org/index.shtml

Center for Indiviual Rights:
http://www.cir-usa.org/intake.html

Class actions:
http://www.bigclassaction.com/civil_rights.html

Southeastern Legal Foundation:
http://southeasternlegal.org/

Electronic Frontier Foundation attorneys:
gwen@eff.org
jason@eff.org
owlswan@eff.org
wendy@eff.org
tien@eff.org
fred@eff.org

Other challenges:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesd=
ay/local_news_04d49255058760a400d8.html
http://www.electionguardians.org/actions.htm
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/dieboldlawsuit.pdf

Pax Christi is also organizing an international group of elections =
monitors. More information here:
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=3D887

REFERENCES

1 (GOP:$115,667,827 ; Dems:$44,175,502).
http://www.opensecrets.org/parties/index.asp

2. Greg Palast, Harper's Magazine "The Great Florida Ex-Con Game" 
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=3D122&row=3D2

3 a."Unprecedented" -- internet preview of the film
http://www.unprecedented.org/UnprecedentedPreview.htm

3 b. Lynn Landes: "Mission Impossible - Federal Observers & Voting =
Machines"
http://www.ecotalk.org/FederalObservers.htm

4. Barabara Walters interview"The Note":
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/791744/posts

5.McConnell vs the Federal Election Commission
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/1637/

6. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0404/hentoff.php

7. "Bush Assures Evangelicals of Commitment to Marriage Amendment"
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/politics/12EVAN.html?pagewanted=3Dprint=
&position

8a. Online Journal: "Wag the Osama"
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/031004Burns/031004burns.html

8b.NewsNet5: "Ridge Sidesteps Question On Bin Laden's Capture"
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2917298/detail.html

9. U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=3D3/13/2004&Cat=3D4&Num=3D0=
11

10. Aljazeera.net: "Purported Al Qaida Statement"
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2CDD53D6-7AF7-40C7-AF88-32A16072F8=
1B.htm

11. NewsMax: "Tommy Franks: 'Martial Law Will Replace Constitution After =
Next Terror Attack'"
http://infowars.com/print/ps/franks_martial.htm

12. The New McCarthyism, the Progressive:
http://www.progressive.org/0901/roth0102.html

13. Scoop: "Inside a US Election Vote Counting Program"
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

14a. NY Times: "Hack the Vote"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/120303A.shtml

b. CBS: "Electronic Voting Causing Concern"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/03/eveningnews/main591185.shtml

c. UK Independent: "All the President's Votes?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1013-01.htm

d. Salon: "Will the Election be Hacked?"
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/02/09/voting_machines/index_np=
.html

e. BBC: "Concerns over US Computer Voting"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3489877.stm

f. ABC News: "Avoiding Another Florida Fiasco"
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/SciTech/Voting_machines_040305-1.html

g. "Comparison of Senate Bills 1980, 1986, and 2045"
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/senate_bill_comparison.asp

You are encouraged to distribute this document freely and widely.

Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan =E2=97=8F =
81-03-3959-5371
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