EveryVote - University Elections

EveryVote - University Elections:

• EV actively supports the development of free, publicly downloadable, comprehensive USA college candidate and official databases, so that Americans can learn about, share their opinion, and contact all of their candidates and officials through one convenient web page.

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What Is Early Voting?

What Is Early Voting? | Demos:

• Early voting provides a means for eligible voters to cast their ballots at a time and location other than in person on Election Day.
• EARLY IN-PERSON VOTING   Voters can cast a ballot by appearing in person at a local elections office or other designated location during a designated period prior to Election Day.
• ABSENTEE VOTING  voters submit their ballots via mail or by dropping them off at designated locations. Voters simply apply for and receive an absentee ballot in the days or weeks before Election Day. Ideally, absentee ballots are available to any eligible voter, without requiring a narrowly defined reason or “excuse” to obtain and vote an absentee ballot.

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"Citizens vote," a poem

Citizens vote
by David Weller


political corruption is...
gaming the system for...
special interests of...
ideology and business so...
quid pro quo or...
freedom for money for...
those interests vote as...
an investment return thereby...
corrupting legislation for it's...
not in the public interest so...
at election time vote...
for only ethical candidates as...
it's the citizen thing to do

EveryVote.org aims to have all of your own candidates' info on one page

Goals | EveryVote.org:

• Goals:
• 1) Establish in the nearest possible future a reliable, comprehensive United States candidate database, that anyone can freely integrate into their own website.
• This database would enable websites to show you every candidate for every election you are eligible to vote in, all on a single page.
• 2) Help create and participate in a federated opinion sharing platform (OSP) network.
• In order to make OSP federation possible, OSPs like OpenCongress, POPVOX, ISideWith, LoveGov, and the proposed EveryVote.org platform would need to agree to identical open standards, which ensure our data is transferable and cross-compatible.
• For information on how you can help achieve a candidate database and establish a federated OSP network, please visit www.everyvote.org/youcanhelp.

EveryVote.org

"Leadership," a poem

Leadership
by David Weller


You charge for access,
I believe in free speech

Money is corrosive,
To independent thinkers

Money is not free speech,
Free speech is for people

Represent your constituents,
Not the fundraisers

Leadership can be voted in,
Corruption can be voted out

Leadership is independent,
And so the voter be

Speak out against the latest attempt by the Right to fix elections and drown out the voice of voters

Speak out against the latest attempt by the Right to fix elections and drown out the voice of voters. - People For the American Way:

Action Alert by People for the American Way

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Big donors give far and wide, influencing out-of-state races and issues

Big donors give far and wide, influencing out-of-state races and issues - Open Channel:

An analysis by the Investigative News Network of contributions by wealthy individuals in seven states shows that their giving is greater than any one cause or race reveals -- with millions flowing into state, federal and even local campaigns, parties and committees far and wide.

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Court System’s Independence in Crosshairs of Special Interests, Rightwing Lawmakers | ACS

Court System’s Independence in Crosshairs of Special Interests, Rightwing Lawmakers | ACS:

Whatever independence the state courts still have, Cohen writes, is being threatened by “special interest groups, by radical politicians, and even by some of their own – judges who trade both in honor and integrity and by begging for votes (and campaign contributions) from the very litigants before them.”

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"To the candidate," a poem

To the candidate
by David Weller

promises made are
not promises kept
listen to the voters
those who have wept
those who have lived
all problems, except
those voters solve

remember who's boss
the voter decides
listen to the voters
take on their side
take on their concerns
all solutions, no pride
the candidate resolves

"I am the voter," a poem

I am the voter
by David Weller



what does it take
to vote around here?

why should I make sure
I'm ready to vote?

I'm a proud American,
registered, no fear

I'm a vowed taxpayer,
why have the poll moat?

I'm more important
than any election aide

and why the partisan
election officials?

roll out the red carpet
for this voter, self-made

I am the decider now,
damn the tutorials

10 Million Hispanics at risk to miss their vote on Election Day

10 Million Hispanic Citizens May be Disenfranchised Thanks to GOP Voting Suppression | Alternet:

Voter purges and ID requirements being enacted in over 20 states could disenfranchise at least 10 million Hispanic citizens.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Is National Voter Registration Day

Free The Vote! Tomorrow Is National Voter Registration Day | Demos:

For the first time ever, people around the country who love American democracy have decided to come together to observe a National Voter Registration Day on September 25, 2012 – a day to pull out all the stops in making sure that every eligible voter is registered and able to vote in this critical election year. 

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The case for Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein

I know she stands a small chance to get elected, but I'm more than tired of people professedly voting for the lesser of two evils.  Our nation is building a terrible debt for our children and grandchildren, and I don't have any hope for change from the two monoliths that are the Demos and Repubs.

She is forwarding a "Green New Deal" that calls for gov support for new jobs that better the environment (and thus our economy.)  After all, good conservation practices and producing new environmentally friendly products are good for the bottom line-- for companies and the gov.

She would also carry a great mandate to take a lot of money out of today's politics, money that has an undue inside influence over the offices of our own representatives.

Above all, she will fight climate change by improving the environment.  The oceans are rising and will continue to unless we do our part in the world community of lowering the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere; most of the rest of the world is waiting on the US to actually do something about it-- we are one of the world's most wasteful countries.

A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for the positive values of a much greener economy for ours, and the world's, sake.  Thanks for listening.  David Weller, Activism News

For more information, please visit JillStein.org.

Republican Party bolsters its chances for a massive increase in its number of offices won for the 2012 elections

>> The Challenge of Obtaining Voter Identification | Brennan Center for Justice:
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"The Challenge of Obtaining Voter Identification"
By Keesha Gaskins and Sundeep Iyer
Brennan Center for Justice
July 17, 2012

[Editor's Note: Go to U.S. Vote Foundation's State Voter Information Directory to find out what you need in order to vote in your own state.]

• Ten states now have unprecedented restrictive voter ID laws. Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin all require citizens to produce specific types of government-issued photo identification before they can cast a vote that will count. Legal precedent requires these states to provide free photo ID to eligible voters who do not have one.

• Unfortunately, these free IDs are not equally accessible to all voters. This report is the first comprehensive assessment of the difficulties that eligible voters face in obtaining free photo ID.

• The 11 percent of eligible voters who lack the required photo ID must travel to a designated government office to obtain one. Yet many citizens will have trouble making this trip. In the 10 states with restrictive voter ID laws:
• Nearly 500,000 eligible voters do not have access to a vehicle and live more than 10 miles from the nearest state ID-issuing office open more than two days a week. Many of them live in rural areas with dwindling public transportation options.
• More than 10 million eligible voters live more than 10 miles from their nearest state ID-issuing office open more than two days a week.
• 1.2 million eligible black voters and 500,000 eligible Hispanic voters live more than 10 miles from their nearest ID-issuing office open more than two days a week. People of color are more likely to be disenfranchised by these laws since they are less likely to have photo ID than the general population.
• Many ID-issuing offices maintain limited business hours. For example, the office in Sauk City, Wisconsin is open only on the fifth Wednesday of any month. But only four months in 2012 — February, May, August, and October — have five Wednesdays. In other states — Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas — many part-time ID-issuing offices are in the rural regions with the highest concentrations of people of color and people in poverty.

• More than 1 million eligible voters in these states fall below the federal poverty line and live more than 10 miles from their nearest ID-issuing office open more than two days a week. These voters may be particularly affected by the significant costs of the documentation required to obtain a photo ID. Birth certificates can cost between $8 and $25. Marriage licenses, required for married women whose birth certificates include a maiden name, can cost between $8 and $20. By comparison, the notorious poll tax — outlawed during the civil rights era — cost $10.64 in current dollars.

• The result is plain: Voter ID laws will make it harder for hundreds of thousands of poor Americans to vote. They place a serious burden on a core constitutional right that should be universally available to every American citizen.

• This November, restrictive voter ID states will provide 127 electoral votes — nearly half of the 270 needed to win the presidency. Therefore, the ability of eligible citizens without photo ID to obtain one could have a major influence on the outcome of the 2012 election.

Download a voter protection smartphone app!

>> Civil Rights Groups Release New Voter Protection App:
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"Civil Rights Groups Release New Voter Protection App"
by Greg Rosalsky
Huffington Post
August 9, 2012

• "The Election Protection smartphone app is a dynamic tool that will educate voters on their rights and empower them to take action so they can vote," said Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, on a Thursday conference call with other organizations that developed the app.

• The tool gives voters the ability to digitally verify their registration status, find their polling place, encourage their friends and family to vote, fill out voter registration forms, and contact election protection officials, amongst other means to encourage voting.

• "There are efforts across the country to suppress the vote and these efforts have disproportionately affected Latino voters, which is why the NALEO educational fund is proud to join in this effort," said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Appointed and Elected Officials Education Fund, on the call. Vargas said that a Spanish version of the app is expected to be released in coming weeks.

• In addition to Election Protection's hotline of 1-866-OUR-VOTE, citizens can call for voting assistance at 1-888-VEY VOTA.

Download the Election Protection Smartphone App

Note: You must be on a smartphone in order to proceed with the download.

Clean and fair: 20 problems with American elections and what we should do about it

The United States used to take pride in its democratic electoral process.  Citizens writing letters to their government representatives was an honored civic duty.  Today, it is divided between the country of Democrats and the nation of Republicans; and our democracy has dwindled in the controversy.

Here are many problems encountered by Americans this present election cycle:

1. Partisan state Secretaries of State, local elections officials and US Supreme Court
2. Electronic voting machines that were, and will be, hacked to corrupt the vote count; ballots aren't counted before the public
3. Unlimited secret money fueling federal candidate campaigns
4. Attack ads to total in the billions of dollars this election cycle
5. Robo calls-- automated, computerized, unsolicited phone calls to potential voters conducted by many candidates across the country
6. Registered voters are to present a Voter ID, sometimes with picture, before they can vote
7. Many states don't have same-day voter registration service for voters on General election day
8. Two-party-rigged state congressional redistricting after each 10-year US Census
9. Winner-take-all "first past the post" election system-- the election winner can win by a mere plurality-- or less than 50%-- of the people that voted
10. Two-party dominated ballot access state regulations, that vary across the country
11. The Federal Election Commission is hijacked by a major national party
12. The red shift Election Poll "Adjustment Process" that falsely affirms the election winner
13. The US Senate voted against the [campaign finance] DISCLOSURE Act
14. Anti-petitioning regulations; and they vary from state to state across the country
15. The major political parties' national nominating conventions are financially supported by the taxpayer
16. Presidential candidates devote almost all campaigning to several battleground states
17. US Senate candidates don't electronically submit their FEC campaign reports
18. Big presidential campaign contributors get preferentially hired for Administration posts
19. The entire voting system (machines, supply, counting) is controlled by commercial companies
20. General election day is held on a Tuesday; some states don't have Early Voting days

If we are to enjoy confidence in our voter registration, voting and counting of those votes, we must return to a national culture that values a clean and fair electoral system and process.

Take action: Let People Vote

From: Let Ruthelle Vote | ACLU

• The ACLU is launching Let People Vote today, a campaign that highlights stories of voters across the country who will be impacted by voter suppression measures. 
• From Wisconsin to Texas, Ohio to South Carolina, every person who loses the right to vote takes us one more step away from being a nation of free people.
• Act now to make sure that our most fundamental rights are protected this November.

Support federal bill HJR 28, the right to vote constitutional amendment

FairVote.org, from The Center for Voting and Democracy
Voting Rights Constitutional Amendment Gathers Steam

• If we had a right to vote, groups such as the elderly, the disabled, absentee and military voters would have better access to polls. In a country where voter turnout is routinely less than 50%, it is foolhardy to turn away people who actually want to participate and have a voice in government. In fact, the difficulty of navigating U.S. election laws related to turnout makes our turnout rate 139th among 172 nations worldwide.
• The United States is one of only 11 democratic nations without a right to vote. The Help America Vote Act has improved voting in many respects, but we continue to do far too little to stand up for secure voting rights for all -- with barely two-thirds of eligible voters registered to vote, faulty voting equipment, poorly trained poll-workers and more.
• You can help buy taking a few moments to help build support HJR 28, which in past years earned the sponsorship of more than 60 Members of Congress. Please click here to write your representative and tell them you would like them to join you in supporting a right to vote in the Constitution.

The National Popular Vote is needed to solve political party hyper-partisanship problem

From FairVote.org: Bipartisan Over-Attention to Battleground States

• Both parties, and all candidates, place overwhelming emphasis and resources on the few swing states in order to win precious electoral votes. This is due to one simple reason: the current system of electoral vote allocation based on state popular votes.
• If enough states adopt the National Popular Vote (NPV) system, the inequities of presidential candidate attention would be eliminated. Each candidate would need to campaign in all states, as individual votes would matter no matter where they are cast . The entire country would be a battleground.

NPV has been legislated in some states already, with mixed results-- some states passed it, others haven't, others are considering it and more will.   Enough states need to pass the plan-- but not all-- in order for it to become into effect.  Go to FairVote's National Popular Vote and see where your state stands thus far, and take action.

African American youth voter turnout during presidential years is on the rise

From CIRCLE article Black Youth Civic Engagement

African American young people set the all-time record for youth turnout by any racial or ethnic group in 2008:

It’s important to note that the trend was already up in 2004, so the high turnout was not just an Obama effect.

African American Youth powerpoint presentation.