Wednesday, June 27, 2007

VCC Releases Report on Humboldt Election Conditions

I won't say it is the only reason I have so few blog posts in the past eight months, but the Report on Election Conditions in Humboldt County (.pdf) just released by the Voter Confidence Committee is something significant I have to show for that period of time.

The press release below says it (almost) all. The image below it is something I've had in my head for more than two years. I could never find anyone willing to do the graphic design work. What I always imagined as a flier or poster is now a powerful diagram that simplifies several pages of text in the report. Regardless of what else happens, I hope this image is picked up and used around the country wherever people are organizing on behalf of hand-counted paper ballots. Huge thanks to HSU student John Carter for helping breath life into this vision.

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PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Dave Berman
707-845-3749
info@voterconfidencecommittee.org

VOTER CONFIDENCE COMMITTEE RELEASES REPORT ON ELECTION CONDITIONS IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Group calls for community dialog on hand-counting paper ballots

June 27, 2007 - The Voter Confidence Committee (VCC) announces the release of its Report on Election Conditions in Humboldt County, California. The report contains an evaluation of the most recent local election (November 7, 2006), put in the context of widespread national electoral problems, and offers solutions that can be implemented locally. The VCC is a proponent of hand-counting paper ballots and is a strong critic of electronic voting machines which often fail, are not secure, and count the votes in secret.

"The ultimate goal of the Voter Confidence Committee is an engaged community working together to hand-count all paper ballots cast in an election," said VCC spokesperson Dave Berman. "This report is meant to be a community building tool and a blueprint for transparent, secure and verifiably accurate elections in Humboldt County."

Members of the VCC are seeking opportunities to present their findings and recommendations to other area community groups, media outlets, and local elected officials. Berman and fellow VCC member Rabbi Les Scharnberg will be interviewed at 7pm on Wednesday July 4 by Ellen Komp of the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project during her monthly call-in show on KMUD.

The report is available for free download at www.voterconfidencecommittee.org. Hard copies of the report are available by request. To request a copy or schedule a presentation, contact Dave Berman at 707-845-3749 or info@voterconfidencecommittee.org.

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This is a visual summary of the report:


CLICK TO ENLARGE

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We Do Not Consent, Volume 1 (left) and Volume 2 (right), feature essays from Dave Berman's previous blogs, GuvWurld and We Do Not Consent, respectively. Click the covers for FREE e-book versions (.pdf). As of April 2010, paperbacks are temporarily out of print. Click here for the author's bio.

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— Elizabeth Ferrari, San Francisco, Green Party of California

"This is an important collection of essays with a strong unitary theme: if you can't prove that you were elected, we can't take you seriously as elected officials. Simple, logical, comprehensive. 'Management' (aka, the 'powers that be') needs to get the message. 'The machines' are not legitimizers, they're an artful dodge and a path to deception. We've had enough...and we most certainly DO NOT consent."

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