[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: Please Stay in Recount Loop, SUBSCRIBE Now!

Thu Dec 9 23:54:59 PST 2004

>Date: 8 Dec 2004 20:00:23 -0000
>From: votecobb-lynne at greens.org
>To: eusko at earthlink.net
>Cc:
>Subject: Please Stay in Recount Loop, SUBSCRIBE Now!
>X-ELNK-AV: 0
>
>Dear Paul Etxeberri: 
>
>Yesterday, we took another step forward in the struggle for
>genuine democracy.
>
>We want to regularly keep you in the loop about our work
>to ensure that every vote be counted in Ohio, New Mexico,
>Nevada and across this country.  Although you were
>invited to subscribe to our recount campaign list serves last
>week, you are not yet a subscriber.  Perhaps you do not wish
>to receive further email from us.  If that is the case, simply
>ignore this message and you will not hear from us again until we
>have a final report to share with you after Congress certifies
>the Presidential election on January 6th.  But if you do wish
>for us to keep you in the loop as this historic process unfolds,
>then please follow the directions at the bottom of this message.
>
>But first let me share the exciting news which is unfolding
>and history we are making because of the support you have lent
>to our recount effort.
>
>RECOUNT DEMANDED
>
>We re-filed our Ohio recount demand today and re-sent our
>checks to those County Boards of Elections who had returned our
>original checks. We held a press conference in Columbus today
>(December 7th) with David Cobb to make that public announcement.
>
>LITIGATING
>
>We went to federal court on November 22nd and again on December
>3rd to attempt to expedite the recount process. The December
>3rd suit alleged that Blackwell was abusing his discretionary
>authority and was, in effect, stalling. The suit asked that the
>recount begin immediately and be completed by the federally
>declared "safe harbor" date of December 7 or by December 13,
>when the presidential electors are scheduled to meet.
>
>Delaware County election officials sought to stop a recount in
>their county but were denied by the federal court on Friday,
>December 3rd. A local state court judge had granted a temporary
>restraining order, which expired on December 1st.
>
>COORDINATING
>
>We have eight regional coordinators in place throughout
>Ohio; they are identifying and training eighty-eight county
>coordinators who are in turn identifying, training and placing
>ten to fifty observers in each county (depending on the number
>of votes cast and type of machinery used).
>
>Over 3,200 volunteers signed up to help almost 800 from
>out-of-state. Our first priority is to place Ohio residents
>as recount observers. But we are inspired and impressed and
>humbled by the hundreds of supporters willing to take time
>off from work and family to drive/fly/bus hundreds if not
>thousands of miles to Ohio. Thank you all.
>
>VOLUNTEERING
>
>The law does not allow more than one observer per candidate
>per counting team or tabulating unit per county.  But there
>is much you can do to support this effort, either in Ohio or
>in right there in Nevada. 
>
>Our new Be the Media page at
>   http://www.votecobb.org/participate/media/
>is an excellent resource on how to write effective letters to
>the editor and opinion editorials.
>
>This week we noticed an Associated Press article on the
>recount that mentioned the Greens and quoted Cobb Spokesperson,
>Blair Bobier, but when the same AP article was published in
>various newspapers, mention of Greens was reduced or removed
>altogether, even in cases where the article was lengthened in
>other ways.
>
>DONATING
>
>Thanks to your generous support, we have raised close to
>$280,000 for the Ohio Recount Effort but we still need to
>raise another $60,000 in the next few days.  Please,
>encourage your friends and family to contribute at
>   http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?function=donate
>
>Please visit http://www.votecobb.org/recount/financial/
>for a financial report and explanation of where the money is
>being spent.
>
>COMMUNICATING
>
>We encourage you to join our Recount-News email list in order
>to receive updates from me about what is happening in Ohio
>and New Mexico (I will send less than one a day). Otherwise,
>please visit our website at http://www.votecobb.org since
>we post daily updates, news articles, releases and more.
>
>SUBSCRIBING
>
>After some initial glitches in getting our email lists rolling,
>including many people who tried to subscribe being unable to
>do so, we're writing you again to ask that you subscribe to
>recount-news by answering the subscription confirmation you
>should receive as you get this message.  If you do not see that
>email and its instructions for getting on the recount-news list,
>then please refer to the instructions in the postscript below.
>Already 2100 folks have subscribed.  But that leaves over
>4,000 who have contributed or volunteered, including you,
>who will not be kept in the loop unless you take action now
>to OPT-IN to our lists. 
>
>MAKING A DIFFERENCE
>
>Tomorrow, David Cobb will fly to Washington to participate in
>the formal hearings on voting irregularities being convened
>by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) and others on Capitol Hill.
>
>We are standing up for the right to vote and for each vote
>to be counted. We are concerned about the integrity of the
>voting system. A recount will help identify problems, if any,
>so they can be resolved and voters will never have to wait in
>line for hours in the end only to spend months wondering if
>their votes were even counted.
>
>We call for non-partisan election administration, voter
>verifiable paper trails, and an entire overhaul of our voting
>system:
>
>-Election Day Registration would end the problems associated
>with Provisional Ballots
>
>-Ending Felony Disenfranchisement would remove the possibility
>of voters being denied their right to vote or being falsely
>purged from the voter rolls
>
>-Instant Runoff Voting where voters rank the candidates in their
>order of preference by placing a '1' next to their first choice,
>a '2' next to their second choice and so on would guarantee
>majority winners and eliminate concerns about spoiling
>
>- Proportional Representation which would make sure that votes
>aren't just counted but that they count towards the result:
>electing more diverse representatives in numbers consistent
>with support (20% of the vote gets 20% representation instead
>of winner-take-all)
>
>-Publicly Financed Elections would take money out of politics
>and give the power back to the grassroots
>
>-Ending restrictive and ridiculous ballot access laws designed
>to deny voters third-party choices at the polls
>
>We know many of you are concerned about the timing of
>the recount and the December 13th meeting of the Electoral
>College.  There are many activities being planned by a variety
>of organizations.  At this time, David Cobb is planning on being
>in Columbus and speaking to supporters that afternoon. Please
>visit our website at http://www.votecobb.org for more details.
>
>Thank you for participating in this historic effort. As Greens
>committed to grassroots democracy as one of our Key Values,
>we are proud to stand up for the rights of voters -- in Ohio
>and everywhere.
>
>Sincerely,
>Lynne Serpe
>Campaign Manager/Recount Manager
>Cobb/LaMarche '04
>www.votecobb.org
>
>PS - We've committed to not sending unsolicited email to
>folks who have not joined our opt-in lists.  For more on our
>commitment to not contribute to the spam problem, see:
>    <a 
>href="http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?function=list_policy">Our 
>List Policy</a>
>
>We have made an exception with this note, because of technical
>difficulties we experienced with our lists when we first
>announced their existence while acknowledging your support
>in an email a week or so ago.  We do not want to leave you
>out of the loop as we move forward.  But unless you follow
>the instructions below to subscribe to our recount-news list,
>this should be the last email you receive from us until Congress
>has certified the results on January 6th and we're prepared to
>send out our final report.  Please confirm your subscription,
>so we can keep you in the loop on this historic effort.
>
>OK.  So you want to keep getting
>updates like this in your inbox? 
>Great!  Follow these simple steps: 
>
>Respond to the confirmation message you see from
>recount-news-request at lists.votecobb.org. 
>
>If you do not see those confirmation messages, you may
>regenerate them by using the subscription forms at:
>   http://lists.votecobb.org/mailman/listinfo/recount-news
>
>Or if you still do not see them, please email our volunteer
>coordinator, Holly Hart at: hhartus at yahoo.com.   
>
>To decline this invitation, do nothing.  And you will not hear
>from us again until after January 6th.  But we hope you will
>be an ongoing part of this campaign. 
>
>We're building on our history of struggle for a universal and
>meaningful ballot.  We still have a long way to go before we
>achieve paper ballots, publicly financed elections, proportional
>representation, open access to the ballot and the other elements
>of a free and fair election.  And we need your participation
>if we are going to make it.
>
>-- LS


-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand