From Bev Harris [bev@blackboxvoting.org]
Sent: 26 May, 2009 7:08 PM

SUFFOLK (NY): OBSERVERS BOOTED OUT TO COUNT VOTES IN SECRET (you can discuss this here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/8/80408.htm )

Mainstream press is picking up on accurate framing of the issues. A New York location decided to count votes in secret; a local reporter called them out on it. We need to recognize that laws which prohibit the public from observing the vote count are in fact improper and invalid, because they transfer the power from the public to government insiders. This goes for the party-centric models as well, where political party observers are allowed but not the public.

Now, as for nonpartisan elections, we already know that some locations have taken the position that no observation by anyone -- including the parties -- will be permitted in the nonpartisan elections. Pima County Arizona took this position just a few weeks ago, blocking both the public and party observers from observing the count and the poll closing (tallying and reconciliation activities).

Regardless of whether it's (arguably) legal, we need to call secret vote-counting what it is, out loud, and advocate for roll-back of undemocratic vote-counting laws and practices. 

I am very pleased to see mainstream reporters getting involved in the right-to-know aspects in election reform. Here's a short but dead-on article, which shows that our efforts to insert the "rights" frame into election coverage are working:

The Suffolk Times - May 21, 2009: Counting votes behind closed doors is wrong

"A strange thing happened Tuesday night in Oysterponds. District officials decided to count the votes cast in Tuesday's election in secret . . . Even Oysterponds school board president Ted Webb was ushered out of the room on election night. . . . The count should be a public act. But oddly, that's not what New York state law says. According to John Conklin, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections, it's perfectly legal to exclude the public and the press from the room when votes are being tallied.

"But Bev Harris, founder and director of the Seattle-based nonprofit BlackBoxVoting.org, said a public counting process is fundamental to our system of government, based on the Declaration of Independence. 'You can't have liberty without self-government. You can't have self-government if you count votes in secret. Liberty and self-government are considered by the Declaration to be inalienable rights, endowed by our creator. You can't pass a law that takes away these freedoms," she said. "Having government insiders count votes in secret effectively transfers power from the people to the government.'"

[LET ME CLARIFY: The reporter quotes me as saying "you can't pass a law that takes away these freedoms" -- obviously, you CAN pass a law, but the law is invalid. We had laws allowing slavery, but these were ultimately deemed invalid and, even while they were in place, many citizens realized that these laws violated this nation's founding principles upon and, in actions like the Underground Railroad, acted outside those laws.]

Mainstream news article about New York secret vote-counting: http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T052109_edit 

A lot of big Election Integrity news at week-end:

In this typically terrible election story from the New York Times, we nevertheless learn that election night primary numbers from New York State were totally unreliable. In 80 of New York City’s 6,106 election districts, Obama supposedly did not receive even one vote, including districts in Harlem and other neighborhoods where (in adjacent districts) he won or did quite well. (Post by Judy Bertelsen)

Comptroller General David Walker, one of the few, strong honest voices in official Washington for election integrity on Friday announced his resignation (Post by Mary Ann Gould). As Comptroller General since 1998, Walker headed the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative agency. (The GAO had been remarkably critical of electronic voting.) Walker leaves to become head of a new foundation that will focus on nagging problems such as skyrocketing government spending and high health care costs. In an August 2007 report, he had warned that the US government was on a “burning platform of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action was not taken soon.”

Some good Democratic Party news in California: The Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee adopted a resolution calling on the county to ditch Diebold by the June Primary Election and commence hand-counting paper ballots. Post by Rady Ananda

Balanced by sleazy Democratic Party politics in Michigan (Post by Patrick Levine Rose)

An explanation of the double bubble mass scale disenfranchisement in Los Angeles County Post by Jim Soper

Fighting certification of the NH recount (Post by Vickie Karp)