Election Integrity has a new professional web designer, Jeff Bastan of Web City Pages, and we are soliciting your design ideas, material and involvement. We would especially value:
- video and graphics
- regular bloggers
- web page managers
- archivists, bibliographers
We welcome all competent material, especially video and graphics. But to make an impact as a blogger, webpage manager, or archivist you need to carve out a
niche. In general, our community is far too fractured, inexpert and reactive. Some abomination happens and we reactively enter into crisis mode, trying to come up to speed after the fact, continually exhausting our already drained energies and resources with a response that's far too little, far too late.
The alternative is to act together as a community, develop collective expertise and work proactively.
Few of us in this movement like the idea of corporations telling us what to do. But any alternative requires that we intelligently and collectively tell ourselves what to do, i.e., that we self-organize. Unfortunately, few of us even recognize or understand this need, let alone develop the individual and collective abilities to do it. The US has become a corporate subsidiary largely by default; no serious organizational alternative exists.
Virtually everyone in this movement is bright and independent. That's what has enabled you to see through the haze of public proclamation. But few effectively utilize their abilities toward productive public ends.
To begin to move towards self-organization, to begin to actually provide an alternative to corporate control rather than simply lament it, requires that each of us seriously evaluate both the larger needs and what we ourselves can do individually. If you want to contribute money or resources, that's wonderful; we sorely need it and gratefully welcome it. But if you want to (also) contribute intellectually, you need to contribute specifically. What specifically will you take the time to learn well and communicate well? These possibilities are endless, but here are a few examples:
- EI in your county, state or nation
- Some aspect of EI, e.g., ballot box security, mail-in voting, auditing
- The voting machine industry
- Litigation
- Election forensics
- EI disinformation
- EI institutional support (or lack thereof)
- EI coverage in a particular newspaper, journal or electronic media -- or on a particular issue
- EI and other social movements
- EI understanding and misunderstanding within professional communities
- Educational materials
Generally a niche emerges and changes over time, so don't worry about trying to nail it from the onset. Think about what you've already been paying attention to, or how it might relate to a professional or personal interest. Or simply begin by writing a single blog, designing a webpage, or putting together a list of materials.
Democracy in America really does depend on you. And on working together effectively.
To begin, reply below or send a private message to me.
