On banging pots

[Ralph Shnelvar <ralphs@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Citizens for Verifiable Voting:

Please read 
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E158%257E1878996,00.html

It's about something called the "Petition Rights Amendment" and then come
back here for a postmortem on HB1296.



Joe P. wrote:
>I'm sorry to have to report this, folks, but the SoS, Clerks and 
>Corporate Vendors have defeated the people this time around. Rep 
>Madden's HB1296 was killed in committee this afternoon.

It is with much sadness that I see this latest result.  I couldn't
participate in this very worthy cause.  I was (and still am) consumed in
other political battles.



"I've been asked by an Elections Official how many people we think we really
represent."

This almost goes to the heart of the matter.  What really matters is how
much political pressure can be exerted ... which is a somewhat different
thing.



You have now seen power politics up-close-and-personal.  It is an ugly
thing.

If I had to say why you lost it would be simple: You played by the(ir)
rules.  You gathered the data and you did all the things that your elected
officials wanted you to do.

You had the facts on your side.  You had the press (such as it was) on your
side.  You had intelligence on your side.

You lost.  We lost.  I lost.  Everyone in this state lost and they lost big.

You lost because you were not willing to (figuratively if not literally)
bang pots.  You lost because you were unwilling to draw attention in a
manner that would get major press involved.  This issue required major press
because otherwise it is business-as-usual.  It required major press because
otherwise the legislatures will ask you "how many people we think we really
represent" rather than do the right thing.

Compare what you are trying to do with the CU football scandal or the Tracy
Baker recall election.  Do you think you can compete with that with position
papers and polite presentations to your (now permanently "elected")
representatives?



Worse, since it is now the case that since the elections can (and will) be
rigged, our voices will be permanently squelched in an electronic version of
Chicago-style stuffed-ballots-and-pizza.

Whereas it would have taken a major effort to get press and political
pressure for this important movement to prevail, it will now take ten times
that effort to move the politicians since they have cast their die.



You are all good people who have worked very, very hard.  I respect you all
enormously.  Frankly, I'm surprised you got as far as you did.

It is unfortunate that you have learned just how cynical our political
leaders are in this way.  It is unfortunate because we may not have many
more chances to get honest and fair elections.  In fact, we may have zero
chances ever again.

But as Evan Ravitz told me regarding a different political campaign, "I
(Evan) will not waste my time by trying to push a string", which is why, in
a very small part, I did not participate with the CVV.



Can this be turned around?  I don't know.  Do I have any suggestions?  None
that will change the legislature's mind this session.  I can think of no
move on our part that will cause enormous embarrassment to the legislature.



There is but one dim hope that I do see .. and it may already be too late
for it. 

Douglas Campbell and Dennis Polhill are pushing for the Petition Rights
Amendment (PRA).  This is a very important piece of "legislation" that will
give citizens power over the legislature.   We need signatures.  We need
volunteers. Please get involved.

I strongly urge you all to support this enormously important ballot
initiative.  With this initiative in place it will be much easier for us to
get a ballot initiative in November of 2005 to force exactly what we want:
honest, open, and verifiable elections.

Quite by coincidence and quite ironically, there is a great article in
today's Denver Post about it (it's the article I mentioned, above):
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E158%257E1878996,00.html

Please contact me or go to http://pra2004.com/.



I see the PRA as our last best hope.  The PRA desperately needs our help.  I
will, soon, be working as hard as I can on this.  I ask you all to join me.

And it doesn't even require us to go bang pots.  All it needs is for
committed people to gather signatures so that the electorate can vote on it
in November.

Please help.



Ralph Shnelvar