Re: Coloradoans for Voting Integrity Update; PRA

[Ralph Shnelvar <ralphs@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear all:

First, today Bob McGrath did me a personal favor.  In a private eMail I
called him a great guy. He *is* a great guy.  He is a tireless worker ...

But this eMail leaves me concerned ...

More, interspersed, below.


On 14 Oct 2004 21:27:44 -0400, you wrote:

>Coloradoans for Voting Integrity Update for Thursday, October 14, 2004
>Issue: 16
>
[snip]
>
>Guess what?
>
>The legislators have turned this non-partisan issue into a partisan
>defense of our Secretary of State (Republican) and whatever (bad) advice
>she has given.

There are two things wrong with the above sentence.

First, the implied criticism of Republicans.  As a Libertarian I am not fond
of the Republican Party.  Nonetheless, there are very hard working
Republicans working on this issue.  We should not lose their support or
their enthusiasm.

Second, I told Bob McGrath & Co. early in November that the odds of getting
the legislature to pay any attention to this issue was an extreme long shot.
Bob and Pete and a bunch of other volunteers did yeoman work with Alice
Madden (D-District 10) to try to get the law changed.  They got farther than
I thought possible.  But they did not succeed against enormous odds. By
definition, this is not surprising.

In order to get the legislature to do stuff would have required better
organization, more political skills, and more time than was available.

>
>The election community has circled the wagons against any critics or
>people who might actually KNOW something about computer fallibility or
>systems integrity, or election security processes.

Well, what do you expect?

The "political class" is self-serving.  Whether it be Republicans in the
State Legislature or Democrats in Boulder County, they are self-serving.

Have you not seen that, Bob?

>
>The media has IGNORED our rallies, our letters to the editor, and our
>appeals for common sense, using every contact as an opportunity to hand an
>open mic or a blank slate for the election officials to repeat their
>(un)assuring messages of blind trust in their (non-scientific) judgement.

The media has ignored our rallies because the media is sick of rallies. They
want eye and ear candy.  They want something new.  They want controversy.
Just being right brings nothing to them.

I wanted the members of this group to start banging pots.  I was roundly
criticized.  I'm sorry, folks, but to get attention you need to draw
attention.  You've got to be angry and you've got to show it.

Then, maybe, you'll get some limited media coverage.  

The only way to guarantee media coverage in this age of sound bytes is to
rape Kobe Bryant.

You've got to be especially angry about losing the franchise to vote.  The
next step after that is open revolution in order to rein in the political
class. Or this Republic converts quietly to a dictatorship.

I don't want either of those things.

>
>So folks, it's time to pay to get our message out. We need your help to
>pay for space ads in the Post, the News, on radio shows and, if budgets
>allow, on television.
>
>We have a team ready to produce videos or CDs containing various scenarios
>showing what may happen if we allow this (non-protected) election to
>transpire as if nothing is wrong. But duplication and distribution of this
>information to the media takes money and time.
>
>Won't you help? (Remember, by donating to CFVI, you are making a tax
>deductible donation to safe elections!)
>
>$1000 helps us fund one week of our PR firm to pitch these stories to the
>press, or to arrange for press conferences and interviews for our story to
>get heard in these remaining days before the election, or to write and
>transmit media advisories and media kits.
>
>$500 helps us fund production costs for filming and scripting videos for
>distribution to the media and to election officials and county party
>officials, or helps fund T-shirts for our volunteers.
>
>$100 helps us buy 100 CD's to distribute to the media, containing video
>messages, skits, and even clips from various TV shows that have already
>commented on the dangers of use of these machines.
>
>$50 helps us buy a couple radio spots on local talk radio.
>
>$25 helps us pay for postage and supplies to take our message to the major
>Party Chairs in the counties in Colorado that will vote by electronic
>voting machines, or to buy buttons or a few T-shirts to make our
>volunteers visible on election day, when we will act as poll monitors.

Oh, good god, Bob, this is truly dreadful.  At the height of a close
presidential election you are trying to get your message out?  It is a total
waste of money and the timing couldn't be worse.

You're up against multi-million dollar budgets for every campaign and issue
group.

And even if by some miracle you get media attention ... so what?  No court
is going to do anything about anything and the politicians aren't able to do
anything even if they wanted to.

So, folks, my recommendation to you is PUT ASIDE YOUR MONEY FOR THIS WORTHY
CAUSE.  Contribute, but not now.

The right time to spend this money is the week *after* the election and the
weeks before the Colorado legislature goes into session.

Bob, get your ducks in a row for a media blitz after the election.  Then,
maybe, we can do something worthwhile.

>
>What will you say to the next generation when they asked what costs you
>were wiling to pay to protect our democracy in this election?

I will tell them that I advised people to spend their money wisely and not
throw it down a rat hole.  Fight smart because we are powerfully outgunned.

Look, Bob, I know that you are frustrated.  I'm frustrated because I see
waste, corruption, and idiocy everywhere in government.  I'm frustrated
because I see politicians violating the Colorado Constitution.  I'm
frustrated that it has fallen to me to file suit (unrelated to CFVI issues)
in court to defend all of us.

I'm frustrated that it is only a handful of citizens (us!) that want to hold
the politicians feet to the fire when they act in their interest and not in
ours.

But I know when and when not to spend money.

Bob, you're a great guy.  But asking people for money to do advertising
before the election is wrong.

A week after the election when the political noise level has abated would be
a great time to DO SOMETHING.  The media, politicians, and the media will
pay attention.

Hell, Bob, you might even get better advertising rates after the election
rather than before.

>
>For more info, please visit www.CFVI.org and www.VerifiedVoting.org
>
>
>Bob McGrath, Director
>CFVI
>

Ralph Shnelvar, Nobody
Just One Person


P.S.

I, again, urge all of you to support the Petition Rights Amendment (PRA)
(which should be on the 2005 ballot).  It is through that vehicle that we
will be able to more easily get a "hand counted paper ballot" amendment into
the Colorado Constitution in 2006.

Or, maybe, if we are clever, we can join forces with those who are promoting
the PRA and do a dual ballot drive for November 2005.

Imagine the pressure that we could put on the legislature!  Either mandate
hand counted paper ballots by legislation or it goes into the Constitution
by popular will.

Doug Campbell (PRA) has already told me that when he ran for Secretary of
State(?) (1998?) that one of his platform items was hand-counted paper
ballots.  He is willing to support us if we are willing to support him.

This is my call to action: Let's form this very powerful political
coalition!  Let's get hand counted paper ballots into the Colorado
Constitution.