Democracy for New Mexico

Antidote and Inoculation to the Inauguration: I Am Blue, One of 57 Million

I agreed to pass along this email from Kathy Economy:
Greetings ‘Blue’ Friends! Come Join Me! Yes, like you I am greatly disappointed, concerned, and plain scared of the outcome of this presidential election.

We all know there were some less than integrous, unscrupulous, and immoral activities carried out by the neo-conservative republicans that ‘won’ (I use the term loosely) this election. Lamenting over it is normal But we now need to get out of our blue funk and start exercising the processes and institutions now in place to mitigate the neo-conservative agenda that is being carried out with great speed. We need to rise up and mobilize ourselves with the same fervor, passion, and commitment as our fore-fathers and fore-mothers did to institutionalize progressive thinking policies, issues and legislation in order to prevent their destruction with a few strokes of a pen.

You can help! There is strength in numbers, and there are many of us ‘blue’ here in Albuquerque who want to take action. Let us use the anger and disappointment that will be welling up in all of us Inauguration Day (January 20th) to our advantage by organizing an'Antidote and Inoculation to the Inauguration: I Am Blue, One of 57 Million’ mobilization event here in Albuquerque. Come join me and your other blue friends on January 20th to get involved!

Antidote and Inoculation to the Inauguration: I Am Blue, One of 57 Million
January 20th, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
La Posada Hotel, Albuquerque

What is the intention of this event? To mobilize, rally, and provide a forum for the 'Blue Community' to be heard and focus efforts on those issues, organizations, causes, policies, and laws, that will be diluted or totally repealed given the Bush Neo-Conservative agenda. Participants will include people like you and me and representatives from those organizations that are targets of the neo-conservatives agenda (e.g. Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club, Democratic Party, etc.). These ‘target’ organizations will dispense information, provide dialogue and suggested actions to those that are impassioned to their particular cause. The event will enable and facilitate attendees in connecting with their cause of choice.  The end effect is to nurture and build a louder and stronger voice for progressive issues that are currently being financially strangled and/or legislated to death by the current and future administration.

Will there be speakers? We would like to have local people who are active in the community speak. These speakers will give us local instances and activities as to how we can mitigate the neo-conservative policies that are currently being drafted in Washington that will effect us both globally and locally.

What is the Cost? This event is meant to get as many people involved as possible, so essentially the cost to attendees will be free, with a suggested donation at the door. I am putting the money up-front, and hope donations will help defray my cost.

Can you help? You bet! I encourage you to come to La Posada on January 20th and get involved!

An end note - The NM Democrats will be minimally involved in this activity. They will be finishing up their annual fund-raising event held the weekend of January 15th, hence, their resources are being devoted to that cause. Also, some will be in Washington for the inauguration. So the NM Democratic organization will be participating to some degree in this event, but will not have a high profile in the ground-floor planning.

For more information, email katecono@earthlink.net.

REMINDER: Democratic Party of Bernalillo County Meeting Tonight

From the DPBC e-news:
THIRD THURSDAY MEETING - AGENDA CHANGE

Lt. Governor Diane Denish will be unable to attend the Third Thursday meeting on December 16, 6 PM, at the UNM Law School, 1117 Stanford NE, Room 2401. We hope to have her address the county party in the near future.

Instead, Matt Farrauto, Communications Director for the DPNM will assess the results of the election comprehensively and discuss what we look forward to in terms of strategy and organization at all levels of the party.

Your input is valuable.  Please attend so that your opinions may be heard.

If you would like to be added to the e-news, please send your name, e-mail address and County to dpbc@att.net.

The Battle for America Has Begun

Click.

Help Rep. Conyers Get 1 Million Emails Supporting His Ohio Investigation

From Tom Solomon:
Rep. John Conyers and the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are urgently asking for your help in supporting their investigation of voter fraud and election tampering in Ohio. Please go to this link and, as it says:

"Respond to Rep. John Conyers' request for one million emails demanding that the House Judiciary Committee hold full hearings on the 2004 Election: send your message now!"

Who's Coming With Me to the Counter-Inaugural?

From Thomas A. Prando II:

Dear New Mexico Progressives,

By now you've probably seen the flyers (click on image for larger version) about the trip to D.C., and no, that isn't Alfred E. Newman in the background. I've put together this trip, not only because it's a great cause, but because I think that our side is far too complacent, and we don't get any media coverage on what we believe is right. When they have a book burning, we read about it in the paper.

When they protest the removal of a statue from a courthouse, we see it on every news outlet in the nation. Where are the Progressives? Where are we?

We're complaining to ourselves, and our spouses that "these people are ridiculous!" Our protests consist of 10 to 12 people huddled together off Central by the University holding up big signs, with slogans on them like, "HONK IF YER PISSED!" We need action! The Christian "Right" successfully pulled off a coup d'etat, and we sat back, and read about it in the paper. We need to change this!

And our first call to action is this trip to Washington, D.C. to show the righties how serious we are about taking back our country. When they see a bus full of angry Liberals from New Mexico traveling 1900 miles across the country to voice our grievances, it might make them think, "Maybe they're serious." Now I realize it is a week off of work, but it's worth it. Thousands of people across the nation are making the trip, and we need to send our Delegation. We need to set an example! Who knows? Maybe in the future people will think of us when they see 30 Righties getting together to burn books, instead of watching it on the news, we'll have 60 of us there to protest that burning.

Instead of watching 50 right wing nut jobs protest a woman's right to choose on television, we'll have 100 progressives there at that clinic protecting that right. The government as it stands is not going to protect our rights and beliefs. We are. And on January 17th through 23rd of 2005, we are going to start our own Revolution, and it will be televised. And you know why? Because WE ARE THE MAJORITY AND THIS IS OUR COUNTRY! Join me on this journey and set an example for what is about to be the new Progressive Movement!

Who's coming with me?

Sincerely,
Thomas A. Prando II
tprando2@yahoo.com
(505)385-4938

P.S. I'm giving a $100 discount to everyone who responds to this e-mail.
P.P.S. If you can afford to go but can't get the 4 days off of work, sponsor someone who can go but can't afford it!!

New Culprit: Triad Voting Machines

Both truthout and Raw Story have articles today focusing on problems with Triad and their punchcard voting machines, which have been ignored with all the publicity that Diebold and others have received.

In the truthout piece, Proof of Ohio Election Fraud Exposed, it's reported that Triad is owned by Tod Rapp, a donor to both the Republican Party and the Bush election campaign. Besides manufacturing punch-card voting systems, Triad wrote the computer program that tallied the punch-card votes cast in 41 Ohio counties in November.

It goes on to provide testimony about very suspicious behavior by a Triad representative that was given by Green Party candidate, David Cobb, when he testified at the Conyers hearing held in Columbus. It relays what is called by Cobb a "shocking incident" in which the Triad rep takes apart a voting machine at an Ohio county board of elections office on December 10th and more. The source of Cobb's story has been identified as  Sherole Eaton, Hocking County deputy director of elections. The text of an affidavit signed by Eaton is included in the truthout story.

In response, Rep. John Conyers has asked the FBI and a county prosecutor in Ohio today to explore "inappropriate and likely illegal election tampering" in at least one and perhaps several Ohio counties. The truthout piece includes a copy of Conyer's letter.

The Raw Story article reports that "The lawyers for Green presidential candidate David Cobb and Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik, along with Kerry-Edwards 200, have added election tampering to a civil suit filed against the state of Ohio over problems with the state's recount."

This piece also features an affidavit included with the Cobb-Badnarik-Kerry filing by Professor of Computer Science Douglas Jones. Jones asserts that Triad Election Systems' visits to local Boards of Election "compromise the credibility and integrity of the Ohio recount." There's also a copy of the complete civil suit provided.

I think that both of these articles are well worth a read. Just when you think things can't get any stranger in terms of the 2004 election, they gets stranger.

(Thanks to Ron for the heads-up on these.)

Writ Denied in NM Recount Effort

From Sonja Elison:
Just heard from Rick Lass, the State Chair of the Green Party of NM. The judge denied the Writ of Mandamus, so the options are to appeal, to go to federal court (which is packed with Republican judges thanks to Sen. Dominici) or to get the $1.4 million surety bond.  The lawyers are conferring now.

DNC/Kerry's campaign number is 202-863-8000 if you'd like to urge them to donate the funds. Gov. Richardson's office number is 505-476-2200 if you'd like to comment on the NM Canvassing Board's decision not to allow the presidential race recount unless $1.4 million is paid by tomorrow at 10:00 AM. More contact information is contained in an earlier post on this site.

UPDATE: The Albuquerque Journal online just put up a story on this. Excerpt:

A lawyer for the Green and Libertarian presidential nominees who requested the recount said they would take their fight to the state Supreme Court unless some kind of compromise could be worked out with the board.

"I think the judge's decision does not comply with the law," Lowell Finley said.

He had argued that the board went beyond the law Tuesday when it voted to require the payment of $1.4 million by 10 a.m. Thursday.

Finley said the Greens and Libertarians are "fully prepared" to pay for the recount, but that the law requires a deposit of no more than the $114,400 they already have deposited.

Vigil said the $114,400 "has got your foot in the door," but that the board was within its rights to require more up front.

Finley said he would discuss with board lawyers the possibility of narrowing the recount request to review only a portion of the state's voting machines used in the Nov. 2 general election.

NM's Recount Prevention Department

From the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network (via our friend in Taos):

Bought and paid for in the Land of Enchantment -- why interfere with the process outright, when you can pretend to cooperate while raising the bar impossibly high?

This gets interesting -- according to the Institute on Money in State Politics website, Ms. Vigil-Giron's 6th largest campaign contributor in 2002 was one Ken Carbullido, vice president of Election Systems and Software (ES&S)...

Rebecca Vigil-Giron is a Democrat, and other major campaign contributors include the New Mexico Federation of Labor. If that initially throws you off the scent, it's understandable -- I did a double take before thinking it through. Welcome to the confounding world of American elections, where the conflicts of interest seem to wedge their way in, heedless of other affiliations.

PR Newswire, Sept 25, 2003

The New Mexico Secretary of State has awarded a five-year, multi-million dollar agreement to Election Systems & Software Inc. (ES&S), to build, deploy, and support a HAVA-compliant, centralized, real-time, statewide voter registration and election management system...

Such a cozy relationship, these Secretaries of State and their election-system benefactors. That isn't much of a secret:

Shortly after leaving office, former California Secretary of State Bill Jones sent letters to each member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, reassuring them that the electronic voting machines they wanted to buy were reliable.

One month after Jones sent the letters, the Republican became a paid consultant for Sequoia Voting Systems, a touch-screen manufacturer that was bidding for Santa Clara County's $19 million contract and ultimately won it.

Critics say Jones' move illustrates a troubling reality of elections in the electronic age: close, often invisible, bonds link election officials to the equipment companies they are supposed to regulate...

In addition to hiring former secretaries of state and their staffs, voting equipment companies help pay for a multitude of industry conferences, including those sponsored by organizations like the National Association of Secretaries of State, or NASS.

"Personally, I've known a lot of these people for a long time, and we've become a family," said Rebecca Vigil-Giron, New Mexico's secretary of state and NASS' president-elect.

According to an NASS spokeswoman, the fees paid by corporate sponsors such as Diebold, ES&S, IBM and Accenture account for more than half of the association's $420,000 budget.

When does this start to matter? About the time this same individual decides to ensure the products of these companies never get properly audited.

These recount efforts represent an priceless opportunity to study the large-scale implementation of a system both vital to our democracy, and imperiled by credible accusations of vulnerability -- or worse. If the systems work as well as the industry reps -- that is, the ones padding Ms. Vigil-Giron's expense account -- claim, then such an analysis would vindicate them -- and put these questions to bed.

Leads inevitably to a rather disturbing question, doesn't it? Perhaps answered in part by understanding these collusive links? Does New Mexico have the courage to ask it?

Bernalillo County Dems Meet Tomorrow

Lt. Governor Diane Denish will address the Third Thursday meeting of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County on Thursday, December 16 at 6 PM, UNM Law School, Room 2401, 1117 Stanford NE in Albuquerque. All Democrats are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Richardson and Vigil-Giron Ask $1.4 MIL for Recount by Thursday Morning! PASS IT ON!

I just got a call from a friend reporting a conversation with someone who was at the NM Canvassing Board Meeting this evening at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Approval was given by the Board to allow the Green and Libertarian Party presidential candidates to have a recount here, IF THEY CAN COME UP WITH $1.4 MILLION BY THURSDAY MORNING.

The Board consists of Gov. Bill Richardson, Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Chief Justice of the NM Supreme NM Supreme Court -- all Democrats (at least in name). What can be on their minds in setting this outrageous up-front fee and time limit? It's certainly not ensuring that our votes count or that elections are fair and effectively run.

They can only be thinking that they don't want the attention of the national media focused on how poorly this election was actually run. On how a state with a Democratic governor was allowed to turn Red. On how inconsistent the rules were for accepting or rejecting provisional and absentee ballots. On what a terrible job Gov. Richardson and his Moving America Forward PAC did with turning out the Hispanic vote and convincing them to vote for Kerry. On how large numbers of touchscreen voting machines without paper trails were purchased by the Secretary of State despite all advice to the contrary. On how Rebecca Vigil-Giron spent almost $2 million on ads meant to educate voters but that primarily seemed to focus on showing her face and repeating her name. Even Heather Wilson didn't spend $2 million on her ads.

So what can we do now? We can donate NOW to Help America Recount, which is raising money for the recounts in NM and Ohio. We can pass this message on to everyone on our phone and email lists. We can write letters to the NM and national media criticizing how this matter is being handled by Gov. Richardson and the rest of the NM Canvassing Board.

And we can flood the offices of Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Governor Richardson with phone calls, emails and letters asking why Democrats would be siding with foes of the recount instead of with the people who put them into office in the first place. And why they kept saying the recount would cost up to $600,000 and suddenly change their tune at tonight's meeting to require payment of $1.4 million by tomorrow morning.

Contact Information:

Governor Bill Richardson:
Web Site: www.governor.state.nm.us
(To Email the Governor, go to the website above and click on "Email Gov. Richardson, or to go directly to the form on that page.)
State Capitol, Rm. 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Phone: (505) 476-2200
Fax: (505) 476-2226

Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron:
Web Site: www.sos.state.nm.us
Email: secstate@state.nm.us
State Capitol N. Annex, Ste. 300
Santa Fe, NM 87503
Phone: (505) 827-3600
FAX: (505) 827-3634

Easy links to use to contact media as well as local, state and national government officials: Capwiz

UPDATE: Here's the Albuquerque Journal's article on this.