Election stolen, group suspects

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http://www.madison.com/tct/home/topstories/index.php?ntid=15673

 

Election stolen, group suspects

60 meet at UW, plan next steps

 

By Bill Dunn

November 8, 2004

 

American democracy: a shining city on a hill or gutter politics that

steals votes and suppresses voter intent?

 

To about 60 people who gathered Saturday at the UW Humanities

Building, it's more like the latter.

 

Sue West of Rockford, Ill., saw notice of the " No Stolen Elections "

meeting on the Madison Area Peace Coalition's Web site. The meeting

followed an anti-war rally that attracted 500 to 600 people to State

Street and the Capitol.

 

" I think we need to protest this election no matter what Kerry does, "

said West, originally a Dennis Kucinich supporter. " I think it's

fraud, pure and simple. "

 

John Kerry conceded too quickly to suit many in the audience, with CNN

reporting about 6 million ballots uncounted in the country.

 

A young couple's matching " Skull and Bones " shirts showed they didn't

rule out that maybe the Yale secret society has some very dark secrets.

 

Moderator Ben Manski, a law student and Green Party activist, said the

biggest concern is " black box " voting. How is it, he asked, that

Florida precincts with 70 percent Democratic registration went 60

percent for George Bush?

 

A related concern, Manski said, is the effort to suppress votes before

and on Nov. 2. District 8 Ald. Austin King said misleading voting

information posted at UW-Madison and other campuses " was clearly a

coordinated national effort by Republicans to suppress the college vote. "

 

" I'd very much like to see someone put in jail for this, and I'm not a

tough-on-crime guy, " King said.

 

Nationwide, there's a loose coalition of groups protesting the

election, and news reports surface every day detailing problems with

things like electronic voting, people waiting hours to vote and

supposedly nonpartisan election officials making decisions that helped

Republicans.

 

Three Democratic congressmen -- U.S. Reps. John Conyers Jr. of

Michigan, Jerrold Nadler of New York and Robert Wexler of Florida --

have asked the General Accounting Office to investigate.

 

Whether the election is overturned or not, said Phyllis Hasbrouck,

it's key in the future to require paper ballots and to ban

touch-screen voting. " If we don't do this, we'll never have a real

election again, " she said.

 

It's troubling to Bill Hawkes, a retired A.C. Nielsen Co.

statistician, that exit polls and vote totals were so far out of

whack. " I've spent my whole life in marketing. The difference is

clearly beyond any sampling variability. ... The community of

statisticians and media experts need to not let this be dropped. "

 

A woman who didn't want to be identified said the public needs to keep

the pressure on. " How many millions did they spend on the Lewinsky

investigation? " she asked.

 

A problem, Manski said, is trying to coordinate national and local

efforts. He said he would participate in a conference call today with

a coordinating committee. A public meeting and hearing are being

organized for Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.

 

It was suggested that people write and call their elected

representatives and voter rights groups to demand action. " It's

important that we get institutions involved that are outside the blog

community, " Manski said.

 

Groups like MoveOn.org and True Majority so far aren't getting

involved, he said. " There's a lot going on, but in terms of liberal

leadership there's not a lot going on. "

 

Well, it's like this, said a man in the back of the room: " If it is to

be, it is up to me. "

 

People signed up for various tasks to keep the drive alive, and

another meeting is set tentatively for Saturday.

 

Electoral College electors vote in their home states Dec. 13.

 

John Peck, a recent UW graduate who said he's now overqualified for a

job in his field and is driving a cab, wants to put up " democracy

walls " like the Chinese did in the 1970s and 1980s.

 

" We should have a democracy wall in every town so people who don't

have the Internet can read them. It's time to reclaim our public space. "

 

Peck added a thought about electronic voting. " The Luddites had an

answer to machines. "

 

E-mail: bdunn

 

Published: 11:07 AM 11/8/04