Stay in the Ohio Recount Loop!.... Help needed to monitor the recount.

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone!

The letter below was sent to people who volunteered to help in some way with

the OH recount. More volunteers are needed as well as donations to help with

the costs. I plan to go if I don't get work that would conflict with the

time. If anyone else from Blair, Bedford, or Cambria Counties in PA plans to

volunteer, please let me know so we can communicate with each other and possibly

carpool.

Karen

 

On November , you joined over five thousand contributors

and six hundred (so far) volunteers who stepped forward to

help our campaign stand up with millions of other across the

country. We are voters across the political spectrum: Greens,

Libertarians, Independents, Kucinich-Dean-Kerry Democrats and

Republicans ready to restore integrity to our voting system.

We insist that the legitimacy of representative government be

defended from the flagrant threats to the public's confidence

that this and the previous election have engendered.

 

Below, I want to share with you news of our progress toward

ensuring a complete count of the votes in the Ohio election.

 

But first let me cover a couple of other quick topics.

 

I write first to thank you and welcome your active participation

in this campaign to ensure that every vote is counted and

to instigate a grass-roots movement that can restore public

confidence in electoral democracy. We need voter verified paper

ballots and open source election software, publicly financed

elections, proportional representation and instant run-off

voting, open access to the ballot, the enforcement and extension

of the Voting Right Act and non-partisan election officials.

 

In this letter we want to (1) update you on recent developments

and our plans for the recount effort, (2) invite you to

to new list serves designed to keep you in the loop or even

actively engaged as we move this campaign forward, (3) ask folks who

are willing to fill some critical volunteer roles, (4) ask you to

spread the word about our efforts and (5) inform you that unless

you confirm your subscription invitations described below,

you will not see any further email from us again until we have

a final report to share with you after Congress certifies the

election on January 6th.

 

We hope that everyone who has contributed or volunteered will

join our new recount-news list. This is

a low-traffic read-only list where our press secretary and

campaign manager will share with you breaking news, by, about

and of interest to those who support this recount campaign.

 

And we are inviting as well, everyone who has volunteered

to please confirm your invitation to to two

other lists:

-- recount-vols is a low-traffic, read

only list used by our campaign staff to communicate volunteer

opportunities on this recount campaign to those engaged in

the work;

-- recount-org is a discussion list for

volunteers actively engaged in this campaign, either right

there in Pennsylvania or on the ground in Ohio and what ever

other states this campaign may eventually lead us.

 

While we appreciate your financial support and could not proceed

without it, the truth is that a recount without our campaign

providing independent oversight of the process will not provide

meaningful feedback on the problems or do much to improve

public confidence in the system or in this year's result.

 

We estimate we will need nearly 2,000 volunteers to monitor

recount activities in all 88 Ohio counties. As I write this,

we are still nearly $20,000 shy of our fundraising goal

for the Ohio recount (even as we continue to consider the

problems in New Mexico and other states). Please send your

friends and family to our site and urge them to volunteer and /

or contribute to this vital work.

http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?function=donate

http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?function=volunteer & process=7

 

If you prefer to not get any further email from us, simply

ignore this note and you will only receive a final report of

our efforts after the Presidential Election has been certified

by the Congress on January 6th.

 

Our campaign has made a commitment to not spam the voters of

this country. This promise precludes our sending you further

email after this thank you letter inviting you to to

our lists. However, if you want us to keep you in the loop,

you simply need to respond to the the subscription invitation

you'll see under separate cover. Or write back to let us know

that you do in fact wish to to our campaign lists.

We want to keep you in the loop. But we do not want to abuse

your privacy or your inbox.

 

We have asked Holly Hart, of Iowa, to lead our efforts to coordinate

the participation of volunteers in this important historical effort to

reclaim public confidence in our elections. She needs your help. So

far, 600 volunteers have stepped forward. We will need at least 1,400

more before we arrive in Ohio. First she needs help communicating and

coordinating with 2,000 people over the next few days.

 

Please call Holly at 319-337-7341 if you can organize within

Pennsylvania to mobilize volunteers to come to Ohio and to

help us raise this campaign's goals and profile within your

community and state.

 

The corporate media is busy belittling and ridiculing

our efforts to defend and expand democracy in Ohio and by

extension in the rest of our nation as well. We need your

help to counter the attacks. We must not let them manufacture

our consent to expecting stolen elections cycle after cycle.

We are inviting everyone who has lent their support to this

campaign to follow that up with letters to the editor explaining

why you are supporting this recount effort. For ideas on what

you might include in such a letter, please visit our website at:

http://www.votecobb.org/recount/be-the-media

 

Please help us break through the media white-out

of our efforts by urging others to come to our <a

href- " http://www.votecobb.org/ " >web site and to contribute their

financial and volunteer support to this effort.

 

Our efforts are already well under way.

 

-- On Monday, Common Cause, the National Voting Rights

Institute, Demos, the Fannie Lou Hamer Project and People

for the American Way Foundation issued a joint statement in

support of the Cobb and Badnarik demand for an Ohio recount.

 

-- In the past week, we have raised over $200,000 of the

initial $250,000 our staff has budgeted for this effort.

And with your help we expect to reach our goal by this coming

Monday.

 

-- On Wednesday, our team of attorneys overnighted to each Ohio

county election director asking them to prepare for the recount.

 

-- On Friday, November 19th, our attorneys delivered a bond

to guarantee our $113,600 recount fee.

 

-- We have rehired staff we had just laid off at the end of

the campaign so we can continue this work. We have so far

identified 600 of the 2,000 volunteers we predict will be

needed for the work in Ohio. We are organizing now to train,

house and feed the folks on the ground in Ohio who will monitor

the recount on our behalf. We have established new list serves

to support this effort.

 

-- We continue to investigate what role we might play in New

Mexico, to monitor developments in Florida and other states

and to build alliances with citizen based election reform

groups across this nation.

 

-- And our efforts have now been endorsed by Ohio Congressman

Dennis Kucinich.

 

We need an election system and election officials we can trust.

The problems in Florida in 2000 and the problems in Ohio in

2004 will repeat themselves in 2008 unless we do something

about it. Americans can agree that our elections should be

administered by an independent non-partisan commission, and

not by the state chairs of presidential campaigns.

 

Again we thank you sincerely for your participation in this

Democracy Movement. We look forward to seeing you in Ohio.

 

Yours for a just, sustainable and democratic future,

 

David Cobb

and the entire Cobb-LaMarche Team

 

" Thank you to the Greens and all others whose support for a

recount will rescue a shred of honesty in the conduct of the

2004 Ohio election. "

-- Dennis Kucinich.

 

" First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they

fight you. Then you win. "

-- Mahatma K Gandhi