PDA Continues Historic Work with Voting Rights Allies

In the aftermath of the November election, Progressive Democrats of America joined with a wide array of other organizations--Code PINK, Velvet Revolution, United Progressives for Democracy and Global Exchange, along with several others--to bring wide public attention to the widespread and blatant election 'irregularities' in Ohio and elsewhere.

The first major action of this coalition was organized around the January 6th congressional certification of the Electoral College votes. In an unprecedented wave of multi-pronged activism, the coalition put dramatic pressure on members of Congress to take a stand against the validation of yet another broken election. By expressing the public discontent over Ohio, this coalition was instrumental in inspiring and supporting Representative Stephanie Tubbs-Jones and Senator Barbara Boxer in their historic challenge of the Ohio Electoral College votes. Since that time, members of the coalition have continued to meet, organize and work to guide, nurture and inspire the growing election reform movement all across this nation.

Given everything that has happened, and the manifest work left to be done on this issue, the recent creation of the James Baker/Jimmy Carter Election Commission has caused our coalition a great deal of concern. Because of the questionable motivations and dubious background of some prominent members of this Commission, we are not at all confident they will generate recommendations that specifically address the voter disenfranchisement and potential fraud witnessed in both 2000 and 2004. We are likewise not at all confident this Commission as presently comprised will complete its work with positive solutions for the serious and growing problems that undermine the basic underpinnings of American participatory democracy.

Working together, the coalition has come up with a basic list of recommendations the Commission should propose for fixing our broken election systems:

Constitutional right to vote for all citizens, without exception
Paper ballots as the official record of all votes cast
Open source code for all machines used to count and/or tabulate the votes
Independent analysis of all voting machine software and hardware before and after elections
Unified national standards for national elections
No vote machine company executive or employee involvement in campaign work for any candidate
Random audit of 10% of elections
10-day period for voting
Election day registration
Voter identification by any official form of identification
Independent non-partisan administration and multi-partisan observation of elections
Voting rights restoration to convicted felons
No computer networking of vote machines
Publicly financed elections for federal offices and free access to public airwaves to all candidates
Fair ballot access laws and access to debates for all candidates and parties
Federal holiday for national elections
Instant Run-off Voting and Proportional Representation
Equal protection for voting rights nationwide
Augmentation and reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act

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PDA Continues Historic Work with Voting Rights Allies