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A Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community
About Me :
I'm a grownup nerd living in the Boston burbs. I write computer programs for a living and plays for fun.
I'm married to a wonderful woman, and we share a nice little house with our daughter and our cats.
I'm a humanist, a technologist, an artist, and an idealist. I believe in reason, freedom, love, equality,
and democracy. (Did I mention that I'm
an idealist? I did, OK.)
I'm also a pragmatist and an empiricist. I reject ideology and dogma, especially when they conflict with
practical facts (i.e., pretty much always). I particularly hate willful ignorance, which tends to go hand-in-hand
with ideology and dogma.
Like the alignment of the planets, this blog gets updated as I have the time, inspiration, and inclination to do so.
Like the alignment of the planets, this blog gets updated as I have the time, inspiration, and inclination to do so.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Election Protection
Dear Friends:
There are a lot of reasons why people think that the upcoming election will be the most important election we have ever seen. To my mind, however, even with all the important issues confronting us, nothing is as important as ensuring and maintaining the integrity of the electoral process. After the fiasco of the 2000 election, and with every indication that the 2004 election will play out in a similar fashion, it is incumbent upon us as citizens to step up and do whatever it takes to make sure that every eligible voter who shows up at the polls is able to vote, and that every vote is counted.
With the stakes so high in this election, and with the electorate so evenly divided, we are already seeing attempts to interfere with voting rights on a massive scale. We can expect many more such attempts, up to Election Day, on Election Day, and beyond. These efforts range from the destruction of voter registration forms, to the use of error-filled voter exclusion lists, to the improper use of police to intimidate voters, to the deployment of buggy and unreliable electronic voting machines. These efforts suit the short-term interests of some politicians, but in the long run do nothing but erode the essential confidence that Americans must have in their democratic institutions. This damage serves no party's interest, but that fact alone will not stop them from trying anything they think they can get away with.
Don't let them get away with it.
Election Protection (http://www.electionprotection.org/) is organizing volunteers to monitor thousands of polling sites across the country, but especially in the battleground states, where the voting rights of millions of voters are most at risk. Please go to their site and volunteer time or donate money to help them protect our Constitutional rights.
This is not a partisan effort. Election Protection exists to protect the voting rights of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, and every other American eligible to vote. All Americans have a stake in the integrity of this election.
Please go to http://www.electionprotection.org/ and help protect the very basis of our democracy.
0 comments
Dear Friends:
There are a lot of reasons why people think that the upcoming election will be the most important election we have ever seen. To my mind, however, even with all the important issues confronting us, nothing is as important as ensuring and maintaining the integrity of the electoral process. After the fiasco of the 2000 election, and with every indication that the 2004 election will play out in a similar fashion, it is incumbent upon us as citizens to step up and do whatever it takes to make sure that every eligible voter who shows up at the polls is able to vote, and that every vote is counted.
With the stakes so high in this election, and with the electorate so evenly divided, we are already seeing attempts to interfere with voting rights on a massive scale. We can expect many more such attempts, up to Election Day, on Election Day, and beyond. These efforts range from the destruction of voter registration forms, to the use of error-filled voter exclusion lists, to the improper use of police to intimidate voters, to the deployment of buggy and unreliable electronic voting machines. These efforts suit the short-term interests of some politicians, but in the long run do nothing but erode the essential confidence that Americans must have in their democratic institutions. This damage serves no party's interest, but that fact alone will not stop them from trying anything they think they can get away with.
Don't let them get away with it.
Election Protection (http://www.electionprotection.org/) is organizing volunteers to monitor thousands of polling sites across the country, but especially in the battleground states, where the voting rights of millions of voters are most at risk. Please go to their site and volunteer time or donate money to help them protect our Constitutional rights.
This is not a partisan effort. Election Protection exists to protect the voting rights of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, and every other American eligible to vote. All Americans have a stake in the integrity of this election.
Please go to http://www.electionprotection.org/ and help protect the very basis of our democracy.
