2 Calif Meetings on Agenda Thur 3/16

[JunkYardDogg]

Here are two State meetings:


IMPORTANT:

Yet another update about tomorrow. Once again there are now again TWO IMPORTANT HEARINGS, tomorrow, Wednesday 3/16 on election reform issues.

(Note that the 3/17 Senate hearing to confirm McPherson is still on as previously scheduled--upon adjournment of the Legislature approx. 10:30 a.m.)

CA Sacramento Capitol Hearings Set for Thursday, 3/16:

1) 9:30 a.m. in Room 3191 is the Senate Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee hearing where new legislation regarding absentee ballots, contributions from voting machine companies, conflict of interest and Secretary of State will be heard.

--->Connie McCormack might be there to testify!

2)The other important hearing is at 1:30 p.m. in Room 112 where in addition to other business, two of the Governor's nominees must appear prior to confirmation. Bruce McPherson, nominated for Secretary of State is the first of those nominees. We intend to be at both Senate Hearings.

For Future Reference: Go to www.sen.ca.gov and click on Daily File where a weeks worth of hearings are posted. BTW, you can then scroll down to March 16th and see the bills being considered and click on each bill. Also, this morning hearing is being televised, presumably on the California cable channel.

Note: Mark Kyle and Marc Carrel have resigned from the Voting Systems and Procedures Panel. We hope to influence Bruce McPherson to appoint people who want every vote counted accurately with the paper ballot as the vote, recount, audit and record.

[Dan Ancona]

1. And if you want the Rules Committees to hear from you...

Check out SpeakOut's latest campaign...

Will California be the next Florida or Ohio?

It lets ya fax straight to the Assembly & Senate Rules Committees.

[JunkYardDogg]

2. Cool

I just got that also
from one of our County Progressive Groups
Thanks
New Guy

[Helga Scow Stern]

5. Yay! Hannah Beth Jackson IS paying attention!

[JunkYardDogg]

3. Ca Senate Elections,Reapportionments, etc Committee

http://www.senate.ca.gov/ftp/sen/committee/STANDING/EL/_home1/PROFILE.HTM

Standing Committees~
Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments
Elections and Reapportionment meet every 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 9:30 am in Room 3191.

JURISDICTION: Bills relating to Elections, Reapportionment and proposals to amend the California Constitution.
Members:
Senator Debra Bowen (Chair)
Senator Jim Battin (Vice-Chair)
Senator Joseph Dunn
Senator Kevin Murray
Senator Charles Poochigian
Senator Gloria Romero


Addresses & Staff:
Chief Consultant:
Darren Chesin
Consultant:
Fran Tibon-Estoista
Assistant:
Diana Ramirez
Phone:
[phone]
Room 2203

Senator Bowen
Senate District 28
Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 4040
Sacramento, CA 95814
[phone]
Fax [phone]
District Office
2512 Artesia Blvd., #200
Redondo Beach, CA 90278
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Contact
[e-mail]


Capitol
Palm Desert
Moreno Valley

State Capitol, Room 3067 73-710 Fred Waring Dr., #112 13800 Heacock, Suite C-112
Sacramento, CA 95814 Palm Desert, CA 92260 Moreno Valley, CA 92553
Phone: [phone] Phone: [phone] Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone] Fax: [phone] Fax: [phone]



Senator Dunn
Senate District 34
Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 2080
Sacramento CA 95814
[phone]
District Office
12397 Lewis Street, #103
Garden Grove, CA 92840
[phone]
Fax [phone]


Senator Murray
Senate District 26
Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 5050
Sacramento, CA 95814
[phone]
Fax [phone]
District Office
600 Corporate Pointe, #1020
Culver City, CA 90230
[phone]
Fax [phone]



Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno)
OFFICES

Capitol
Fresno
Ripon

State Capitol, Room 5087 4974 E. Clinton, #100 1308 W. Main Street, Suite B
Sacramento, CA 95814 Fresno, CA 93727 Ripon, CA 95366
Phone: [phone] Phone: [phone] Phone: [phone]
Fax [phone]

Senator Romero
Senate District 24
Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 313
Sacramento, CA 95814
[phone]
Fax [phone]
District Office
149 S. Mednik Ave., Suite 202
Los Angeles, CA 90022
[phone]

[JunkYardDogg]

4. Correction!! It's an Assembly meeting for McPherson!!!!!!

Correction!!!
My mistake

[Helga Scow Stern]

6. Is anyone going to these hearings? n/t

[Peace Patriot]

7. JunkYardDogg, check all your dates and times above.

You wrote: "CA Sacramento Capitol Hearings Set for Thursday, 3/16:"

But the 16th is tomorrow, Wed. Thurs is the 17th.

------

JUNKYARDDOGG! What's your advice for public comment letters/phone calls tomorrow morning, Wed. March 16 (or for Thurs)? What's the priority? Are these "wait and see" things, or is some kind of immediate action needed?

[JunkYardDogg]

13. There are going to be people there

We must keep pushing for SB1348 Compliance and
to resist McCormack's attempts to not obey the law
The hearings , I'm pretty sure are Wed

[Peace Patriot]

8. Here's my letter for the Hannah-Beth Jackson action--SpeakOut to...

...the CA Senate and Assembly Rules Committees:

Subject: Will McPherson Uphold Shelley's Tough Standards?

Dear (Senator and Assembly Rules Committee Members):

I urge you to vote against the nomination of Bruce McPherson for Secretary of State unless McPherson provides unequivocal commitments on the following three topics:

First, that he will strongly defend the AVVPAT (Accessible Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) and the paper ballot option against any and all assaults by private lobbyists or interested election officials. Mr. McPherson's record is positive on this issue. He needs to strongly reaffirm that commitment.

Second, the state must strongly encourage the development of open-source voting machines, starting with AR-242 (investigating open-source). There is no excuse for private interests controlling the recording or tabulation of our votes. Mr. McPherson should unequivocally back open-source.

Third, Mr. McPherson must state unequivocally that he will not bend the special election rules for Governor Schwarzenegger. No election should occur before the AVVPAT is in full force. Without it, the election is unverifiable.

Private electronic voting machine companies with a heavy partisan interest in electing Republicans currently control our election system with secret, proprietary source code, and with no paper trail in many jurisdictions.

Further, we saw massive violations of the Voting Rights Act and other election laws by Republican election officials in Ohio and Florida in 2004.

As far as I'm concerned--despite Mr. McPherson's record on the AVVPAT--a Republican Secretary of State is guilty until proven innocent.

The loss of our vigilant Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, who took a tough stance on electronic election system standards, is very ominous. So is Diebold's and Connie McCormack's campaign to get rid of the AVVPAT.

Dozens of Ph.D's in statistics from leading universities have questioned the integrity of our nation's voting system during the 2004 election, and have called for an investigation. Please see:

"The Corrupted Election," In These Times, 2/15/05, by Dr. Freeman and Dr. Josh Mitteldorf
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1970

The USCountVotes.org report by nine Ph.D.'s who cast serious doubt on 2004 presidential election, and call for an investigation:
http://uscountvotes.org/ucvAnalysis/US/USCountVotes_Re_Mitofsky-Edison.pdf

"UC Berkeley Study Questions Florida E-Vote Count: Research Team Calls for Immediate Investigation"- 11/18/04, by Dr. Michael Haut and the U.C. Berkeley Quantitative Methods Research Team. Report: http://ucdata.berkeley.edu. Press release: http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1118-14.htm

and

"The United States of Ukraine?: Exit Polls Leave Little Doubt that in a Free and Fair Election John Kerry Would Have Won…," by Dr. Ron Baiman: senior research specialist, Institute of Government and Public Affairs, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago.
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/997

Dr. Baiman states: "I conclude that, based on the best exit sample data currently available, neither the national popular vote, or many of the certified state election results, are credible and should not be regarded as a true reflection of the intent of national electorate, or of many state voters, until a complete and thorough investigation…."

It is absurd that citizens are having to fight efforts to weaken California's elections standards—when we should all be working to strengthen those standards, and, indeed, when we should be considering whether or not these voting systems are viable at all.

Mr. McPherson has been appointed in the midst of the most serious assault on our democracy that this country has ever seen. If we do not know how our votes are counted, then we do not really have a right to vote. I urge the utmost vigilance on this matter.

See also: "Myth Breakers: Facts About Electronic Elections" (2nd edition): www.votersunite.org

Sincerely,
xxxxx

--------

Do it! It's easy! GO HERE: http://ga4.org/campaign/mcpherson

Note: Ignore "page not found" message when you confirm your letter submission. My letter seems to be going out to Senators/Assemblymembers anyway.

[Peace Patriot]

9. ACTION! See LETTER OF THE WEEK #5: California Coup - just posted, at

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x344437

1. Sample letter to legislators, civic groups, media: sums up our concerns about the California coup, perils to the integrity of our election system, 2004 evidence of election fraud (especially as it pertains to electronic voting), and an action list for legislators and others in government--and the letter has some good quotes in it, too.

2. Reorganized documentation list

3. Additional talking points

[Wilms]

10. (CA) Supes to hear report on new voting system requirements

Supes to hear report on new voting system requirements

Monday, March 14, 2005 6:15:10 AM PST

By James Faulk The Times-Standard

EUREKA -- Humboldt County is required by federal law to acquire a new voting system that complies with state and federal law by January 2006.

This provision and others under the Help America Vote Act will be presented to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors at its meeting Tuesday.

-snip-

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the Supervisors Chambers of the Humboldt County Courthouse.

-snip/more-

http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127~2896~2761856,00.html

[Peace Patriot]

11. "at its meeting Tuesday" - meaning yesterday? n/t

[Wilms]

14. Yep, yesterday.

To be fair, they may have published this info earlier as well.

[JunkYardDogg]

12. We should send them copies of SB1348 and the Election Codes

and the info on the Only Certified system
We'll have to get their names etc
I'll try to find the DFA group in Humbolt County