Here's a quick helpful thing you can do tonight!

[emlev]

The Elections Assistance Commission is accepting email testimony about provisional ballots until 1 pm EST on Wednesday, February 23.

See this link for details:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x331057

If you don't have any personal experience with provisional ballots to testify about, heres how you can help: Read incident reports related to provisional ballots, and submit testimony based on what you've read.

Go to the Election Protection Coalition's Election Incident Reporting System (EIRS).

https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapNation&tab=ALL

Choose a state or a county you want to look at by clicking on the map. Select "View only a specific type of reported incident" from the drop-down list called "Show." Then select "provisional ballot problem"

Read the problems with provisional ballots for that state or county. If there aren't many, or they're so fascinating you want to read more, read more. When you've had enough, write what you think about it as testimony to the EAC. Submit it to:
[email protected].

Remember, the deadline is only hours away.

[mod mom]

1. Thanks, Emlev! The EAC really needs to hear from the public. They

will not allow public testimony, so lets flood them with email testimony. Our constitution states equal protection but Provisional ballots are like second class citizens.

In my state Ohio, there were 155,428 provisional ballots and 21% of them did not count. Guess where most of them were cast? In high dem areas. This meant that many of these voters waited in the ridiculous long lines in the cold rain for nothing-their votes did not count. This is not acceptable to me. The spirit of HAVA and the provisional vote was to help eligible voters cast their constitutional right, not for SOS to play partisan games to help their candidates!

Let them hear it DUers!

[crispini]

2. Done

and I'm so pleased to see that MY PRECINCT had NO incidents reported in the database. Yeah!

[justice4all]

3. Thanks, and done!

Found some incidents near home in MA, just to show the problems weren't only in swing states.

Feels good to do something constructive.

[emlev]

4. "Feels good to do something constructive"

There's tons to do that's constructive.

I'm in the process of compiling a list of tasks that election justice/reform organizations need help with. This will be a handout at the Oakland, CA teach-in on Saturday. My plan is to get permission to post it on DU as well. So keep your eyes open for it. In the meantime, if there's an organization whose work you particularly respect, contact them and tell them about your skills. Ask what you can do to help. If they can't use you, try another group.

There's much to be done, and we're all "regular people" doing it.

[Helga Scow Stern]

5. I just sent 31 pages of incidents from Los Angeles County.

They weren't hard to find, combing through the reports.

[Helga Scow Stern]

6. In case it's of use, here is what I wrote

Dear EAC:

This is a very partial list of complaints from Los Angeles County. Many, many people who filed registration materials in a timely manner were not found on poll rosters and had to vote provisionally. Widespread confusion, poor polling place organization, location, handicap inaccessibility, failure to distribute absentee ballots, and constant machine failure resulted in many having to vote provisionally.

As these 31 pages of the very tip of the iceberg will show, the provisional voting process was anything but smooth. Many times voters were left being unable to cast a ballot, or wondering whether or not their vote would be counted.

Our national voting system is in severe crisis. I am afraid that instead of Get Out The Vote Efforts in 2008, there will be protests in the streets that the vote will not be honestly counted.

Sincerely,
xxxxxxx
address

[mod mom]

7. thanks, DUers! We have until 1pm est nt