Meeting on Election Integrity & Voting Machines

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Thousand Oaks, California

The Democratic Club of the Conejo Valley is hosting a panel discussion on Election Integrity and Voting Machines on May 11th, at 7:00pm. Special panel guests will be:

*Andrew Gumbel, Political journalist for UK newspaper, The Independent, has written prolifically on an extensive range of topics from voting irregularities to Bush's return on investment for election donations from his corporate pals. His articles about voting irregularities address topics such as "Politics and sleaze envelop Orlando", 2002 mid-term election exit poll inconsistencies in Georgia and recall vote discrepancies in California, "Mock the Vote". Andrew Gumbel is a journalist as well as a travel writer. He has lived abroad for most of his adult life, working as a foreign correspondent in continental Europe and the United States. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he writes for The Independent.

*Pam Smith, National Coordinator, Verified Voting, represents more than a million people who have signed petitions in favor of verified voting. "In order to ensure e-voting can be reliable, you have to have the voter's choice recorded on hardcopy," said Pam Smith, Nationwide Coordinator for VerifiedVoting.org. "If you don't have that, you don't have confirmation." Her interest in voting issues includes experience as an election observer, locally and internationally. She organized VerifiedVoting.org's Petition Delivery Days in April 2004 and, as a board member of San Diego's SAVE Democracy (SAVE = Safe, Accurate, Verified Elections), she testified to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's Voting Systems and Procedures Panel, and to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors regarding the voting issue and San Diego's use of Diebold electronic voting equipment. Pamela, originally from Chicago, IL, is now a resident of Carlsbad, CA.

*Timm Herdt, Sacramento Bureau Chief, Ventura County Star, reports on legislative and political issues from Sacramento. He also writes weekly opinion columns for The Star.

For directions and more information, please visit http://www.conejodemocrats.com