I was deeply ashamed as an American when I watched what happened in Florida in 2000. But when in 2004 we saw the same kinds of problems across the country, I got angry. It's way past time that we do something about elections in this country, and we need to get it right once and for all.
We can't wait around for Washington to solve these problems. So over at Heartland PAC we've decided to go straight to the election officials in each state, and pressure them to make firm commitments to make our elections work.
We're doing that through the VOTES Declaration, which this community helped make a real success. In my last post I promised to do what I can to keep the drumbeat of pressure growing, and I wanted to share what you what we have done.
This week,
we partnered with Florida College Democrats to deliver the VOTES Declaration to Secretary of State Sue Cobb's offices to make sure she can't ignore the reasonable voices of those Floridians who signed the VOTES Declaration and want a paper trail in place for the 2006 elections.
The media covered the event, including Florida TV stations and online media:
http://www.wctv6.com/...
http://www.flanews.com/...
During the delivery, the Florida College Democrats made it crystal clear why they joined this cause. David Grimes, EVP of the College Democrats at Florida State, said:
It is incredibly important that citizens advocate for voting rights in places where abuses are frequent, like Florida, where our highest election official serves at the pleasure of a Governor whose brother is the President It's time to stand up and fight to defend our right to vote.
On the signed VOTES Declarations, Floridians spoke their peace on voting, including Rosemary, an Orlando resident who wrote: "The fact that we have to request that these things be done is disturbing. This process is fundamental to our democracy!"
I am proud to work with these volunteers, and with all of the activists who helped make this happen here and on our site.
We chose Florida for our second delivery because of the history of problems in their elections, which we are all familiar with -- and also because this November, we have a chance to elect a Democratic Governor.
This is a huge opportunity. In Florida, the secretary of state serves at the pleasure -- and by the appointment -- of the governor.
That became Florida's practice after the performance of Katherine Harris in 2000 . After Bush v. Gore, voters passed a ballot initiative and gave the governor appointment authority over Harris's job. The purpose of the initiative was to separate partisan politics from the administration of elections.
Unfortunately, Jeb Bush first appointed Glenda Hood, who continued her predecessor's habit of putting party over the public's trust in clean elections. Given a second chance to the right thing he chose Sue Cobb -- who, with her close GOP ties and total inexperience at running elections, refuses to implement a paper trail.
Democrats in Florida will choose their nominee September 5th and I will be back to urge this community to give him their full support. By electing a Democratic governor we can be confident the next appointment of secretary of state will bring about the change we all desire: fair, open, and honest elections.
What we are doing together does make a difference. Jennifer Brunner (OH), Mike Mauro (IA), Ken Gordon (CO) and Ross Miller (NV) all report a surge in support from across the country thanks to your efforts.
In total there are twenty-two races for secretary of state who also serve as the chief election officer in their state. What we do together to elect candidates to these positions, I am convinced, can go a long way to restoring confidence and increasing participation in our democracy.
In addition to mailing the VOTES Declaration to every incumbent and every candidate to make our voices heard, we are also planning additional hand deliveries so we can bring more attention to these races.
Finally, thank you to the Ohio and Florida College Democrats for being such great partners with Heartland PAC. Without their help these deliveries would not have happened.