NH Vote Counts: Volunteers Needed
Many of you were concerned about who was going to watch the ballot box on January 8th in NH. Once again, I am relaying a message that comes from the campaign, through Jim Forsythe the person who gave the veterans speech at the Tea Party.
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/14526
As the meetup coordinator for New Hampshire, I wanted to update everyone on the efforts of the campaign to make sure the election is free from any fraud, and votes are counted accurately. There are a lot of posts and e-mail going around about this, so I thought it would be good for people to hear something from the folks on the ground and closest to the campaign. I have been talking to the NH campaign manager about this issue, and he has in turn been discussing it with national. They are taking the issue quite seriously, contrary to the rumors floating around the internet.
First, I have done hand counts here in NH in the past, with my kids sitting by my side. I know the folks in my town take the accuracy of the count quite seriously, and we normally have numerous volunteers to count the votes. Each table has two people so they can double check each other. The hand counts are a very transparent process, and this is what is used in about half the communities.
The other half use scanning machines, NOT the all-electronic machines. A paper trail is required in New Hampshire. So the person will fill out a paper ballot, and insert it into the machine to be counted and registered. If there is an error, it is spit back out, giving the person an opportunity to fix the mistake. All the paper ballots are put into a box and kept on file for 60 days (see RSA 659:95 - http://www.sos.nh.gov/rsa659.htm) for possible recounts. It is my understanding that many communities go ahead and hand count that night to double-check the scanning machines. These machines are NOT hooked up by modem.
The campaign has plans for the day of the primary that will help ensure a clean vote AND maximize the number of people that turn out. The best thing supporters in New Hampshire can do is to volunteer with the campaign to work the day of the primary, all day and into the evening. Working for other groups rather than the campaign will only dilute our efforts and risk destroying all the hard work us NH residents have made starting as far back as March. There are hundreds of polling locations – we need everyone’s help if we want to cover as many as possible. Having half the people work for the campaign, and half for other groups will mean we can only cover half the polling locations.
There have been a lot of nasty things said about the official campaign. Having worked closely with the campaign since they began in NH, I find this extremely frustrating. Several of these people I worked with prior to the official campaign starting, and they are great hardworking people who want Dr Paul to win. In NH, the grassroots supporters and the campaign have had a great working relationship, and there is no need to destroy that.
-- Jim
Thanks, Jane.
For those who don't realize the urgency of vote counting, especially in states that outsource the election process (I guess all but NH), see the following 9-part video series:
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzPXer7946E
Part 5 (included here because Part 5 is hard to locate in youtube):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht7fqoGUfS0&feature=related
(Part 9 of the series is the best, but you have to see the first 8 parts to really appreciate it.)
THE KEY POINT made in these videos, and what the hack proved irrefutably, is that the “memory” cards contain NOT ONLY VOTE DATA, but an EXECUTABLE FILE AS WELL!! This is what the hacker referred to as the “Mother of all security holes.” What it does is allow the vendor a means of manipulating the data as it is accumulated! This allows the vendor to sell not only the voting machines, but the election as well. Now remember that the vendor (in the videos above) lied about the existence of the executable file in the “memory” card! Can they be trusted with America’s future? the world's future? Ludicrous!
PLAN A
is definitely PAPER ballots HAND COUNTED! We have to cause an uproar. Never mind what the chances of success are. That IS Plan A because it would occur BEFORE the damage is done.
PLAN B:
is signing affidavits. Affidavits are Plan B because they suggest a legal battle, and the new “president” could invade 2 more countries before the legal case gets settled… And which “administration” would oversee the legal battle? Still, affidavits are a necessary component!
Once you've watched all 9 videos, we all need to:
1. Email ALL 50 governors (http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml) and demand that votes be counted BY HAND.
2. Send emails to everyone in congress (http://www.visi.com/juan/congress) and demand that all votes be COUNTED BY HAND.
3. Email all news organizations and demand that all votes be counted BY HAND.
4. Email all local election staff and demand that all votes be counted BY HAND.
5. Better yet, BECOME election staff and demand that all votes be counted BY HAND.
Maybe the campaign could pay to have the videos above aired during primetime, maybe John Stossel.
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Another great idea has emerged in the last week (not sure who originated it) - Broadcast the vote totals on the web
(see http://www.libertybroadcastnetwork.org)
(not by the campaign).
Encouraging
This is an encouraging post - thank you! I hope the campaign will coordinate with grassroots (e.g. Meetups in nearby states) in the event they are short-handed on assistants the day of the Primary. If we can get enough boots on the ground it sounds like we've got a good chance to have a fair vote count here.
Grassroots neighbors
Yes, we have been working with other meetups all along. NYC has come out several times with over 20 people to canvass, and will show up in force on the 8th. Mass meetups have been a huge help in souther NH. Vermont, CT, etc have been coming out. I can't thank all these people enough.
Jim Forsythe, PhD
www.jimforsythe.com
NH is pretty good about this.
I was present at a 'recount' of votes that had been done with the machines (not connected to a modem) and I have to say it was 100% accurate save for one ballot that had been so severely marked up (instead of just filling in the dots where you were supposed to) the machine was confused...
Most of the vote fraud in NH is from people who don't have the right to vote here. They are pretty good about fair voting just as our GOP is not like some of the ones that gave us trouble in other states like Michigan and South Carolina.
>>It is my understanding
>>It is my understanding that many communities go ahead and hand count that night to double-check the scanning machines.
Is there any way we can get ALL communities to hand count?
Really, it is the only way to insure accuracy. Everything else is BS.
We will know if the votes
We will know if the votes are "off" at a particular poll and can then demand a recount.
Jim Forsythe, PhD
www.jimforsythe.com
Ron Paul Vote Count
Recently I came across this website RonPaulVoteCount located at:
http://ronpaulvotecount.com/index.html
I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere on DP. Since we're all concerned about an accurate vote count, it might be worth checking out. Their Mission statement says:
"In order to provide for a fair and proper presidential election process, and overcome prevalence of vote fraud in recent elections, the RonPaulVoteCount Movement will help Ron Paul voters
to independently DOCUMENT THEIR VOTES with an Affidavit.
In this manner, a mechanism will be in place, and acted upon by RonPaulVoteCount volunteers, to INDEPENDENTLY count, total, and report such votes, for comparison to results reported by the Election Administrator, and, where significant discrepancy is found, take further action within a short time period after the Election."
I wonder if this would be a more practical and full-proof way of ensuring an accurate vote count for Dr. Paul. Perhaps it could be utilized in addition to the vote watchers. IMO we need to take all possible precautions to safe-guard against Vote Fraud.
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