Election 2008

The mad rush to experiment with Instant runoff voting in North Carolina has created some very bad news for the supporters of NC's paper ballot law.

Anything goes in North Carolina, or Welcome back Diebold and gang.

Thursday the House Election Law Committee passed the bill SB 1263 which extended the IRV pilot program for 3 years. It goes to the House Judiciary I committee next Tuesday.

See NCVoter's website on HOW YOU CAN HELP . PLEASE TAKE ACTION BEFORE THIS TUESDAY JULY 8TH. SEE OUR WEBSITE ACTION ALERT, SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS.

There is a catastrophe taking place in North Carolina right now. It's not as visible or frightening as a tornado or a flood, but the end result of this catastrophe will be very similar: thousands of our fellow North Carolinians steeped in despair and struggling to find a place for their families to live.

Kathy Dopp, a mathematician and computer scientist, has issued a new paper today on Instant Runoff Voting. The bottom line - IRV does not meet its promise and it is damaging to election integrity. Since the main proponent has set up office in North Carolina, it behooves anyone who cares about their vote to read this. North Carolina has trouble counting votes now, we don't need to make it more complicated.

Just today a new report has been released on Instant Runoff Voting, by Mathematician Kathy Dopp, President of The National Election Data Archive. Here is her press release, and the full report is linked if you wish to review it. North Carolina has been targeted by outside groups to be a "beta test" for this election experiment. Many groups are being persuaded to endorse Instant Runoff Voting without hearing these important facts. North Carolina's voting software and machines are not up to mission requirements for this. Senior citizens and less educated voters will be hindered by this system

Monday, June 9. 2008

This is not just a case of voter supression. This is a political hot potato that some media and even some voting activists won't talk about or report on because it offends some of their base. But wrong is wrong! SIX days ahead of the North Carolina primary a "Jim Crow" effort was aimed at supressing the African American vote. A group called Women's Voices Women's Vote (WVWV) has been placing robocalls to voters across North Carolina that leads voters to think that they are not registered to vote. The North Carolina NAACP has filed a complaint and also alerted the Department of Justice.

There have been some discussions here recently about PACs, and whether or not it's "ethical" to accept money from them. Recently Kay Hagan made a comment about refusing donations from PACs being "unrealistic". I have to admit, while a part of me rails at this position, another part of me is almost in agreement, considering how outrageously expensive it is to run a race like the U.S. Senate.

Well, the Democratic Primary is upon us, and I have to say it's gotten here much quicker than I thought. I had planned to do so much more in the way of helping out Jim Neal's campaign, but I fear complacency and pragmatism have kept me from following up on those plans.

While her latest endorser is out making slurs against the gay community, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-$109 Million)employs a southern accent (so we'll understand her) to tell an audience in North Carolina what a tough life she's had.

Jed, over at the Jed Report, has made a video of Hillary's speech showing how she is just like all of us.

Watch the VIDEO of If you'd had my life, you'd be tough too click HERE
Trust me, its well worth clicking on.....

Jed says:

As many of you are aware, one of the issues that's near and dear to my heart is renewable energy. I have often been discouraged by the seeming lack of interest in the pursuit of such by our elected officials as well as the general public. You would think that seeing a candidate for U.S. Senate run television ads focusing on this issue would please me. Well, I am far from pleased, and am actually somewhere between offended and incensed by this.

I am pleased, however, by the results of a recent survey by the Civil Society Institute showing an overwhelming opposition to coal plants and support of efficiency and green energy intitiatives by the citizens of North Carolina:

I had the honor of representing Jim Neal at the Alamance County Democratic Convention today, and luckily, he showed up just in the nick of time so I could avoid the public speaking aspect of my surrogate duties (whew).

I'm sure I would have done just fine, but since I actually live in Alamance County, it's not like I could just fade away and never come back if I tumbled over a chair ala "America's Funniest Home Videos" or accidentally dropped an F-bomb while speaking. While they may not be as horrific as the nightmare where you show up at school naked, these things were playing in the back of my mind, nevertheless.

Here's our glorious and recently face-lifted courthouse where the Convention took place: