[Peace-discuss] RE: [UCprogressives-discuss] Fw: Election Commission

[Esther Patt]

Whether you think the Commission is a good idea or not, be assured that the 
county clerk's efforts to suppress voting have been vigorous and persistent. 
  In 2000, two of my co-workers turned in change of address of registration 
the first week in September.  The guy who lived in Savoy got a new voter 
registration card 3 days later.  The woman who lived on Fifth & Green didn't 
get her new card until the day before the election.  Shelden denied that he 
held back student voter registration forms and processed them last, but my 
experience says otherwise.

This year, he showed up at Quad Day around 11:00 a.m. after more than 300 
students had registered to vote and decreed that the forms they used were no 
good under a November 2003 law.  He had been accepting those forms for 
months, right up through August of this year until his decision on Quad Day 
to deem them invalid.  All those people had to re-register.   On election 
day in 2000, polling places in Mahomet had extra booths and in the polling 
places on campus, people had to wait in lines because there weren't enough 
booths.  One polling place (I think it was PAR) ran out of ballots.   How 
does something like that happen?  We know student turn out in presidential 
elections is much higher than in the other elections.  The clerk should be 
prepared.
Esther Patt


>From: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
>To: 
<peace-discuss at lists.cu.groogroo.com>,<ucprogressives-discuss at lists.cu.groogroo.com>,<prairiegreens at lists.groogroo.com>
>Subject: [UCprogressives-discuss] Fw: Election Commission
>Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 13:43:53 -0500
>
>Does anyone care to comment on the overture below by Tony Fabri?
>
>I wasn't specifically aware of any current-day voter suppression due to 
the
>Champaign County Clerk's office. I've heard rumors, but nothing solid.
>Perhaps I'm uninformed. Can anyone shed light on this?
>
>Regardless, it seems to me that handing over election administration to 
an
>unelected, party-controlled commission may not be the best idea (witness 
the
>Federal Elections Commission, for example). I think I'm much more
>comfortable with elections that are administered by an individual that 
is
>immediately accountable to voters rather than a commission of unelected
>political appointees.
>
>All the arguments by Mr. Fabri below in favor of the commission seem
>unconvincing and specious to me. I particularly point to the oxymoronic
>phrase "independent, bipartisan commission".
>
>Other opinions?...
>
>R
>
>PS: For what it's worth, I personally like many things Shelden has done 
-
>the mailed voter guides, the electronic voter-registration kiosks, the
>content-rich website champaigncountyclerk.com. These changes seem 
rather,
>well, *progressive*. But the individualized performance of a single
>officeholder shouldn't necessarily enter into consideration of a major
>change in government like this.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tony Fabri" <tonyfabri at hotmail.com>
>To: <recotton at earthlink.net>; <grosser at itg.uiuc.edu>; 
<wwmuelle at shout.net>;
><baanders at students.uiuc.edu>; <chyn at ojctech.com>; 
<cumpston at uiuc.edu>;
><danielle at onthejob.net>; <estherpatt at hotmail.com>; 
<grosales at uiuc.edu>;
><SMITHJL at ci.champaign.il.us>; <tjwright at cooketech.net>;
><jlaesch11 at hotmail.com>; <dpkovacic at sbcglobal.net>;
><mpatten at prairienet.org>; <ramowatt at yahoo.com>
>Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 11:03 AM
>Subject: Election Commission
>
>
>: As you may know, Champaign County has a long and shameful history of
>: election day voter suppression, particularly in African-American
>: neighborhoods and on the University campus.  The problem is that the
>: election authority for the county is an elected politician, and in 
recent
>: decades anyway, a Republican politician who sees these two groups as 
being
>: pro-Democrat.
>:
>: The November ballot will have a referendum question on whether to 
create
>an
>: independent, bi-partisan Election Commission, which if passed would 
take
>on
>: all election-related responsibilities of both the County Clerk and the
>: County Board.  All decisions of the Election Commission would be made 
in
>: open meetings, unlike our present system, where they are made behind
>closed
>: doors by an official who has now admitted to misusing public property 
in
>the
>: Clerk's office to help run Republican campaigns.
>:
>: We are making a massive push this Sunday to get information out to 
voters
>in
>: support of the Election Commission.  Please help us by passing along 
the
>: attached announcement to any progressive lists you may be aware of.  
Also,
>: please consider spending a few hours on Sunday to help bring fair 
& open
>: elections to Champaign County!
>:
>: Thank you,
>: Tony Fabri
>:
>: _________________________________________________________________
>: FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar - get it now!
>: http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/
>:
>
>WHAT:    "Lit Drop" to support "Yes" vote for 
Election Commission
>
>WHEN:    This Sunday, Oct. 24, at 10 am and again at 2 pm
>
>WHERE:  Meet at Democratic HQ, 14 E. Washington, downtown Champaign
>
>WHY:       Every two years, Democrats have to fight our Republican 
County
>Clerk to make sure voters are properly registered and able to vote.  
Whether
>you started working in campaigns in 1972, 1992, or even 2002, you've
>probably witnessed examples where the Republican County Clerk has used 
his
>office to suppress the vote of African-Americans and students in this
>community.  Meanwhile, the County Clerk's Office is misused to run
>Republican campaigns, instead of fair and unbiased elections.  It's a
>shameful record for our community.
>
>We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change that record on 
November
>2nd.  A ballot referendum question will ask Champaign County voters if 
they
>want to create a Board of Election Commissioners.  If passed, all 
election
>responsibilities of the County Clerk and of the County Board will be
>combined under an independent, bipartisan commission.  Never again will 
one
>political party have complete control over the mechanics of our 
elections.
>Never again will we wonder what goes on behind closed doors, because the
>Election Commission will have to make all decisions in open meetings 
with
>the public watching.
>
>Most of us have been so focused on electing Democratic candidates that 
we've
>not been able to mount much of a campaign in support of the Election
>Commission.  (Despite having record voter registration and expecting 
record
>turnout in the upcoming election, Mark Shelden, on the other hand, 
hasn't
>been too busy to campaign against it.)  Now is the time to change that.
>
>We have literature supporting the Election Commission, but we don't have
>money available to mail out the thousands of flyers we need to get out.
>Instead, we're organizing a massive "lit drop" this Sunday, 
Oct. 24.  We
>need EVERYONE to help us get the word out effectively!
>
>Whether you're a veteran campaigner or someone who's never worked in a
>campaign before, now is the time to get involved!  In one day, you can 
help
>make the difference between victory and defeat for the Election 
Commission.
>Please take a few hours out of your Sunday to help bring fair and open
>elections to Champaign County, and to end the political games once and 
for
>all.
>
>We're meeting at 10am and again at 2pm on Sunday, Oct. 24 at Democratic
>Headquarters, 14 E. Washington, Champaign.  We'll have literature to
>distribute, as well as maps and walklists for you to use.  Please 
respond to
>this e-mail, or call Dem HQ at 359-3760 to let us know which time you 
are
>available.
>
>Thank you,
>Tony Fabri
>
>
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