HOW THE INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT WENT LEFT BY GOING RIGHT

As commmentator John McLauglin remarked "You can't understand what happened on Election Day if you just look at the [two] parties. You've got to look at what happened with independents."

Now, Neo-Independent magazine editor and IndependentVoting.org founder Jacqueline Salit presents that history.


I attended this conference and appear in the DVD.

Use the above link to view the DVD in its entirety and to get your own copy by just paying for shipping. You can scroll down to view the story by sections.

Michael H. Drucker
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E-Voting not Secure

This post is from Blogged by Brad Friedman on 3/27/2009.

U.S. EAC Finally Releases Complete Transcript of Stunning Cybersecurity Expert Testimony

"I follow the vote. And wherever the vote becomes an electron and touches a computer, that's an opportunity for a malicious actor potentially to...make bad things happen," CIA cybersecurity expert Steven Stigall explained, in stunning testimony, to a U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) field hearing held one month ago in Orlando.

Use the above link to read the entire post. There are many links on the post about recent E-voting problems.

Michael H. Drucker
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Independence Party making name for itself in NYC

This is from an article by By William Lewis, Wednesday, March 18, 2009.

"The Independence Party arrived on the scene about 15 years ago and has had a considerable impact on political developments since then. This party is mainly interested in changing the structure of our political process, rather than economic or social issues. Its focus is on political reform. It believes the two major political parties constitute a special interest that keeps the people from exercising direct control of their government.

It also believes so much of our election law, both at the federal and state level, is geared toward maintaining the two−party system and making it difficult for other political parties or groups to appeal to voters during the election process. Its favors non−partisan elections, same−day registration and support of term limits. It also believes that independents and voters not registered with any political party should be allowed to vote in the primary elections of the two major political parties, especially presidential primaries.

The organizational structure of the Independence Party in the city is unique. It has five borough chairmen, but no state Assembly district leaders. Its five borough executive committees are elected by their borough committees and meet monthly. They all meet together, however, as one group forming an inclusive city Independence Party, as opposed to the Independence state organization. They also meet in a different borough each month."

A reporter that gets it.

Use the above link to read the entire article.

Michael H. Drucker
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Politics for the People Class

This post is possible because of the great work of the Hankster. Use the link on the left to read her great posts.


The Cathy L. Stewart Politics for the People Presents: The ABC's of Column C -- How the NYC Independence Party Became the True Voice of Reform and Political Independence.

ABC's of Column C focused on the history of the Independence Party, what we stand for and the role we played in the growth of the national independent movement.

Politics for the People was founded in 2002 by Cathy Stewart, the Manhattan County Chair of the Independence Party and key leader of the independent movement in NYC and nationally for over 25 years. A dynamic speaker, Stewart breaks down politics for diverse audiences and always encourages lively dialogue.

I attended this class. I have been a speaker at a prior class.

Michael H. Drucker
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U.S. Won’t Intervene in Term Limits Case

The Justice Department will not block the City Council’s controversial decision last year to extend the term limits law, allowing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to seek a third term this fall. Federal authorities agreed that the legislation does not adversely impact minority voters or candidates who will be running for office this fall.

In a letter on Tuesday, Christopher Coates, chief of the voting section in the Justice Department’s civil rights division, told Michael A. Cardozo, New York City’s corporation counsel, that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. “does not interpose any objection to the specific changes” in the term limits law, allowing officials to serve three four-year terms, rather than two.

Use the above link to read the entire New York Times article.

Michael H. Drucker
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Bloomberg Rival Challenges Term Limits Law

New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson, who is running for mayor, and other city leaders are calling on the Justice Department to strike down last fall's law allowing city officials to run for a third term.

They say the law discriminates against minorities, because challenging an incumbent is much harder than running for an open seat, and as a result, violates the Voting Rights Act.

"When the Voting Rights Act in 1965 was enacted it was a turning point in American history. It opened the doors to democracy so that all people could play a part. When Mayor Bloomberg signed the term limits extension, once again we saw the rules change with the stroke of a pen," said Thompson.

The city's law department argues the extension from two terms to three will not impact voter opportunities. The Justice Department must sign off on the new law.

A decision is expected March 17.

Michael H. Drucker
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How the Independent Movement Went Left By Going Right

On January 25, 2009, five days after President Barack Obama was inaugurated in Washington, D.C. amid global celebration, 500 independent movement activists from 35 states gathered in New York City.

Use the above link for more information.

Michael H. Drucker
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EAC lifts suspension of SysTest's accreditation

The U.S. Election Assistance Commision (EAC) lifted the suspension of the federal accreditation of SysTest Labs Incorporated, allowing the lab to resume testing as an accredited EAC Voting System Test Laboratory (VSTL). This action came after NIST's National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) reinstated SysTest's accreditation in response to SysTest's correcting nonconformities identified during a NVLAP on-site assessment visit in March 2008, findings from the EAC, and observations made during an October 2008 monitoring visit.

This now allows the continuation of testing the optical scanning voting systems for New York State.

In New York City, we are looking at the ImageCast from Sequoia and the DS-200 / AutoMark BMD from Elections Systems & Software (ES&S). Public viewing in the five boroughs and a hearing was completed on March 4. The next meeting of the Board of Elections is March 17.

Michael H. Drucker
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Narrowing the Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court narrowed the scope of the Voting Rights Act this week when it ruled that it does not require states to create so-called crossover districts. The regrettable 5-to-4 ruling overturns two of the act’s central goals: protecting minority voting rights and moving the nation toward a more colorblind future.

The ruling is a curtain raiser for a more important Voting Rights Act case. Later this year, the court is expected to decide whether another part of the act, Section 5, is constitutional. Section 5, which requires states to “preclear” new voting rules that could hurt minorities, is a critically important law. We hope that Justice Kennedy’s respectful tone toward the act and its goals indicates that Section 5 will be upheld by a strong majority.

Parts of New York City fall under Section 5. Mayor Bloomberg's Term Limit Extension falls under the "preclear" rule. I would like to see a different change. Currently if the Justice Department does not rule within a certain time frame the change passes. I would rather require a definitive Yes or No.

Use the above link to read the entire New York Times article.

Michael H. Drucker
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Hurdles to Voting Persisted in 2008

Four million to five million voters did not cast a ballot in the 2008 presidential election because they encountered registration problems or failed to receive absentee ballots, which is roughly the same number of voters who encountered such problems in the 2000 election, according to an academic study to be presented to the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday.

An additional two million to four million registered voters — or 1 percent to 2 percent of the eligible electorate — were “discouraged” from voting due to administrative hassles, like long lines and voter identification requirements, the study found.

Use the above link to read the entire New York Times article.

Michael H. Drucker
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Bloomberg's Double Deal

One of the most impressive chapters in Michael Bloomberg's mostly charmed political life was his swift upending last fall of the city's term-limits law. Within a few short weeks of his first raising an eyebrow at the mention of a third term, a law twice approved in popular referendums and in effect for 14 years vanished from the books.

Records that did not become public until mid-January show that even as Bloomberg was seeking to convince the overwhelmingly Democratic Council to gut the term-limits law, he was self-financing a major push to keep the state Senate in the conservative grip of its longtime Republican majority.

The Senate campaign was quietly launched just as Bloomberg was letting it be known that he would seek a third term. Between August 25 and October 24, he pumped $1.2 million into the state's tiny Independence Party. The donations—by a factor of about 25—were its largest ever. The money produced palm cards, posters, mailings, and foot soldiers, all praising Republican incumbents. In a devious but perfectly legal stunt beloved by parties of both left and right, the campaign was declared to be mere "issue advocacy." This allowed donations and expenditures to stay under wraps until long after Bloomberg's term-limits victory was achieved.

The NYC Independence Party Organizations' Executive Committees have been meeting in the five boroughs to decide who they will endorse for Mayor, Comptroller and Public Advocate.

Use the above link to read the Village Voice article.

Michael H. Drucker
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Justices, 5-4, Set Limit on Sweep of Voting Law

Only election districts in which minorities make up at least half of the voting-age population are entitled to the protections of a part of the Voting Rights Act that seeks to ensure and preserve minority voting power, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday.

Congress did not specify what percentage of minority voters in a district would call for the protections of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 when it later prohibited what courts have termed “vote dilution.” And the Supreme Court until now had avoided picking a number.

Use the above link to read the entire article.

Michael H. Drucker
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