7 Ways to Steal Back Your Vote

The following is an excerpt from the Steal Back Your Vote! investigative comic by Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. available as a free download at www.StealBackYourVote.org

1. Don't don't don't Mail In Your Ballot -- unless...

For those of you who mailed in your ballot, please tell me, what happened to it? You don't know, do you? I can tell you that officially, three-fourths of a million absentee ballots were never counted last time, on the weakest of technical excuses. And you won't even know it. Furthermore, tens of thousands of ballots are not mailed out to voters in time to return them -- in which case you're out of luck. Most states won't let you vote in-precinct once you've applied to vote absentee. Every time I hear of a voter going "absentee" to avoid computer screens, I want to "go postal" myself.

But for gosh sakes -- don't throw out your ballot if you have a mail-in. Either mail it in, making sure to include ID if required (you first-time voters) or, better, WALK it into your county clerk's office.

2. Vote Early...very early

Every state now lets voters cast ballots in designated polling stations and at county offices in the weeks before Election Day. Do it. Don't wait until Election Day to find out you have the wrong ID, your registration's "inactive," or you're on a challenge list. By Election Day, there's little to do but hold up the line.

3. Register and Register and Register

Think you're registered to vote? Think again. With all this purg'n going on, you could be x'd out and you won't know it. Check online with your Secretary of State's office or call your County Board of Elections. Then register your girlfriend, your wife, your mailman and your mommy. Contact the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the League of Women Voters, and your local party organization, and commit to a couple of days of door-to-door registration, especially in minority neighborhoods or at social service agency offices. And if you've served the time, you can sign: in almost every state, ex-cons can vote.

4. Vote Unconditionally, Not Provisionally

In 2008, they'll be handing out provisional ballots like candy, especially to Hispanic voters. If your right to vote is challenged, don't accept a provisional ballot that will likely not get counted no matter what the sweet little lady at the table tells you. She won't decide; partisan sharks will. Demand adjudication from poll judges on the spot; demand a call to the supervisor of elections; or return with acceptable ID if possible. And be a champ: defend the rights of others.

If you've taken Step 1 above and voted early, you have Election Day free to be a poll watcher. Run into trouble ­-- you've been caged or purged or challenged -- call Election Protection at 1-(866) OUR-VOTE. Then challenge the challengers, the weird guys with Blackberrys containing lists of "suspect" voters. Be firm, but no biting.

5. Occupy Ohio, Invade Nevada

The revolution will not be podcast. Let go of that mouse, get out of your PJs and take the resistance door-to-door--to register the vote, to canvass the voters, to get out the vote. Donate time to your union (if you're not in a union, why not?) or to the troublemakers I've already listed here and on our site. This may seem a stupendously unoriginal suggestion, but I know of no other method more effective for confronting the armed and dangerous junta that has seized the White House.

6. Date a Voter

Voting, like bowling and love, should never be done alone. As our sponsor, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, says, make a date to 'Arrive with Five.' And keep this comic book in your holster - with our 800 numbers and your photo ID in your hand. And Bobby, make sure your ID says, "Robert Kennedy JUNIOR" or your vote is toast.

7. Make the Democracy Demand: No Vote Left Behind!

I have this crazy fantasy in my head. In it, an election is stolen and the guy who's wrongly declared the loser stands up in front of the White House and says three magic words: "Count the votes." You can have all the paper ballots in the world, but if you don't demand to look at them, publicly, in a recount, you might as well mark them with invisible ink. Democracy requires vigilance The Day After. That's when you check in at www.stealbackyourvote.org one more time.

Nation Institute fellow Greg Palast and election law expert Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are authors of an investigation of vote suppression in Rolling Stone.

Go to www.StealBackYourVote.org to download the guide for free or pick up print copies of the investigative comic book by Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Every donation you make for copies of the comic allows us to send more out to low income groups in states like Ohio, New Mexico and Colorado. Get the guide now - all copies will be sent out via priority mail. If your group would like to distribute the Steal Back Your Vote guide please contact keri (at) gregpalast.com for special rates.

Comments

[jakkib]

i think pammy has a good idea- a machine that works as an ATM - if it cinfirms that you voted for who you chose- cool. I don't agree with having the number of votes visible- too many people influenced by that info. It's unfortunate but we're finally seeing how a basic right is actually something we have to fight for. Yes it's in the Constitution to have the basic right to vote- but do we REALLY have that right if we have to go through all of this to make sure our votes count? We have to demand that our votes be counted. The assumption that they always were and always will be is no more.
People are just sitting up and taking notice now- although 2000 got nationwide coverage it didn't get nearly the coverage or the discussion,for that matter, that this election is getting. Why? Because alot of the time we react in a very human way- we shook our head during 2000 but now that it might actually HAPPEN to any one of us- we take notice. This is a basic right that's being screwed with. We seem to be noticing more this time around.Deman your vote is counted- if you don't understand the machine -let someone know- it's our right.

[Norge]

Ridiculous choice of words and a turn off.

[Chansmom]

Why, why, why is this being allowed to happen? Don't we all have the right to vote for whom we want? What gives with all these hoops we have to jump through? It's a bunch of garbage!

I'm grateful for the internet and sites such as Huffington Post getting the word out, but this kind of rigging of elections and voter suppression has to STOP!

[Lombard1006]

Just a reminder to everyone. Be careful about wearing clothing with the candidates' names to the polls. Depends on the county, but you could be turned away which would be perfectly legal in some places. If you just can't resist wearing your campaign t-shirt, bring a jacket and zip it up.

Happy voting!

[Lionsden]

Stealing votes is immoral. Republicans simply have not learned how to overthrow a nation legally. And, the democrats have figured it out already. So they keep their hands very very clean and legal.

Bertolt Brecht once joked about "dissolving" a "people" when you couldn't get them to vote the way you wanted them to.

Look's like democrats figured out a way to do that: immigration of large numbers of people who fit in with democrats.

It's a gamble, but do they want America to look like Mexico or those further to the south?

[Lombard1006]

Wonder where I fit in? White, Republican, professional woman, mom and wife voting Obama. Maybe I should check my German/English roots and see if there is a Mexican lurking in my past.

Get real.

[Lionsden]

You are quickly becoming a minority ethnic racial group in a country that was, just a few years ago , nearly 90 percent white. I would venture to say that white Americans were never asked if they wanted to become a racial minority in their own country and that they never voted for it, nor were they ever invited to discuss it.

Nothing like this, that I know of, has happened in the history of mankind outside of invasion or massacre.

If this were happening to blacks or other nonwhites BY whites, it would cause alarm throughout the world. But since it is happening TO whites BY a handful of whites (the US government) it doesn't matter?

Democrats are forever reminding us of what happened to the indians, yet they will call people racist for pointing out that something similar may be happening to whites. It's ONLY whites, I guess, so who cares?

In fact, genocide, (which includes the swamping of one culture or people by another even through non-violent means) is ILLEGAL according to international law.

If one can cheerfully condone the dissolution of one race from off the face of a continent, why would it be wrong to want to preserve it?

You don't honestly believe that blacks are not proud of being black and wouldn't consider it a threat if THEY were becoming a minority in their homelands because a handful of their leaders wanted it that way?

[QB2626]

Hey, Republicans just get out there & vote. Acorn's funding is 40% taxpayer dollars. We need to be sure the Republican vote counts.

[Nikola Tesla]

I don't believe you are a US Citizen. Prove it!

[dedacherry]

The fact that a Republican owned company would put out voting machines with no reliable way to actually check the counts along with the glitching that predominately favors the Republican candidate is just so obviously- in your face wreaking of corruption.
I myself was on to it in 2002 when they canceled exit polls explaining that- they were trying the new machines and expected there might be conflicting accounts.
In 2004 they tried the excuse that exit polls do not work with these machines. Well obviously not. I am just absolutely fed up with this business and ready to tear limbs.

[DylaBetes]

this video is fantastic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGF-HEd6XnA
McCain voter fraud!!!

[ThePublicRecord]

http://www.pubrecord.org/sarah-palin/442.html?task=view

Alaska Rep.: Personnel Board Will Likely Find Palin Broke Ethics Laws

An investigation by Alaska’s personnel board into Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan in July will likely conclude that Palin violated state ethics laws, said a top Alaska Democratic lawmaker.

[OrganOfThought]

Mr. Kennedy, I have a great deal of respect for your father and your uncles and what you are doing. Here is my little attempt at getting my opinion out:

Some democratic countries have compulsory voting. Why can't we have the same. We can still have the same rights to privacy and no one can trace your vote after it is cast. But what is the problem with compulsory voting?

I think it would greatly reduce and simplify legal challenges. All you would have to do is be registered or show citizenship in general and then show current residency address to get the right ballot. Even then, if you are homeless get the national or state ballot only.

Why is there no push here to get mandatory voting. It will help protect our democracy. I think it is a civil rights issue.

[OrganOfThought]

Part 2.

An additional opinion of mine is that the penalty of loosing your right to vote if you have a criminal record is unjust. I live in Texas and people who have past convictions can vote as long as they have completed all their punishment obligations. But other states are not this way.

And I wonder, if we were to look at a different country (a less democratic third world country for example) and find out that large portions of their population were ineligible to vote because of criminal records, what would we say? Is their government intentionally being strict with punishment and convictions to help them control elections?

We have many millions of citizens that have been made ineligible to vote. These are our fellow citizen human beings and we are saying they are no longer full citizens. This brings back thoughts from an ugly past.

We will likely have over 100 million voters this time. No candidate can win without mass support from the general population. Having a few more million people vote is not a threat to our democracy, but will actually help protect us from possible future tyranny.

[Uniqua]

This is what the public needs to know. This is the real message, and it needs to be broadcast everywhere. Thanks for informing.

[DixieMelody]

I mailed my absentee ballot in weeks ago and have been feeling good

1) about my vote,

2) about not having to stand in a long line,

3) about circumventing a pesky (maybe rigged) machine, and above all,

4) that an honest man who will actually represent me won't have his win stolen.

But now. . after reading this piece, I am left to wonder if that precious paper ballot fell into a black hole somewhere along the way. I will never know.

[pammygamherst]

why can't the touch screen voting machines work as an ATM? you press the screen with your choice and then a piece of paper is spit out a slot which shows your vote(s). if banks can keep track of millions of transactions day we should be able to on election day.

[vegas9999]

Wow, I thought this election was all over.

[barakagirl]

fantastic post! I hope Rachel in MSNBC reads it and mainstream it.