Washblog

If perception is reality, then the world must be flat and the sun must revolve around it.

I certainly don't advocate the destruction of property. I don't have a cite, but some guy last year, in Ohio I think, went nuts trying. I'm pretty sure charges were pressed.

There are constructive things you can do, however. The "Logic & Accurancy Testing" of the Diebold AccuVote TSx touchscreens began Tuesday and lasts for 10 days. The processing is open to the public. It begins every day at 8:30am at the Elections Distribution Center 1215 Fir St. Alas, you won't be able to change anything for this election. But it's a good way to see what's going on and shows our representatives that we're concerned. The site blackboxvoting.org has a Citizen's Toolkit with all sorts of things to watch out for and things to ask.

Also, for the record, in Washington State, as an ex-felon, you'd have your right to vote restored after you served your time, paid off your fees, paid off your restitution, and jumped through all the bureaucratic hoops. Ours is one of the most punative systems in the nation. Effectively disenfranchising something like 15,000 new ex-felons every year (who would be allowed to vote in other states) and permanently disenfranchining others.

Again, I don't have cites handy. But the local groups working on this issue are Justice Works! and the Washington ACLU.

There's a resolution on our website supporting the automatic restoration of voting rights for ex-felons.

Lastly, if you haven't already, please sign up as a poll worker in KC. As of this Tuesday, they're still 700 workers short. It's a great way to learn how our elections work as well as keep an eye on things.