April 4th Tigard Progressive Roundtable

Written by: Ginny Ross on Apr 2, 2007 7:21 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Tigard DFA

Democracy fans,

Please join in our roundtable of friends discussing our democracy, how to save it, how to exercise it, and general care and maintenance tips. The idea is to get together and talk politics while enjoying each others' company and perspectives, and, yes, a pretty good plate of chow mein or szechaun chicken. Come on over and let us know what you are doing to either restore, or mourn the passing of, our Constitution, etc. We'd love to catch up with you!

We'll meet as usual at the Silver Palace Restaurant on Hwy 99 just north of King City. To get there, look for the crossroad "Canterbury" --- there is a stoplight and everything, so just look for that. We get there between 6:30 and 7:00pm --- so see you there on this Wednesday the 4th!

Best regards,

Ginny Ross
DFO

We're meeting at Silver Palace on 3/7 at 7pm

Written by: Ginny Ross on Mar 5, 2007 5:03 PM EST

Linked to groups: Tigard DFA

...and I hope you can join us. It's just a get together to catch up and see what we've been working on. Or maybe one of you ants to announce you're running for political office or even the Tigard Water Board (they need candidates by the way.)

In any case, it's going to be a casual roundtable with no particular agenda. But sometimes great things happen when citizen patriots get together --- if even just for some cashew chicken. Maybe one of you ill take on the torch of the Tigard DFA and carry it for the next round? So come one, come all....Say hello or say goodbye, but do stop by because we'd like to see you.

Come to: The Silver Palace, 14455 SW Pacific Hwy, Tigard, OR
at about: 6:30 to 7:00pm

Possible juicy topics:
--Who do we want to be the new Chair of the DPO?
--Is DFA rising or fading and why?
--Are they going to actually count the votes in '08?
--Are Oregon elections going to be verified by law?
--Who is going to beat Gordon Smith?

Hope you can make it!

Best Regards,
Ginny Ross

PS Here's something I've been doing lately --- becoming a web video eek! See my Clint Curtis interview here: http://blip.tv/file/161866

Election Day Response Network

Written by: Ginny Ross on Oct 29, 2006 10:23 AM EST

Linked to groups: DFA Election Rescue Strategy Team

Dear Member
(***Please circulate to EI Leaders involved in E-Day response activities***)

Below is a forward from Rob Kall publisher, OpEdNews.com.

There is a conference call today for EI leaders to coordinate and connect in a national network for election day information collection, analysis, and response. Anyone who is working on local or national election day response efforts please send an email back to me and I will make sure the info is sent to you about the call. The call is today Sunday at 4pm Pacific time (please remember to fall back one hour today).

Of course everyone is going to be extremely busy on election day --- this coordinating effort is meant to help identify roles in three broad categories 1) data/info collection 2) analysis 3) distribution and broadcast and give people the opportunity to give and receive contact information and role information. (Not on the call itself of course, but the groundwork will be laid out.)

Under #3 we have Brad Friedman, Mark Miller, Bob Fitrakis and Thom Hartmann and hopefully Greg Palast who are making arrangements to help broadcast information in as close to real time as possible through whatever means can be arranged. Most of them will be on the call.

Please send a reply my address asap (ginnypdx at comcast dot net) and we will send the notice to you. I also encourage everyone to go to OpEdNews and set up an account so you can report information from your area to this collection point.

Thank you,

Ginny Ross
Portland, OR

From: Rob Kall
Subject: A system for coordinating reports of vote improprieties

OpEdNews has set up a system to help coordinate all reports of vote theft, tampering, manipulation, voter registration purging, etc. Our goal is to help coordinate and enable anyone who has a report, who has a video, to place them all in one central, easily accessible location.

We are set up so people can easiliy register to submit written or video reports as diaries which can be assigned to multiple pages-- by state, county, voting district and subject categories.

We currently have pages for every state and can easily add counties or voting districts.

People can upload their video to youtube, then link to it on OpEdNews, putting it on a state page. We will also use a standard subject tag (or several, if you deem appropriate) like
2006 vote report all
2006 vote report theft electronic
2006 vote report theft long lines
2006 vote report theft voter registration purge
2006 vote report theft misc.

People would siimply sign up as members and submit their reports, videos, photos. We're pretty much set up and ready to go on this-- just need to finalize the subjects.
We have all the states set up and can easily add counties, voting districts and metro areas as requested.
We're willing to modify this "first pass" on the idea as experts and activists suggest.
Suggestions invited.

Rob Kall
http://www.opednews.com,

DFA Activist-Candidate Grapski Charged With Felony - An Outrage Against Democracy

Written by: Ginny Ross on Oct 24, 2006 11:18 AM EDT

Linked to groups: DFA Election Rescue Strategy Team

Grapski Charged With Felony Wiretapping; Arraignment Tomorrow; Election Reform Activist Forced To Drop Out Of House Race

By Miriam Raftery

The State of Florida has filed felony wiretapping charges against election reform activist Charles Grapski for audiotaping his efforts to obtain public records related to his investigation of alleged election fraud. RAWSTORY has previously reported on officials attempts to suppress Grapski's investigation (www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Flori...). He faces arraignment Tuesday, October 17th.

"The State has held charges over my head since May 1st, six months," Grapski told RAWSTORY. "I have not been allowed until now the right of subpoena power to do discovery in my own defense. Now the State is saying I must choose between two rights: the right to a speedy trial, and my right to a fair trial."

Grapski was later banned by a judge from the City of Alachua, as RAWSTORY has previously reported. www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Flori...

Grapski, a Democrat, said he dropped out of his bid to win election to the House of Representatives due to the unresolved threat of legal challenges and the judicial ban, which made it impossible for him to campaign in his district. He endorsed Democrat Chuck Chestnut IV, who won the primary race.

"This is such a severe case of silencing and a violation of the First Amendment," said Carol Thomas, co-coordinator of Grapski's defense committee, along with Scott Doran. "He has been as effectively banned as any black person in South Africa during Apartheid. He is not able to contact any officials by snail mail, fax, telephone, e-mail, or even a third party person."

Grapski is charged with felony wiretapping for making an audiotape of his efforts to obtain documents at City Hall. Those documents related to a lawsuit alleging fraud in the canvassing of absentee ballots in the election of Commissioner James A. Lewis, who won by 18 absentee votes.

"This is not the first time that sitting Commissioners who are candidates for an election have won by absentee votes. This seems to be a chronic problem here and nobody takes it seriously," Thomas said. "Suddenly absentee ballots disappear. It's outrageous."

Grapski audiotaped City Manager Clovis Watson, who commented on the fact that he was being taped, consented and kept talking, Thomas noted. Subsequently Watson, who also serves as Police Commissioner (an apparent violation of Florida law that prohibits officials from holding more than one public office at a time), ordered Grapski arrested.

"He didn't do anything a newspaper reporter doesn't do every day. It's absurd," Thomas said. "While he was being arrested, the editor of a newspaper was in there audiotaping this." A third person, Green Party representative Michael Canney, was also present making audiotapes. Canney and Grapski have been threatened with additional charges, but the newspaper editor has not, Thomas said.

Representatives from the State Attorney General's office were not available for comment.

"This is why I did record the meeting," Grapski said. "When public officials lie, the only thing that proves wrongdoing is the very tape the state has had in its possession since this issue began."

He added, "If I don't exercise my right to a speedy trial, they can hold this over me for several years. But if we demand speedy trial, we have a window of a week to act." The trial would then take place around Thanksgiving, he said, adding, "We are determined to get this over as quickly as possible."


The key obstacle is money. "We have to raise $40,000 this week in order for a speedy trial to occur," Thomas revealed. "We are trying to get together a nationwide defense fund.

Donations to the Legal Defense of Charles Grapski may be sent c/o Carol Thomas at P.O. Box 190, Alachua, FL 32616-0190.

This is an outrage. How can DFA help?

Written by: Ginny Ross on Oct 24, 2006 11:16 AM EDT

Grapski Charged With Felony Wiretapping; Arraignment Tomorrow; Election Reform Activist Forced To Drop Out Of House Race


By Miriam Raftery

The State of Florida has filed felony wiretapping charges against election reform activist Charles Grapski for audiotaping his efforts to obtain public records related to his investigation of alleged election fraud. RAWSTORY has previously reported on officials attempts to suppress Grapski's investigation (www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Flori...). He faces arraignment Tuesday, October 17th.

"The State has held charges over my head since May 1st, six months," Grapski told RAWSTORY. "I have not been allowed until now the right of subpoena power to do discovery in my own defense. Now the State is saying I must choose between two rights: the right to a speedy trial, and my right to a fair trial."

Grapski was later banned by a judge from the City of Alachua, as RAWSTORY has previously reported. www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Flori...

Grapski, a Democrat, said he dropped out of his bid to win election to the House of Representatives due to the unresolved threat of legal challenges and the judicial ban, which made it impossible for him to campaign in his district. He endorsed Democrat Chuck Chestnut IV, who won the primary race.

"This is such a severe case of silencing and a violation of the First Amendment," said Carol Thomas, co-coordinator of Grapski's defense committee, along with Scott Doran. "He has been as effectively banned as any black person in South Africa during Apartheid. He is not able to contact any officials by snail mail, fax, telephone, e-mail, or even a third party person."

Grapski is charged with felony wiretapping for making an audiotape of his efforts to obtain documents at City Hall. Those documents related to a lawsuit alleging fraud in the canvassing of absentee ballots in the election of Commissioner James A. Lewis, who won by 18 absentee votes.

"This is not the first time that sitting Commissioners who are candidates for an election have won by absentee votes. This seems to be a chronic problem here and nobody takes it seriously," Thomas said. "Suddenly absentee ballots disappear. It's outrageous."

Grapski audiotaped City Manager Clovis Watson, who commented on the fact that he was being taped, consented and kept talking, Thomas noted. Subsequently Watson, who also serves as Police Commissioner (an apparent violation of Florida law that prohibits officials from holding more than one public office at a time), ordered Grapski arrested.

"He didn't do anything a newspaper reporter doesn't do every day. It's absurd," Thomas said. "While he was being arrested, the editor of a newspaper was in there audiotaping this." A third person, Green Party representative Michael Canney, was also present making audiotapes. Canney and Grapski have been threatened with additional charges, but the newspaper editor has not, Thomas said.

Representatives from the State Attorney General's office were not available for comment.

"This is why I did record the meeting," Grapski said. "When public officials lie, the only thing that proves wrongdoing is the very tape the state has had in its possession since this issue began."

He added, "If I don't exercise my right to a speedy trial, they can hold this over me for several years. But if we demand speedy trial, we have a window of a week to act." The trial would then take place around Thanksgiving, he said, adding, "We are determined to get this over as quickly as possible."


The key obstacle is money. "We have to raise $40,000 this week in order for a speedy trial to occur," Thomas revealed. "We are trying to get together a nationwide defense fund.

Donations to the Legal Defense of Charles Grapski may be sent c/o Carol Thomas at P.O. Box 190, Alachua, FL 32616-0190.

We Count Video Site

Written by: Ginny Ross on Oct 7, 2006 2:17 AM EDT

Linked to groups: DFA Election Rescue Strategy Team

Fellow Patriots,

I have not posted here in a while. Frankly I am dissappointed in the DFA approach to election reform, which seems to be limited to hoping Bowen, Ritchie and other great SOS candidates win. I understand the resource limitations and such, but I still think some powerful, low-cost, grassroots efforts are possible and advisable given how totally unaccountable and unreliable our election system is. See all the resources at www.electiondefensealliance.org... and www.electiondefenseaction.org... for ideas and information. Think of election protection work as insurance for the enormous sums of money and time we spend on traditional campaigning and GOTV. What good is all that campaigning if the votes aren't even counted?

Okay -- done with my mini-rant for today. But I wanted to just stop in and say hello. I've been a bit busy getting ready for the trainwreck. Specifically I will spend the election in Florida (after voting early by mail in Oregon) tracking the Clint Curtis and Bob Bowman races (with fingers crossed!) and generally videoing and reporting on the election day meltdown across the state. It's all part of a fabulous nationwide election day rapid response campaign to be launched very soon...! Stay tuned (watch the Brad Blog especially).

Also, I wanted to let you know I'm posting videos from the amazing "We Count" conference in Cleveland last weekend, and there's some great stuff up now (including Dennis Kucinich's announcement on the new Presidential race mandatory paper ballot bill he just introduced), with more to follow soon, such as segments from Nancy Tobi on the Certification Ponzi Scheme, Bob Fitrakis, Paul Lehto, Mark Crispin Miller, and much, much, more. Please go to www.WeCount2006.org... and scroll down for the videos! More to be posted over the next few weeks.

Keep up the fight everyone --- and stay tuned to VelvetRevolution.us for great election protection action opportunities.

Best,
Ginny Ross, DFO

September Meeting

Written by: Ginny Ross on Sep 3, 2006 5:00 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Tigard DFA

Dear everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying a great holiday weekend. I am busily putting together the video program for a September 10 program by the PDX 911 Truth Alliance. So I can't arrange or come to a DFA meeting on September 6th, which is our regular meeting night for Tigard DFA. If one of you wants to promote and run a meeting then please do, but I regret I won't be able to make it this time.

If you would like to attend the Portland Premiere 9/11 Press for Truth presentation we would be glad to have any and all Tigard DFA'ers join us! The program is on Sunday 9/10 at 1pm at the Cinemagic Theater. See all the details at www.pdx911truth.blogspot.com.... We will be showing the new feature length movie "9/11 Press for Truth" as well as videos by Webster Tarpley, Barry Zwicker and Alex Jones.

Exposing the 9/11 hoax is the lynchpin for convicting and imprisoning this criminal regime. That and radical election reform in a real big hurry.

Hope to see you there and Happy Labor Day.

Ginny Ross

Our next meeting: 9/6? 9/10? Let's decide.

Written by: Ginny Ross on Aug 23, 2006 12:20 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Tigard DFA

(Note: excuse the double message. VLR) Who would like to take the lead in organizing a meeting for Sept. 6th or another date?

I am involved in 3 large projects -- saving the national congressional elections from GOP theft (again!), preparing for a 9/11 anniversary event on 9/10 at Cinemagic theatre (1 to 4pm -- hope you can make it) and helping to get Tobias Read elected in HD 27. If you wish to attend the Sept. 10th event as our Tigard DFA event, let's do it. Otherwise, one of you will need to prepare, advertise, and conduct the Sept 6th meeting if you want to have one. I sincerely hope to keep this great group going, but it is all of you who will need to step forward and take the reins to guide it, build it, and make things happen. I did all I could to help start it in Jan 2005 and shepard it through for 1.5 years. Now we need to really join together and decide how to continue and share the load.

Many of you have been assigned in a leadership role at www.dfalink.com/tigard.... If you want to assign other people, go in and do it. Spread the work around. Use the tools, be creative, have fun. But please don't let it all go and says it's somehow Ginny that "gave up". I am not a quitter. All of you are the co-leaders, so it is up to you to lead.

Thanks and I hope to hear from someone with a plan to have a meeting or with a plan to change dates or times or locations, join with another group, go to the peace vigil instead, go to the 911 meetings at Laughing Horse, or whatever. It's not up to me. Let's decide together.

Thanks!

Ginny Ross
One of the Tigard DFA leaders

List of candidates promoting election integrity

Written by: Ginny Ross on Aug 21, 2006 7:16 PM EDT

Linked to groups: DFA Election Rescue Strategy Team

From dKosopedia
www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/List_of_...

The following candidates for state office have significantly promoted election integrity, and criticized threats against it, in their campaign platform, legislation, and/or litigation. In particular, they:

* acknowledge the problems (identified by the GAO and others) raised by direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines, especially those that do not provide a paper ballot, and

* discuss what they plan to do to address these problems.

Therefore they may be targeted for dial-a-matic elmination by forces opposed to public accountability in elections, and if so, we should provide them some protective cover.

Contents
* 1 2006 candidates for state Secretary of State
* 2 2006 candidates for state Attorney General
* 3 2006 candidates for state House of Representatives
* 4 2006 candidates for state Senate
* 5 2006 candidates for governor
* 6 2006 candidates for U.S. Congress
* 7 2006 candidates for U.S. Senate

2006 candidates for state Secretary of State
* Debra Bowen, CA (D)
* John Bonifaz, MA (D)
* Mark Ritchie, MN (D)
* Jennifer Brunner, OH (D)
* Tim Kettler, OH (Green) (one of nine regional coordinators of the 2004 OH recount)

2006 candidates for state Attorney General
* Ken Gordon, CO (D)
* David Van Os, TX (D)

2006 candidates for state House of Representatives
* Charlie Grapski, FL (D) (23rd District) (D) (arrested while investigating election irregularities)

2006 candidates for state Senate
* Jon Eich, PA (D) (34th District) (key figure in attempt to stop Centre County, PA from purchasing DREs)

2006 candidates for governor
* Rod Smith, FL (D) (see description in dKos diary at Petition for Election Reform in Florida)
* Bob Fitrakis, OH (Green) (filed lawsuits in OH, worked with John Conyers)

2006 candidates for U.S. Congress
* Jeeni Criscenzo, CA (D) (49th District)
* Marcy Winograd, CA (D) (36th District); defeated by Jane Harman in primary
* Clint Curtis, FL (D) (24th District)
* Cynthia McKinney, GA (D) (4th District) (appears in Votergate, Help America Vote - On Paper, etc.; was keynote speaker at the Nashville TN "Gathering to Save Our Democracy" Conference)
* John Conyers, MI (D) (14th District) (wrote report)
* Rush Holt, NJ (D) (12th District) (original sponsor of HR 550, the bill for voter-verified paper record ballots with routine random audits of all elections)
* Tony Barr, PA (D) (9th District)
* Michael Badnarik, TX (Libertarian) (10th District) (active in OH lawsuit)

2006 candidates for U.S. Senate
* Kevin Zeese, MD (Unity -- Green, Libertarian, Populist) (co-founder of VoteTrustUSA, TrueVote MD)

Stuff to Do This Weekend

Written by: Ginny Ross on Aug 19, 2006 9:47 PM EDT

Linked to groups: DFA Election Rescue Strategy Team

Read this and be disgusted and appalled:
www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/18...

Watch the Lou Dobbs Democracy at Risk series on EDA TV
http://eda-tv.blip.tv/

Write to J. Dean or others in DFA and ask for this DFA Link group to be posted on the BFA somewhere.

Plan to attend this cool election reform conference in Cleveland on Sept. 29th and 30th:
www.wecount2006.org...

Check out why the audits proposed in the HR 550 are a dangerousously inadequate safety measure we should not accept: electiondefensealliance.org/hr55...

Celebrate the Loss of Joementum in the D Party!!!!!

Have a great weekend,

Ginny Ross
EDA and DFA, Yay