NationStates Jolt Archive

Most Honorable Delegates and Members, it is with Hope towards the future of Representative Democracy in the world that the Republic of Socratonesia entreats these Nations Assembled to Consider its Proposal, the Transparent Elections Act which now rests for Consideration before the Regional Delegates.

If passed as an Act of the United Nations, this Proposal will strengthen democratic Elections by ensuring Transparency and Reliability of the electoral Process. It will eliminate rumors and Fears of electoral Corruption by ensuring to all democratic nations' Citizens the right not only to a Vote, but to the correct Counting of that Vote. It will provide for a United Nations Commission for Elections; which may be Invited by any party to a Major Election, to observe and Report upon the Regularity of the Proceedings; but which shall be explicitly Limited from intruding into the sovereignty of Nations.

The Senate and People of Socratonesia entreat the honorable Delegates of this august Body, to consider Fully this Proposal, and to Support the Transparent Elections Act with their Approval. We thank those Delegates who have already expressed their Support for this Proposal, viz. Qaaolchoura, Baudrillard, Ariddia, The Bruce, Debaermania, PipTheDog, Phuckuvia, and Leishmania.

Thank you.

This proposal doesn't seem to make much sense. Citizens of those nations which subject their citizens to having to vote in elections get the right to have their vote counted properly - that's all well and good. But what about citizens of nations whose governments have relieved the people of the need to vote in elections? This resolution selectively gives rights to people in nations with certain types of governments, but doesn't extend any new rights whatsoever on people in nations where the need for expensive elections no longer exists, like Pantocratoria. Furthermore, if the Imperial Government ever did reinstitute elections, the Catholic Church in Pantocratoria would be responsible for the administration of those elections, and for the counting of all votes, as they were before elections were suspending in our Empire.

But what about citizens of nations whose governments have relieved the people of the need to vote in elections? This resolution selectively gives rights to people in nations with certain types of governments, but doesn't extend any new rights whatsoever on people in nations where the need for expensive elections no longer exists, like Pantocratoria.

The Senate and People of Socratonesia respectfully Submit, that their Proposal shall of Necessity be of no Concern to Despots nor to costumed Absolute Monarchs. It is for the improvement of Representative Democracy for those Nations which Enjoy its Fruits. It is in the nature of the United Nations, itself a form of Republicanism among Nations, not to ignore the Benefits of this Form of Government; and for this reason are Proposals submitted for the Furtherance of Democracy.

Furthermore, if the Imperial Government ever did reinstitute elections, the Catholic Church in Pantocratoria would be responsible for the administration of those elections, and for the counting of all votes, as they were before elections were suspending in our Empire.

Under the Transparent Elections Act no Requirement is made, as to what Power or Ministry within a member Nation may conduct Elections. Rather, the Act speaks solely to the Matters of (I) the fairness and reliability of Voting-machinery; (II) the freedom of such electoral Process from corruption by Vested Interests; (III) the right of contending Parties to the Observation of elections; and (IV) the Restraint of the United Nations from direct Meddling in elections.

Indeed, in the Case the honored Member from Pantocratoria puts forth, the Transparent Elections Act would be a Boon to the Government, Church, and People of Pantocratoria alike; for it would permit the proposed Commission on Elections to announce to the World the fairness and Equanimity of said Elections; and put to rest Fears that the Process had been manipulated by conspirators Jesuitical or otherwise.

Not all countries are run under a democratic government. But I suppose you can make resolutions that only apply to some people. There WAS one part I especially liked in this.

It will eliminate rumors and Fears of electoral Corruption by ensuring to all democratic nations' Citizens the right not only to a Vote, but to the correct Counting of that Vote.

Have you all heard of those electronic voting machines they're starting to use now here in the US?


Posted September 2, 2003 thepeoplesvoice.org

By Schuyler Ebbets

The pollsters have recently been forced to admit that the majority of Americans are against the re-election of George Bush. Two wars, thousands of dead human beings, and nine million lost jobs later and people are beginning to realize that something is very wrong. In spite of this gradual awakening most registered voters continue to depend on TV for their news and they are kept woefully in the dark about issues like election reform and touch screen voting. The media has gone to great lengths to foster an illusion of legitimacy and normalcy surrounding the electoral process. People have been intentionally lead to believe that their vote counts and Bush could actually be booted out of office on Election Day. No way is Bush going to lose, it just can’t happen. The 2004 election has already been rigged. The corporations and the military industrial complex have bought them selves a government and they aren’t going to let some silly little presidential election jeopardize their investment.

On February 23, 2001 Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris suggested that Florida rent rather than buy touch screen voting machines in time for the 2002 midterm election. She said, "I think it would be wrong-headed and precipitous to purchase any equipment now. If you buy now, you're buying antiquated technology". According to her twisted logic, it was acceptable to use faulty voting systems in the election, it just wasn't a good idea to purchase them.

Prior to Florida's outrageous September 10, 2002 primary election, poll data showed heavy support for Janet Reno in Broward County, but election results from one Broward precinct alone revealed an impossible 0% turnout among more than 800 registered voters. Reno requested a recount of eighty precincts containing 31,375 registered Democrats because they reported only 1,952 votes. Her request was immediately turned down by the State Elections Board. According to an AP analysis, if those precincts matched the average county turnout, they should have produced 10,260 votes, more than five times the number recorded by the Election Systems & Software (ES&S), iVotronic touch-screen voting machines.

Almost two months later on election night, November 5th, 2002, tens of thousands of Floridians experienced difficulties using the iVotronic machines. Voters called in to Neil Rogers AM radio talk show the day after the election and complained of “broken” voting machines, and machines that voted multiple times for Bush when McBride was selected. Electronic voting expert, Rebecca Mercuri told American Free Press, “Numerous severe voting system problems occurred throughout Florida electronic voting on November 5th, but none of the major news networks are covering these problems,” On November 6th, David Host, spokesman for the Florida Secretary of State, declared the elections, "an unqualified success", and the Associated Press reported, “The closely watched contest for governor in Florida was decided without a hitch.” This propaganda might have been believed if 103,222 ballots in Broward County alone had not been “misplaced”.

Katherine Harris is infamous for using her position as Florida’s Secretary of State during the 2000 election to unjustly purge over 90,000 predominantly black and Hispanic Democratic voters from the rolls. People remembered how Harris had taken away their civil rights when she prevented them from voting. On November 5th, 2002, most of the Democratic electorate of 3.7 million people turned out to vote for Jan Schneider who ran against Harris. Although registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 340,000, it was too late, the new ES&S iVotronic machines had already been installed in eleven key Florida counties. On November 5, 2002 Jeb Bush became governor of Florida again, and Katherine Harris was given a seat in the House of Representatives with only 138,940 votes, defeating Democratic opponent Jan Schneider's oddly low 114,618 votes.

This wasn’t the first Republican victory involving “Election Systems & Software” (ES&S). Former right wing radio talk-show host and CEO of ES&S, Chuck Hagel, decided he would run for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska with his own ES&S machines counting the votes. Hagel failed to mention that he had been both CEO and Chairman of ES&S on his disclosure documents, or that he was an owner in the company that installed, programmed, and operated the voting machines used by most of the citizens of Nebraska. In 1996, Republican Hagel won the race in Democratic Nebraska for the U.S. Senate easily carrying both the primary and general elections. According to Bev Harris of blackboxvoting.com, Hagel scored lopsided victories in almost every demographic group, including Black communities that had never voted for a Republican. With the widest margin of victory in state history Hagel became the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska. On November 5, 2002 Hagel ran against Democrat Charlie Matulka and was re-elected to his second term in the United States Senate by an unreal 83% of the vote. Again, the votes were counted by computer-controlled voting machines built programmed and installed by Hagel’s company Election Systems & Software.

In Georgia, Republican Saxby Chambliss repeatedly questioned the patriotism of Democratic incumbent and triple amputee war hero Max Cleland during his campaign. Chambliss made the absurd claim that he was more patriotic than Cleland even though he had avoided service in the Vietnam war with a "medical deferment". A Poll taken by the Atlanta Journal Constitution published on November 1st, just five days before the election, showed support for Georgia Democratic Senator Max Cleland at 49%, clearly 5% ahead of Republican Saxby Chambliss at 44%. Many People in Georgia, particularly veterans, had been angered by the crude remarks made by Chambliss and they turned out in record numbers to vote for Cleland. When the 'Diebold' Electronic Voting tally was made public it stunned and confused the Georgia voters. Saxby Chambliss had won with 53% of the vote compared to Max Cleland’s 46%. It represented a 13% pro-Republican swing that seemed to materialize out of cyberspace. The victories of Chambliss and Hagel, along with the tragic October 25, 2002 plane crash that killed Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone, virtually guaranteed Republican control of the Senate.

The Neocon election rigging juggernaut lurches forward unstoppable in the guise of so-called election reform. Two Republican dominated corporations, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), and Diebold Voting Systems, now control 80% of the vote count in the United States. As this transition has moved forward, a pattern of election upsets which overwhelmingly favor Republican candidates is emerging. These are test runs in preparation for the 2004 presidential selection. The Neocons have determined that elections can be manipulated easily with the new touch screen voting systems and when accompanied by a media pounding of lies the public will accept the rigged election results as fact. The greatest advantage of the new touch screen voting scam is the removal of a paper trail and the blockage of access to the inner workings of the software. When a voter touches the screen to select a candidate there is no confirmation that the machine has actually registered the correct selection. In the old punch-card and fill-in-the-circle paper systems, voters could see their choice marked on the ballot. In the event of any confusion or question, a record of the vote existed and a recount was possible. Since the new electronic systems leave no paper trail there can be no recount and the results must be accepted as fact. Attempts to examine the code used by the machines in Florida were blocked in the courts by the GOP citing, "proprietary/trade secrecy" protections under a law, which made it impossible for the DNC to ascertain how the machines tabulated votes.

It would be admirable if the American people could resist the next rigged presidential election as they did the scam of 2000. Of course the ‘Supreme Court five’ would uphold the "proprietary/trade secrecy" protections and the bogus election results would be ruled as legitimate. The coming election fraud has been so well planned that it probably won’t make it into the courts. With the help of the media, the Neocons will deliver the deathblow to democracy at the touch screen voting terminals.

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This Newsletter article is © copyright 2003 by Schuyler Ebbets (sebbets@comcast.net) Permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so long as this credit is attached.

http://liberty.hypermart.net/Newsletter/3/4_The_2004_Election_Has_Already_Been_Rigged.htm

You could word it so that the proposal affects only those countries that have elections in the first place--I'm in favor of something like this proposal, but I'd want to work out some of the kinks. For one, I'd want the proposl to read that the UN has the right to observe any and all elections, instead of having to be invited by the country holding the elections. After all, if the UN has to be invited, then countries with rigged elections would just refuse to allow the UN to inspect the election process. If the proposal remains voluntary, then it has no teeth. I realize this may be a deal-breaker for many countries, but it has to be more than just symbolic in my opinion.

Not all countries are run under a democratic government. But I suppose you can make resolutions that only apply to some people. There WAS one part I especially liked in this.

It will eliminate rumors and Fears of electoral Corruption by ensuring to all democratic nations' Citizens the right not only to a Vote, but to the correct Counting of that Vote.

Have you all heard of those electronic voting machines they're starting to use now here in the US?

Indeed, the Senate of Socratonesia has heard numerous Reports and been briefed upon at least three Occasions, on the egregious and Scandallous situation in re the Americans and the Diebold Corporation, viz. said Corporation's contributions and indeed Allegiance to one of the Americans' political Parties.

We wish to use the Forum of the United Nations to propound a solution to this Embarrassment, not only for the Americans but also for the whole World's Democracies and Republics, for this is a fundamental matter of Democracy and not merely an American issue. This is, indeed, precisely why our Proposal contains its second Provision:

II. That no Candidate, Politician, nor Public Official shall accept Endorsement from, nor campaign Financing from, the manufacturer of any piece of Voting-Machinery to be used in by the Populace electing or Re-electing him; nor shall any Political Party accept same;

Please take note of the full Text of our Proposal, today visible upon page Ten of the U.N. Proposals, under the heading Transparent Elections Act, currently before the Delegates. (Note that as unsupported proposals Expire, it will day by day move up to lower-numbered Pages):

http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/pin=69690976/page=UN_proposal/start=45

The Senate and People of Socratonesia thank you for your interest and support upon this vital Issue.

After all, if the UN has to be invited, then countries with rigged elections would just refuse to allow the UN to inspect the election process.

We thank you for your Concerns, but we believe they are addressed already in the text of the Proposed Act:

III. That any political Party or Candidate in any Election, which shall be a National Election or one within a Jurisdiction exceeding one Million citizens eligible to Vote; shall be empower'd to call upon a United Nations Commission for Elections (UNCE), which shall Observe and Inquire into the Polling and counting of Votes, and which shall Report and Publish upon any Irregularities, malfeasances of Election Officials, or seeming Frauds that it shall discover.

It is not a national Government which is empower'd to call upon the UNCE. Rather, it is any political Party or Candidate standing for office -- provided that the jurisdiction of the Election is National, or sufficiently Populous to merit the Commission's concern.

Thus, if in an election in Nebraxachusetts do contend the Whig Party and the Bull-Moose Party, and the government of the Territory favoreth the Whigs, then it is not the Government but rather the Bull-Mooses who shall choose to call upon the Commission for Elections.

This remains a Problem: if the government over a disputed Election so favors one Party as to hold the other Parties incommunicado, that they may not contact the Commission for Elections to obtain Oversight; or if the benighted nation or Territory prohibits the Commission from its duties; then the Commission cannot observe and prepare a substantive Publication on the conduct of the Elections. None-the-less, such circumstances should be rare as hens' teeth in Republican Democracies, which though they may succumb to Manipulation of Elections from time to time are structurally Loath to engage in Political-Imprisonment or the Villainy of Obstruction, in the public Eye. Yet in the latter Case, when the Commission is denied access to the Elections it is called upon to Observe, it may at the least Document the obstructions placed in its Path, that the World's Publick may see that the obstructing Nation has something to Hide.

The Senate and People of Socratonesia thank you for your Interest in the Transparent Elections Act; and we hope that we have Explained its Measures to the necessary Degree to obtain your full Support.

Then I'll approve it. Thanks for your response.

Edit: Quick question--is there any way to reword the proposal so that it affects only those countries that actually have elections? Not all members of the UN have elections and it would be a violation of national sovereignty to cover them with this proposal if, by default, it requires them to have elections when they don't want them. If you can't make that change, then I'm afraid I'll have to withdraw my support.

This is why The Bevelle Empire will never join the UN, the best form of goverment is one where the Church of Yevon rules the people to guide them to greater spiritual enlightment and growth, the faith and the state are one! Praise be to Yevon!


http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:5GE4rA0oKCcC:www.avalancheonline.net/yunaface2.jpg
Grand Maester Yuna, Beloved Leader of the Church of Yevon and The Bevelle Empire
”It is better to die in hope, than live in despair”- Yunalesca
The Theocracy of The Bevelle Empire

Not all countries are run under a democratic government. But I suppose you can make resolutions that only apply to some people. There WAS one part I especially liked in this.

It will eliminate rumors and Fears of electoral Corruption by ensuring to all democratic nations' Citizens the right not only to a Vote, but to the correct Counting of that Vote.

Have you all heard of those electronic voting machines they're starting to use now here in the US?


<article snipped out>

[ooc: A fellow BBVer!

http://www.blackboxvoting.com/

The book comes out on October 1st...and it's FREE on the Internet. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=432961&mesg_id=432961 ]

Quick question--is there any way to reword the proposal so that it affects only those countries that actually have elections? Not all members of the UN have elections and it would be a violation of national sovereignty to cover them with this proposal if, by default, it requires them to have elections when they don't want them.

We believe that our Response, addressed to the Ornamented and Festooned Imperial Kakistos of Pantocratoria, above, illustrates that this Matter is well in Hand. Though our Proposal does speak to the Conduct and Transparency of Voting, it does not in any Way mandate how Often said Elections shall occur; nor to which Classes shall Suffrage be granted; nor which Posts shall stand for election and which shall be Appointed; nor whether Referenda in Law are to be Permitted; nor whether to Vote shall be Mandatory; nor any other such Matter. It does not mandate Voting, but rather prohibits certain Corruptions & Abuses thereof.

To put it Roughly, compliance the Transparent Elections Act does not require any Elections whatsoever be held. It only hopes that when and if elections be held, they are True elections and not Sham-Elections, or ones influenced in a Corrupt Manner by the disparities of Voting-hardware or the interests of its Manufacturers. Indeed, the Act does not enumerate Types of Phoney Elections, or forbid by name many well-known and egregious Practices; rather, it commends the Observation of an Electoral Process, upon the request of a Party to that process, to a Commission which may tailor its Investigation to the specific troubles of the specific Vote that is in Doubt.

The Despot with his ridiculous Stylings and his perverse Cruelties, who is beholden neither to his benighted People nor to the International Community in any manner, will not by this Act be converted to a Liberal Republican, nor by any other. That is a matter for his own Conscience and the Spirit of his People.

There is an easy way to solve this problem, don't have any elections at all, instead give the control of your nations over to the Church of Yevon and be ruled by the Institution that was ordained by the One God Yevon to spread the Light of His Teachings Across the Earth, let the Church of Yevon be your perfect ruler and all your pain and sorrows will fade away.


http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:YAnjh5uakRgC:www.angelfire.com/me/ffvillage/ffx/yuna.jpg
Grand Maester Yuna Ineia, Beloved Leader of the Church of Yevon and The Bevelle Empire
”It is better to die in hope, than live in despair”- Yunalesca
The Theocracy of The Bevelle Empire

The esteemed member from Socratonesia has made an excellent argument. The Pantocratorian National Democratic Party claimed that it wouldn't have lost the last election in a 100% landslide to the United Christian Front if it had been permitted to observe the Church's vote counting. Although the Pantocratorian Holy Inquisition investigated the matter and found the PNDP's allegations to be baseless, the issue was one of considerable concern. In the case that it is necessary to reinstitute costly and unnecessary elections in Pantocratoria, this resolution would remove the grounds on which such allegations could be made. We have been talked around to your point of view! For this reason, the Holy Empire of Pantocratoria will vote in favour of this resolution should it ever make it that far.