Progress Pittsburgh

Requiring voters to show ID every time they vote is a barrier to voting. Contact your state representative and senator, and members of the relevant committees, and ask them to vote against such a requirement.

You can find your representatives’ contact information here.

The Senate Bill in question can be found here.

Here are some helpful talking points on the issue:

It makes sense that voters identify themselves at the polls.  In Pennsylvania, we already require first-time voters to do that.

• Voter registration is up in Pennsylvania.  We should be making it easier for people to vote, not harder.

• Photo ID laws discriminate against the elderly, disabled, poor, and minority voters, many of whom do not have the kinds of identification required by the proposed law and may not have the resources to get it. Thousands of otherwise eligible Pennsylvanians could be disenfranchised by this law.
• Pennsylvaniaalready has a commonsense voter identification law that ensures that eligible voters are who they say they are on Election Day.
• There have been no documented instances of in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania and adopting an overly-restrictive, burdensome law here in Pennsylvania doesn’t make sense. The legislature would be dealing with a problem that doesn’t exist in Pennsylvania.
• The photo ID law amounts to a poll tax. Costs can be a significant barrier to obtaining a photo ID. Even when the ID itself is free, there are hidden costs such as transportation to various agencies and fees related to acquiring supporting documents like birth certificates.
• Elections cannot be fair if eligible voters are not allowed to vote.

Here are some blog posts, article and links that you may have missed.

• 2 Political Junkies: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to Wrap Monday’s Papers in “Vote for Freedom…Defeat Obama” Bags – I know times are tough for the print media, but this is just sad and pathetic. Tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — a newspaper which has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president — will be delivered in a bag which has printed on it:

  "Vote for Freedom…Defeat Obama"

• technology + politics: Hillary Clinton to kick off the last two days of GOTV in Mt Lebanon – Hillary Clinton will be in Mt. Lebanon on Monday am to kick off GOTV at the Obama office. 9:30 am
• Are the Candidates Healthy? : What If Post – A local blog looks at the issue of medical history and presidential candidates
• Tools for being informed voters – List of websites to help you learn about the candidates

Here are some blog posts, article and links that you may have missed.

• Wonkette: The D.C. Gossip » Blog Archive » Wonkette Sexy Election Parties Coast 2 Coast & Around the World – Pittsburgh makes the list of sexy election parties.
• State ordered to be ready sooner with paper ballots – PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania election officials will make paper ballots available to voters if half the machines at a polling place break down, they said, declining to appeal a federal judge's emergency order yesterday.

  The state has previously required that paper ballots only be offered if all the machines break down, but several voter groups filed a lawsuit last week in which they said long lines at the polls could disenfranchise voters.

• Pennsyvania Voter’s Bill of Rights – Please share this post/document with everyone. Important information to have on hand for election day. Includes the Election Protection phone number.

Image via WikipediaThere are a number of groups recruiting and coordinating volunteers for election day outside of the campaigns. Here are the groups we know of, and we have included training dates that we know. Some of these groups are working on non-partisan activitees too.
League of Young Voters - will be doing voter turnout

• Trainings
  • Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 7-8pm @ League Office, 6101 Penn Ave
  • Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 7-8pm @ United Steelworkers Office, 1945 Lincoln Highway, North Versailles

Everybody Vote/866OurVote.org - non partisan voter protection and assistance

• Trainings
  • Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 10am-Noon, Hill House Conference Room A
  • Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 6:30-8:30pm, Hill House Conference Room A
  • Saturday, November 1, 2008, 4-6pm, Hill House Conference Room A
  • Monday, November 3, 2008, 10am-Noon, Hill House Conference Room B
  • Monday, November 3, 2008, 6:30-8:30p, Hill House Conference Room B

From the PaHotsheet.com…

Make sure every cote is counted correctly!  Write a letter to the editor urging County Executive Dan Onorato to have voting machine software verified ASAP!!!

Electronic voting machines have been in PA for a few elections now, but the Allegheny County hasn’t certified the authenticity of the software, which can be hacked or replaced fairly easily.

The Everest Report, commissioned by the Ohio Secretary of State, showed that these voting machines have almost no security features. The voting machines are stored in an unwatched and unlocked warehouse, where it wouldn’t be hard for someone to tamper with them. If we can’t have a paper trail, THE LEAST we can have is the assurance that our electronic voting machines have been checked by a third party for software authenticity.

County Executive Dan Onorato is on the three-person county Board of Elections for Allegheny County.   The other two members have publicly stated that they are in favor of certifying the software.

Follow this link to send a Letter to the Editor
encouraging Mr. Onorato to get our voting machines verified!

Read more:

• Debate hot over e-vote security, Tribune-Review, Oct 6, 2008
• County says it can’t audit voting machines, Post-Gazette, 10/4/2008
• Trusted votes: The public needs confidence at the polling place, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 23, 2008

More »

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeP208 - Click here to see other events around the 2008 Elections in Western PA. Know of an election event in town? Please leave the a comment with the event details here. Click here to see the Progress Pittsburgh Calendar.

Everybody VOTE, is a nonpartisan collaborative that works to increase voter participation by people who have traditionally been left out of the political process, including young people, minorities and low income communities.  This Monday Ocober 13, Everybody VOTE is having a fundraiser at the Shadow Lounge from 7-9pm.  $15 gets you great Indian food made by Alik Widge, free Everybody VOTE schwag, a night of awesome music and schmoozing galore.  There will be a cash bar, so we can eat, drink, be merry, and support a great cause all at the same time!

Everybody VOTE partners with national organizations including the Center for Civic Participation’s Pennsylvania VOICE initiative, and the Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network. They partner locally with the Black Political Empowerment Project, the Urban League, the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership, and over a dozen participating nonprofits in the Pittsburgh area. They partner statewide with the Pennsylvania VOICE network of over 60 nonpartisan organizations.

Their network of partners has registered over 200,000 new voters and is contacting 1.2 million registered voters who would otherwise be unlikely to hear from partisan campaigns.

More »

With the presidential election just under 30 days away and the voter registration deadline behind us – it is now 100% focus on election day. Here is a video that looks at some of the Election Protection efforts and challenges in Pittsburgh in 2004.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqSkzJ9eV2k[/youtube]

For more information about voting and voting rights in PA…

• Visit www.EverybodyVote.com
• Follow EverybodyVote on Twitter
• Join the EverybodyVote group on Facebook

More »

Image via CrunchBaseJust 1 day left to register to vote in the great state of Pennsylvania to vote for the Presidential election in November, 2008.

If you are on Facebook there is an easy easy to make sure your friends are registered to vote. The Everybody Vote Facebook application! http://apps.facebook.com/everybodyvote/

Everybody VOTE is a non-partisan voter registration and mobilization campaign created to increase voter participation in Pennsylvania and dedicated to expanding the role of the state’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in voting and elections.

This application allows you to register to vote, as well as verify if you and your friends are already registered.

Help spread the word:

• Add the Everybody Vote Facebook Application
• Be a fan on the Everybody Vote Application Fan Page
• Join the Everybody Vote Group on Facebook

More »

Here are some blog posts, article and links that you may have missed.

• Another Jet/Golf Scandle? – from one of the comments at the Burgh Report
• Pa. ranked 38th most bike-friendly state – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – The Washington-based League of American Bicyclists has been designating individual communities as bike-friendly since 2003, but this is the first time they have ranked the 50 states based on such criteria as legislation, policies and programs, infrastructure, education, planning and enforcement.

  While Pennsylvania was praised for its "exemplary route network," the League faulted its lack of a safe-passing distance law and a complete streets policy.

  "About a dozen states have safe-passing distance laws stating that cars must maintain a certain distance to pass a cyclist," said Elizabeth Preston, director of communications for the League. "The other is a statewide policy saying that when roads or facilities are built, all users are considered. Not just motorists, but pedestrians, people in wheelchairs and bicyclists."

• Doug Shields Asks U.S. Attorney and the state Attorney General to investigate city development affairs – calls Fords Settlement Hush Money – Pittsburgh Council President Doug Shields formally asked the U.S. Attorney and the state Attorney General to investigate city development affairs today, in the wake of yesterday's settlement between the Urban Redevelopment Authority and its former executive director, Pat Ford.

  "The time for wringing of hands is over," Mr. Shields said. "It's time for action. … Where there's smoke, there's fire."

  The URA board voted yesterday to pay Mr. Ford through June, though his $117,875-a-year contract runs only through December, in return for an agreement that he won't sue or disparage the agency or city government. The deal amounts to $93,000, plus the value of health benefits through June.

  Mr. Shields called that "hush money. … We have a board, the URA board, led by the mayor, at the mayor's direction, at [URA board Chair Yarone] Zober's direction, entering into an agreement that buys his silence."

• New Organizing Institute – Pittsburgh Training at the Union Project Sept. 19, 2008 – If you attend 1 training this fall – this should be it. Free for college students and recent graduates.
  The New Organizing Institute is excited to announce a one-day "Organizers Summit" training on online organizing and political technology on September 19 in Pittsburgh, PA! This training will help nonprofit staff build on a core set of skills that are fundamental in a new, more technology-focused world — including organizing, communications, field, and evaluation — for both civic engagement and electoral work.
• League of Young Voters speaks to the Allegheny County Council – Terry Griffin, the League's Western PA Field Coordinator, joins with our neighbors to urge the County Council to audit our voting machines so accuracy is assured.