...With Chicago’s First Successfully Contested Aldermanic Election
On June 22, Chicago voters will witness a potentially historic decision when a judge rules on the first fully contested and investigated Chicago aldermanic election. Americans are all too familiar with polling place problems, both intended and unintended. Many still believe fraud and flaws in our 2000 and 2004 presidential elections gave victory to the wrong candidate. We should have zero tolerance for this, and for a system that perpetuates errors and breeds contempt for voters.
This year I ran for election as alderman of the 49th ward. I thought I could do a better job than the incumbent both in our ward and for our city. However, I did not expect to be fighting on behalf of voters everywhere for fair elections. Yet, how could I, or anyone interested in the democratic process, ignore the evidence of systematic errors in the voting process?
The April 17th run-off election gave our incumbent an apparent 251-vote victory out of 8,000 votes cast. Facts, however, do not support the result. Three other residents – Eileen Foxman, Eva McCann, and Blane Roberts – joined as plaintiffs, citing the egregious voting irregularities they witnessed. Numerous calls and emails from voters reported illegal voting, electioneering by the incumbent and improper actions by polling place judges. Those irregularities may likely change the outcome of the election.
As might be expected, the defendants moved to dismiss the charges so they will not have to defend the results. However, election irregularities have been dismissed for too long and damage our democracy. On June 22nd the judge will hear oral arguments and rule on the motions to dismiss. If denied, as we believe it should be, all Chicagoans will benefit by allowing a full investigation of the election results that includes every aspect of the election.
In addition to determining what votes were honestly cast and who actually won, the process will also provide guidance to election officials on how to safeguard Chicago elections in the future. Since many voters felt that our voting rights were compromised, we also formed an organization to help support this challenge – VOTER49 (Voters Organized for Truthful Election Results). The VOTER49 website at VOTER49.org contains a regularly updated status report on court proceedings and related documents. Contributions to support legal costs of the court challenge can be made via PayPal and are totally confidential.
This challenge will give every voter a reason to hope that we can have fair and honest elections. The very foundation of our democracy depends on it. No less than our most important right and responsibility as Americans are at stake.
Sincerely,
Don Gordon, 49th Ward
12 comments:
I know this is old and you've seen this elsewhere, but I was politely asked to run it anyway.
What's that all about? I give the old gordo odds of winning... 1:8
I think you mean 8:1, because your way makes it so that for every 8 you bet on Gordon winning, you will win 1. That would make him a serious favorite, which I assume you are not trying to say. If you are, then sorry for the post.
CRAIG-
THANKS FOR RUNNING DON'S LETTER AGAIN-
KEEP HIM AND HIS CAUSE BEFORE THE PUBLIC MUCH AS POSSOBLE-
PS THE GOOSE LIVER GETS MORE ROTTEN EVERDAY AND STINKS MORE-
election fraud versus voter fraud- a crucial difference.
i wonder how many here think that there is little or no difference between those 2 things. which do you think has been alleged here in 49? is it like what happened in '00 in florida, '04 in ohio, but also in new mexico, alaska, (actual vote totals from AK '04 have never been released. seriously) pretty much coast to coast?
the difference- election fraud is what has really been happening. election fraud is insiders who are rigging elections in a wholesale, systematic way. hava meant that billions, yes with a b would be spent oh electronic voting machines, from 2 companies whose owners, 2 brothers, are rabid partisans and religious fundamentalists, as well as top level fundraisers. one of them- diebold, makes almost perfectly reliable atm's, but somehow makes vote counting machines that fail in every way possible. this is the part where you say- hhmmmmm.
here's a couple of links if you are not up to speed on these things.
http://www.markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen
thankfully, illinois requires an actual paper ballot, so we are safer, but not completely safe.
another part of election fraud is voter suppression. there are a lot of ways to do this, some as old as elections. these days, a big part of it is using the myriad amounts of personal data out there to figure out which voters are likely to vote for which party. and no, they do not do it the old fashioned way, by knocking on doors. too hard. the gop does it, like they did in florida in '00- they got a private data mining company, named choicepoint. they told them- give us a list of all the felons in fla, so we can prevent them from voting. see- cuz they think like this- felon>minority>democrat. this was not illegal because felons can't vote in fla. but that list was too short. so, katherine harris had them enlarge the list, including people who had the same name, or even the same last name, the same DOB, etc. just kept increasing the length of the list until it looked like she had enough names that could be challenged on election day. estimates are that as many as 50,000 people were prevented from voting by this list. this is called a caging list. they are illegal. you cannot challenge a voter because their brown skin makes them likely to vote against you, or for any other reason than that you know them to be ineligible to vote.
so, that's the high tech way, but they used plenty of the tried and true old favorite- calling voters and telling them that if they had parking tickets, or owed child support, they couldn't vote and would be arrested if they tried.
these things are election fraud. vote fraud is individual voters casting ballots that they are not entitled to cast. this very, very, very rarely happens.
which brings us to recent news of the firing of u.s. attorneys. in the case of most of the now known 9 USA's fired, the main reason for their departure was that they refused to file (or even find) cases of vote fraud to prosecute, especially on the part of dems. why? because once your propaganda convinces people that hoards of people are attempting to throw elections, you can set forth draconian procedures that suppress large numbers of voters, mostly poor, mostly minority, but really, any old voter will do. the fewer legit voters there are, the easier it is to game the system.
so, what does all this have to do with joe v don? hhmmmm...
well, only one candidate had people challenging voters in every precinct. only one candidate had a caging list provided by a republican connected, whacko owned organization- the freeman institute.
only one candidate beat the drums of voter fraud in the campaign.
don and co challenged voters all day. they pleaded their case before officers of the court- election judges- and now they want another bite at the apple. and now, they file a case that is absolutely unprecedented in its proposed remedy. these are the things that make him look like a republican to me. (something i said about him long before david herro.)
and this whole situation, the whole campaign, fits so neatly into the picture that the bush crime family has pursued all across this country, that i can only say- hhhmmmmmm.
Been There: You might try lining your hat with aluminum foil. I hear it keeps the republicans from stealing your thoughts.
Don't cry for me Rogers' Park,
The truth is, I never lost the race
All through the election days
My sad existence
I kept my promise
I'll be alderman
Have I said too much?
There's nothing Moore I can think of to slam your ass
But all you have to do
Is read Morse Hell Hole to know
That every word is true
and I'll beat your ass
- Gordon (Don't Cry for Me Argentina)
_
OOOh wooo. I'm really enjoying these comments.... Forget it though guys, this is a force of ignorance beyond reason. I don't know if its democrat or republican, they call themselves democrats all day long, they're just snooty people that want a homogenized quiet neighborhood free of loud kids, drunks, litter, broken stuff, unleashed dogs, baggy pants, Can you say Lincoln Park or Lake Forest? Keep up the ruckus, I think instead of bananas or donuts or some other such trifle, prozac might be a good thing to hand out... They moved to the city hoping it would gentrify, they certainly didn't move here to enjoy city life with all its diversity and grit, maybe brochures about nice neighborhoods full of people just like them would work, oh but these same assholes probably can't afford to actually live where they belong, or maybe they like the beach, have you ever seen such a large volume of people that a nice serene beach couldn't calm down. Prozac is the only hope. or maybe they'll just explode.
Oh, I forgot, slobs, loiterers animal rights activists, Unions, vandals, homeless, potholes, bathtub planters...wouldn't it just be easier to move somewhere where all these things don't exist?
Dont forget the people who piss in other people's planters.
Paradise, Don't you know that even the dumbest animals don't poo where they live. Are you saying that you would hover over a pile of shit like a swarm of house flies?
hmmm....it was interesting when you likened me to one fly and I did imagine my life as a fly, picturing myself as a swarm is a facinating idea, there could be twenty flies and they're all one ME. Sometimes there's many thoughts buzzing in my head, and each fly would be a thought....
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