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Marvalene
Pankey penned the information below for former Mo. Secretary of State, Bekki
Cook, in 1999 and made some notations later.
She firmly believes most of the problems she addressed regarding Mo.
elections still exist for the 2004 elections. The federal Help America Vote(Republican)Act did nothing to
insure free and fair elections and that every ballot is counted. Missouri election law
changes were band aids when major surgery was needed and in some cases made matters
worse.
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/6314/summaryel99.html
IDEAS FOR IMPROVING MISSOURI ELECTIONS
Summary of Ways to Improve Missouri Elections
Frederick Douglass, August
4, 1857, stated, "The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of
those whom they oppress." And Joseph Stalin has been quoted as having
said, "Voters decide nothing; people who count votes decide
everything."
7/20/2000 NOTATION---due
to discovering the 1985 Mo. Court of Appeals, WD court ruling (686 SW2d 888)
that in primary elections, all polling places are to have at least one separate
booth per political party and that the ballots simply must be separate (no
voter can be handed a booklet with all the parties), and each booth must be
clearly marked as to which political party it is for this note must be added.
PLEASE INSIST YOUR ELECTION AUTHORITY PROVIDE A SEPARATE BOOTH AND SEPARATE
BALLOT AND FILE WRITTEN COMPLAINTS BOTH WITH THE MO.SECRETARY OF STATE, LOCAL
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION, FBI, AND U.S. ATTORNEY IF
THIS IS NOT DONE EVEN FOR VOTING ABSENTEE. You must help take our state and
republic back ONE PROPER BALLOT AT A TIME.
I,
who have often been critical of various Missouri officials from all political
parties, offered a few positive ideas/suggestions that could have been helpful
in insuring greater participation by Missouri voters in the 2000 elections and
in insuring the integrity of all future Missouri elections. A free and fair
ballot box is the heart of liberty.
A. I believe the Secretary of State and one or more
citizens groups need to encourage local election authorities to do the
following:
1. Strive for perfection and total accuracy and at all
times before, during, and after an election giving a perception to the public
of high ethical standards. A somewhat absurd, amusing bad example of
carelessness by an election authority is a posting on the internet, by the
Lawrence County Clerk's Office inviting absentee ballot applications for the
PRIMARY election through November 2, 1998, although the primary was, of course,
completed in August.
2. Return to true secret ballot voting where voters have
an actual voting booth and vote behind a curtain.
3. Insist on the statutes and code of state regulations
being fully followed, including in the printing of accurate sample ballots LIKE
THE BALLOTS OR BALLOT LABELS USED FOR THE ACTUAL ELECTION, absentee voting
materials, keeping of tally books, etc.
4. NEVER DESTROY ANY BALLOT, BALLOT CARD, OR OTHER
ELECTION MATERIAL UNTIL THE TIME LAPSE FOR DOING SO.
5. Encourage public viewing of both the testing of the
tabulation equipment and of the actual tabulation on election night, including
any hand counting. VOTE COUNTING SHOULD ONLY BE DONE IN FULL VIEW OF THE
PUBLIC.
6. Insist that all vendors for elections materials are
properly registered to do business in Missouri and abiding by all Mo. laws. As
soon as possible remove for profit vendors from the provision of election materials,
requiring all ballots and vote tabulation equipment and software to be under
the control of a state commission composed of representatives of all political
parties on the ballot, all software source codes to be escrowed and all
software and equipment to be bonded.
7. To use only election materials which are in compliance
with all Missouri statutes and CSRs.
8. To provide a true copy of any and all election
materials, including each of the ballot types, to the Secretary of State as
soon as printed.
9. Discourage exit polls.
10. Have area funeral directors check the voter
registration lists to insure no one is casting any ballots in the name of the
deceased; then provide a list of those deceased weekly to the election
authority, to insure when someone dies they are removed. (The secretary of
state should insist on the election authorities abiding by 115.195 RsMo. and
seek legislation to add a penalty, perhaps forfeiture of office and/or hefty
fine for the election authority if death, felony, and misdemeanor convictions
are not checked.)
11. Insist voters are notified of the remaining
requirements for full voter registration, immediately upon receipt of motor
voter application.
12. Be reminded that only poll workers can handle the
ballots.
13. Encourage Youth Participants, but foreign observers
at the polls should not be tolerated.
14. To adhere strictly to produce all records as required
by Missouri law and to retain all such records as required by 42 USC
1974-1974(e). The FEC document Election Document Retention in an Age of High
Technology (Number 3 in the series on Innovations in Election
Administration ), should be required reading for all Mo. election
authorities and their personnel.
15. To require anyone, other than the voter casting a
ballot, touching any election materials to take an oath.
B. I further
believe the secretary of state needs to notify all the election authorities
that individuals or a team(employees or volunteers) from the state office MAY
pop in on election nights or after the tabulation to view tabulation of
election returns, review all paperwork, and/or interview any computer
programmers or others assisting with the tabulation.
C. The
Secretary of State should encourage people to declare candidacy for office by
making the process simple and as quick as possible and through public service
announcements. Expanding the secretary of state's branch offices to full
service and also accepting declarations of candidacy there would also
encouraging more citizens to participate.
D. The
Secretary of State should discourage the political parties from announcing who
has WON the primary before all ballots have been cast and the majority of the
votes counted.
E. The
Secretary of State should encourage the media to be fair to all candidates and
political parties.
F. The
Secretary of State, Elections Division, needs to develop a database of the
vendors providing election materials in Missouri, what they provide, who they
provide it too, their authority to do business in our state, and if they have
been certified as meeting the national standards set forth by the Federal
Elections Commission.
G. The
Secretary of State in cooperation with volunteers, citizen groups, and
corporations needs to publish a non-partisan state voter's guide, including
candidate profiles and positions.
H. The
Secretary of State in cooperation with citizens groups and the public
libraries, needs to establish elections information centers within the public
libraries.
I. The
Secretary of State needs to distribute a series of quick facts fliers on
elections to libraries, schools, and other public places and as web site pages
(perhaps animated cartoon like) on at least, how to become a candidate for
office, how to vote absentee, how to declare candidacy as a write in and vote
for same, how to vote a punch card ballot, how to vote an optical scan ballot,
how to encourage others to vote, and how to protect the integrity of the ballot
box.
J. The Missouri
Secretary of State should develop one or more secure vote tabulation systems
and each election authority should be required to phase in the use of such by a
certain date.
K. The Secretary of State, in cooperation
with citizens groups and/or corporations, needs to develop a travelling FREEDOM
MOBILE as a training center on elections, educating the public regarding
electronic tabulation and other elections materials, encouraging youth
involvement, and encouraging citizen participation in the political process.
This could be similar to a bookmobile showing up at various schools, libraries,
fairs, and other communty events and facilities.
The solution to
recapturing the ballot box in Missouri is not paper hand counted ballots as
some believe. This is the TWENTY FIRST century and it is possible to develop a
secure counting system free from the internet, free from satellites, free from
all potential for fraud. In some places where hand counting is still done,
community llegations of fraud and irregularities is also rampant. The solution
is to have a secretary of state who will aggressively insist on perfection in
elections, that the election laws and CSRs are consistent with each other and
practical and do protect the public from any potential for vote fraud.
I agree with Lawrence County, Missouri voter, Joe Nix, who said in 1998,
"The burden of proof of full confidence in the electoral process should
rely on the elected official, not the voters." Until we have people in
office who are dedicated to that idea we all shall suffer from government by
the few versus government f the people, by the people. The concept can begin
with ONE POLITICAL PARTY, ONE COALITION, JUST A FEW PEOPLE AND EVEN IN A FEW
short months a lot of POSITIVE difference in Missouri elections CAN BE MADE. It
was my original hope this original report would help Missouri Secretary of
State, Bekki Cook, and her staff carry that torch. It is now my hope this
report will ignite a spirit of determination for a coalition of persons to form
a REAL ELECTION REFORM TASK FORCE and pursue much needed changes in Missouri
election laws.
Special notation August
18, 2004---the real election reform task force did not happen and unfortunately
the Mo. General Assembly only scratched the surface for election law revisions
(in some cases making matters worse).
So here we are with the general election 2004 slightly over two months
away and the Missouri election process leaves a lot to be concerned about.
Elect McCaskill Elect
Bekki Cook Citizens for McCaskill
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Marvalene Pankey 1999 and beyond, mpankey2004@yahoo.com, 417-876-4626, e
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