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To: Dale Baker who wrote (5033)	12/16/2003 9:00:20 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 20773

VOTE FRAUD ISSUE HEATS UP Dale, This votescam issue is really hotting up. The NY Times had a major article yesterday: Message 19601651 and I just received this from the other President: Subject: A Message From Martin Sheen SEND ACTION~a10265u7930 Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 17:08:19 -0500 (EST) From: TrueMajority <alerts@truemajority.org> To: x From the Desk Of... Martin Sheen The Threat From Computerized Voting Machines Dear Raymond , I am writing to you as a fellow member of TrueMajority to ask for your help in preventing a scandal that could shake our nation to the roots of our democratic principles. Please take a moment to send a free fax to your Representative in Congress, and then to pass this letter on to your friends and family in the hope that they will help too. We start with a principle so obvious it seems strange even to write it: For a democracy to work, the people must believe that balloting is conducted fairly and votes are counted accurately. Americans feel justifiable pride that our nation has created a system to ensure this, including provisions for recounts. In the wake of the punch card voting mess in Florida, the federal government dedicated billions of dollars to help states purchase new voting machines. Some pioneering states have begun purchasing a new type of touch screen computerized voting machine. These machines register votes on a memory chip and then digitally transmit the results via telephone modem to election headquarters. We can only hope that neither glitches nor tampering will change or erase any of our votes. We all know that computers sometimes crash and lose data. Power cords get pulled out of the wall. And what better trophy for a hacker--or over zealous campaign worker--than to skew the outcome of the actual election? There is a simple solution to these problems. The California Secretary of State has ordered that these new computerized voting machines print out a paper copy of your vote for your approval before the vote is registered. These printouts would then be saved in case the machines malfunction or there is any question as to whether or not they have been tampered with. Without them we would just have to trust the companies that make the machines--companies like Diebold whose CEO, Walden W. O'Dell, recently wrote in a fundraising letter for the Republicans, "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President next year." Without a paper trail, there is no way to reliably validate an election or conduct a reliable recount. It's that simple. If you are a member of TrueMajority, to send a fax (text below) to your Representative urging him or her to support voting machines across the country that we can trust, just reply to this email by clicking "Reply" and then "Send" in your email program. If you are not currently registered with TrueMajority, or would like to customize your message, click here: action.truemajority.com POWERFUL LETTER TO THE EDITOR FEATURE Letters to the editor are another powerful way to influence your Congressmembers. This feature uses state-of-the-art technology to make it really easy for you to send a letter to the editor. Click here to give it a try: action.truemajority.org TrueMajority is working on this important issue with some of our partners, including Working Assets, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, and MoveOn.org. The California Voter Foundation has lots of great links to these groups and news articles about this problem. You can find them here: www.calvoter.org/votingtechnology.html The New York Times also did a great editorial on this issue. You can find it here: www.nytimes.com/2003/12/08/opinion/08MON1.html So please take a moment to protect your right--our right--to make sure every vote is counted and every election is fair. Thanks for your help, Martin Sheen *** Here is the letter that TrueMajority will fax to your Member of Congress: Dear Representative: The bedrock upon which any democracy is built is confidence that elections are free, fair and accurate. Yet companies such as Diebold are selling machines that leave no tangible evidence of a person's vote. We all know that computers sometimes crash and data is lost, yet the companies selling these machines refuse to let election officials inspect the inner workings of the machines or software. Please support legislation that would simply require that I as a voter be able to approve a paper copy of my choices before they are registered in the computer. These anonymous paper copies can then be saved. If there is ever a question about the intent of the voters the paper ballots can be checked and both voters and candidates can be confident in the outcome. I urge you to support this simple measure that can prevent a real crisis in our democracy. Sincerely, (We will insert your name and address here.) - If you'd like to contact us, don't reply to this e-mail. It will generate a message to your Representative. Instead, go here: action.truemajority.org - If you need to update your address or e-mail address, or if we have the wrong Representative for you, just go here to change it. action.truemajority.org

To: Dale Baker who wrote (5033)	12/16/2003 1:04:29 PM
From: rrufff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20773

Iraqi minister tells UN to stop sniping, start helping 9 minutes ago Add Mideast - AFP to My Yahoo! UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s foreign minister told the UN Security Council to stop bickering over the war that brought down Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and focus on rebuilding the shattered nation. In an occasionally pointed address delivered with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) on hand, Hoshyar Zebari hit back at critics of the war and told the 15-nation council it should stop playing politics with Iraq's future. "Settling scores with the United States-led coalition should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people," Zebari told the council, which has been strongly divided over the war and its aftermath. "Squabbling over political differences takes a back seat to the daily struggle for security, jobs, basic freedoms and all the rights the UN is chartered to uphold," he said. Tuesday's meeting was called to discuss the transition of political power in Iraq, where the United States and its handpicked Iraqi Governing Council are due to handover to an interim Iraqi government by the end of June. Security Council members France, Germany and Russia, which led opposition to the US-led war on Iraq, do not want the United States to oversee all of the political transition and want the United Nations (news - web sites) to play a major role. But Annan, who pulled his international staff out of Baghdad after a series of deadly attacks, including an August suicide bombing that killed 22 people at UN headquarters, said he wants a clear outline of the UN's role before risking the lives of more UN personnel. "We need much greater clarity on what is expected of the United Nations by Iraqis and by the coalition in terms of assistance to the political transition," he said. "In taking the difficult decisions that lie ahead, I need to weigh the degree of risk that the United Nations is being asked to accept against the substance of the role we are being asked to fulfil." He said that until security improves, his Iraq team will be based in Nicosia, Cyprus and Amman, Jordan. But Zebari said: "Your help and expertise cannot be effectively delivered from Cyprus or Amman." Zebari also took aim at Security Council powers like France which have suggested that the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council does not have political legitimacy. "As Iraqis, we strongly disagree with those of you that question the legitimacy of the present Iraqi authorities," he said. "The governing council is the most representative and democratic governing body in the region." Speaking before Zebari, Annan said Saturday's capture of former dictator Saddam Hussein was a chance for Iraqis to "create a secure, stable and independent Iraq" and put aside the problems of the past. "It is right that Mr Hussein should be held to account for his past deeds, through a procedure that meets the highest international standards of due process," he told the council. "Accounting for the past will be an important part of bringing about national reconciliation," said Annan. US ambassador John Negroponte said Monday that the United States hopes the capture of Saddam will unite the council behind its plan for rebuilding of Iraq and establishing an interim Iraqi government. Under an agreement reached November 15 between the United States and the Governing Council, sovereignty would be handed to a provisional government before the end of June. Proper elections would not be held until 2005. But Iraqis are divided over the process and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's highest-ranking Shiite cleric, wants immediate general elections.