Jimmy Carter to Chair Election Reform Commission

[Kevin Spidel]

Note the public hearings, in D.C. on April 18th and in Houston in June.
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(note - i dont have the original link to this article, so i have the copyright below)


Jimmy Carter to Chair Election Reform Commission
Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:29 PM ET


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Jimmy Carter will lead a bipartisan commission to examine problems with the U.S. election system, American University's Center for Democracy and Election Management said on Thursday.

Carter, a Democrat whose Carter Center has monitored more than 50 elections around the world, will co-chair the private commission with Republican James Baker, who served as Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush.

Former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat who lost his seat in the 2004 election, will also participate.

"I am concerned about the state of our electoral system and believe we need to improve it," Carter said in a statement. He said the group will assess "issues of inclusion" in federal voting and propose recommendations to improve the process.

"We will try to define an electoral system for the 21st century that will make Americans proud again," he said.

Though disputes over recounts and voter eligibility marred the 2000 U.S. presidential election, international monitors in place in November 2004 reported the polls were mostly fair.

Still, concerns emerged about exceedingly long lines that kept voters from the polls in several states including Ohio, whose 20 electoral college votes ultimately decided the election in President Bush's favor.

The Center for Democracy and Election Management, which will organize the work of Carter's commission, said the group would hold two public hearings -- the first on April 18 at American University in Washington and the second at Houston's Rice University in June.

The Commission on Federal Election Reform aims to produce a report to Congress on its findings by September.


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[Zuni]

1. I am very happy about that appointment

Jimmy Carter is a stand up guy and a person who will do the right thing.

If he is on the panel, there is going to be at least one person we can depend on there

[Tux]

2. Nice man

Hard to believe he is an Evangelical but he is nice and decent.

[madinmaryland]

3. Hopefully, Baker will not try to sabotage

everything the Jimmy Carter tries to accomplish. I think Mr. Carter will be able to do much to bring to light the problems in the current voting system(s).

[golden voyages]

8. I truly believe his only reason for being there is to do exactly that

Remember this is the guy that led the fight AGAINST having an accurate Florida recount in 2000. And worse still, he's not the only BFEE stooge on the commission. Robert Mosbacher and Kay Coles James are also on board.

http://domino.american.edu/AU/media/mediarel.nsf/1D265343BDC2189785256B810071F238/0C0A0C2B9D2F70A485256FCE00622C64?OpenDocument

[madinmaryland]

9. That is a real concern of mine.

Though if anyone can keep it from going into a political f***fest it is Jimmy Carter. Hopefully he can keep the group above that type of stuff.

[pacalo]

4. I was excited until I saw that James Baker is chairing the committee.

How convenient to the Repugs' acquired knowledge & experience of election fraud through electronic voting machines.

James Baker is the fox guarding the henhouse for this administration. Must be protected at all turns.

[Zan_of_Texas]

5. Blather!

Here's a link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64340-2005Mar24.html

Baker is very powerful and very dangerous. I don't think Carter at 80 can keep this from being a complete sham, or worse, sending the authorities in the exact wrong direction.

Besides, Carter and his Carter Center studiously getting involved at all when Georgia was stolen in the 2002 mid-term. Despite desperate pleas from the Georgia citizen investigators.

It's a private commission. So, who appointed Baker? Inquiring citizens want to know.

We should appoint our OWN damn commission. Instead of tolerating these sham ones.

Okay, the floor is open for nominations.

Journalists? Election officials? Investigators? Computer experts? Citizens? Activists? Experts from other countries, like Canada, who can report on their system of paper ballots? Politicians? Voting Machine Company officials?

Who would YOU put on a commission to improve (not FIX) elections?

[Bill Bored]

6. Is Baker a co-chair?

The article says "Carter to Chair." This is misleading if he too is a co-chair. False sense of security for Democrats.

If they want a Republican co-chair, they should consider McCain or one of the retired ex-Nixon guys who has come out against some of the Bush doctrine on truly Conservative grounds. Besides, we have been there and done this already. Wasn't it Carter/Ford last time? Fat load of good it did.

I do like Jimmy though!

[SharonRB]

14. John Conyers, Barbara Boxer and Keith Olbermann

[Cocoa]

7. Baker's presence will make this worthless

[dzika]

10. We need to lobby the shit out of Carter

There needs to be something more than another commission completed via "auto-pilot".

[Bill Bored]

11. It will be a replay of Warren Christopher vs. Baker, FL 2000.

You have the elder statesman against the shark.
Carter needs a shark on his side too. A Land Shark, so to speak.
Maybe Nader or Cobb, but of course, these corporate commissions never have more than the two major parties. Just like the Debate Commission.

So what can we do?

Maybe lobby AGAINST Baker and make them find a Repub with a conscience.
Warren Rudman?

[tommcintyre]

12. "...November 2004 reported the polls were mostly fair"???

It looks like this is NOT planned to be a "fair" (truly broad-reaching and unbiased) Commission. Considering the language above, AND the appointment of Baker??? Ahh come on!

Watch the documentary, "Invisible Ballots". They showed Baker singing the mantra, "punch cards baaad, electronic voting goood".

This is like having the fox investigate the suspicious murders in the hen house!

I hope Jimmy can pull this one off; but I have a feeling Bushco is trying to stack the deck against him.

[SharonRB]

13. This is really great news

I just hope that something is done with whatever results they come up with.

[smartvoter]

15. This is a total surprise and despite the naysayers, is good news. nt

[Senator]

16. The Bigger Picture ... (and an AP link)

The BIG news here is that the DC/Media Analstocracy is nervous enough to circle the wagons, big time.

The Baker-bot is only called up for active duty to tend to the real crises. And having to lend him Mossbacher shows just how much shaking is going on in those overpriced cowboy boots.

Now, I expect them to succeed in rolling Carter and Daschle like they did Warren Christopher (et. al.) in their 2000 Treason Campaign. But even that may not be as sure a bet as you'd think.

(It's even possible that Daschle, in particular, may have had his head removed from the large sphincter muscle that is the DC beltway just long enough to be able to think and speak with some degree of reality beyond the Euphemedia haze.)

But whatever they do is irrelevant to the fact that their existence demonstrates that the good guys are making an impact.

This is already a trohpy for our side!

-
AP item:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=613372

(Note that they've made Molinari a Dem - idiots.)

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