The 2004 Vote: What Really Happened? Experts to Provide a Report to the Nation, Getting Past Rumor and Innuendo

Progressive Newswire    Common Dreams   06 December 2004
  

WASHINGTON December 6 News Advisory: Rumors of nefarious election activities and tales of disenfranchised voters still swirl around the Internet, nearly a month after the presidential election. Election Day revealed problems in our voting systems, including registration issues, timely provision of absentee ballots, the reliability of voting machines, inadequate numbers of poll workers and efforts to intimidate voters and suppress turnout.

On Tuesday, Dec. 7, Common Cause, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and The Century Foundation will conduct a non- partisan in-depth look at voting in America that will reveal exactly what happened on Election Day. The organizations will sponsor: "Voting in 2004: Report to the Nation on America's Election Process," featuring voting experts, state and federal officials and organizations that had workers on the ground on Election Day, observing and collecting information. Below please find an agenda.

WHAT: Voting in 2004: A Report to the Nation on America's Election Process

WHERE: G-50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D- Md.), Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.)

OTHER FEATURED SPEAKERS: Barbara Arnwine, executive director, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights; Jehmu Greene, president, Rock the Vote; Wade Henderson, executive director, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; Ralph Neas, president, People for the American Way; Leslie Reynolds, executive director of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE: American Civil Liberties Union, American Families United, the Brennan Center for Justice, Demos, Electionline.org, George Washington School of Law, Johns Hopkins University, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Association of Secretaries of State, Rock the Vote, The Advancement Project and Verified Voting

AGENDA:

Voting in 2004: A Report to the Nation on America's Election Process

Tuesday, Dec. 7, Room SD-G50, Dirksen Senate Office Building

Moderators: Wade Henderson, executive director, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; Chellie Pingree, president, Common Cause
Conference Check in and Registration: 8:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Statements: 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

The Honorable Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (invited)

The Honorable Representative Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)

The Honorable Representative Bob Ney (R-Ohio)

The Honorable Representative Rush Holt (D-N.J.)
Panel 1: Election Protection An Overview: 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.

Barbara Arnwine, executive director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Ralph Neas, president, People For the American Way
Panel 2: Voter Registration: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Jessie Allen, associate counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Dr. Randy Brinson, chairman, Redeem the Vote

Lillie Coney, senior policy analyst, Electronic Privacy Information Center

Jehmu Greene, executive director, Rock the Vote

Penda Hair, director, Voter Protection Project of American Families United
Panel 3: Provisional Ballots: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Steve Carbo, director of the Democracy Program, Demos

David Orr, Cook County clerk, Cook County Illinois

Spencer Overton, professor of law, The George Washington University School of Law
Panel 4: Machines: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

David Dill, Founder, VerifiedVoting.org; professor of computer science, Stanford University

Dean Heller, Nevada secretary of state

David Jefferson, chair of the California Secretary of State's Technical Oversight Committee and member of the state's Voting Systems and Procedures Panel

Ted Selker, associate professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Boxed Lunches Served: 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Panel 5: Voter Suppression and Intimidation: 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

John Bonifaz, general counsel, National Voting Rights Institute

Judith A. Browne, senior attorney, the Advancement Project

Heather Dawn Thompson, president, the Native American Bar Association of DC

Larry Gonzalez, Washington director, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials

Crystal Lander, director of campus programs, the Feminist Majority Foundation

Hilary Shelton, Washington bureau director, NAACP
Panel 6: Polling Place Operations and Poll Workers: 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Terry Ao, staff attorney, National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium

Alaina Beverly, assistant counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

Melanie L. Campbell, executive director & CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation

Doug Chapin, director, Electionline.org

Robert Pastor, director, Center for Democracy & Election Management, American University
Panel 7: Absentee Ballots: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Cecelie Counts, director of civil rights, AFL-CIO

Leslie Reynolds, executive director, National Association of Secretaries of State

Avi Rubin, professor of computer science, Johns Hopkins University

Courtenay Strickland, Voting Rights Project director, ACLU of Florida