Years Later, Court Upholds 'Vote-Swapping' Sites Famous From 2000

In a decision stemming from a dispute during the controversial presidential election of 2000, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that so-called "vote-swapping"
websites are protected by the First Amendment.

A number of these websites sprung up in the last weeks of the 2000 campaign between George W. Bush and Al Gore that allowed third-party supporters of candidate Ralph Nader in swing states to strategize with major-party voters in "safe" states about "trading" their votes to avoid handing the election to their least-preferred candidate.

Ultimately, more than 90,000 voters in Florida voted for Nader. Bush prevailed in a Supreme Court decision which found he won Florida -- and the presidency -- by just 537 votes.

The sites were quickly shut down when then-California Secretary of State Bill Jones sent letters to operators of a website threatening to prosecute them for what he called "vote-buying," even though no money or other type of financial benefit changed hands.

The ACLU of Southern California and the National Voting Rights Institute represented website operators Alan Porter (voteswap2000.com) and William Cody (voterexchange2000.com) and two individual voters, Patrick Kerr and Steven Lewis.

The case, originally filed in November 2000, argued in part that the threats by Jones violated the First Amendment rights of the website operators and exceeded the scope of Jones' authority under California's election code. The National Voting Rights Institute is now affiliated with Demos, a national, non-partisan public policy, research and advocacy center.

The Ninth Circuit's ruling now establishes that the activities that Secretary Jones attempted to squelch "are at the heart of the liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment" and cannot be prosecuted under vote-buying statutes. The decision will be an important precedent protecting the right of website operators and voters to maintain and use such sites in future presidential elections.

"Technology changes the way politics work, but it doesn't alter the basic principles of democracy," says Peter Eliasberg, of the ACLU/SC. "Voters of any political persuasion should be able to meet like-minded voters wherever they are and organize for their candidates without threats to their freedom of speech."

"The court's decision today recognizes the importance of the Internet as a low-cost means of political communication and a vibrant forum for debate about the presidential election," says Lisa Danetz, senior counsel at Demos.

This is the second ruling by the 9th Circuit Court that protects the rights of vote-trading websites. In 2005, the appeals court overruled a federal district court that had dismissed the case shortly after the 2000 election. Today's decision confirms that vote swaps are constitutionally protected.

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Report: All Levels of Government Must Help Sole Voting Problems

How well these systems play their role in an election depends in large part on how well they are managed throughout their life cycles, which begins with defining system standards; includes system design, development, and testing; and concludes with system operations, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Important attributes of the systems’ performance are security, reliability, ease of use, and cost effectiveness, says GAO, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

Since the 2000 national elections, concerns have been raised by various groups regarding the election process, including voting technologies, GAO notes. Cogress in 2002 passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which helped replace older voting equipment with more modern electronic voting systems and established the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to lead U.S. election reform efforts.

"In GAO’s view, the challenges faced in acquiring and operating electronic voting systems are not unlike those faced by any technology user—adoption and application of well-defined system standards; effective integration of the technology with the people who operate it and the processes that govern the operation; rigorous and disciplined performance of system security and testing activities; reliable measurement of system performance; and the analytical basis for making informed, economically justified decisions about voting system investment options," the GAO report says.

"These challenges are complicated by other conditions such as the distribution of responsibilities among various organizations and funding opportunities and constraints," it adds. "Given the diffused and decentralized allocation of voting system roles and responsibilities across all levels of government, addressing these challenges will require the combined efforts of all levels of government, under the leadership of the EAC."

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Newsweek Poll: Bush Standing Hits All-Time Low

U.S. approval for President Bush has hit a record low level despite pitching policies in his recent televised State of the Union address, according to a new Newsweek poll.

President Bush's job approval rating hit an all-time low in theNewsweek Poll at 30 percent. Sixty-one percent of all those polled says they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time; just 30 percent are satisfied.

Sixty-seven percent of those polled believe Bush's decisions about policy in Iraq and other major areas are influenced more by his personal beliefs regardless of the facts, while just 22 percent say his decisions are influenced more by the facts. And 71 percent say Bush will not have enough support over the next two years to make a difference in getting things done in Washington; just 21 percent say he will. The public is split on whether or not Congress is likely (42%) or not likely (48%) to give serious consideration to the proposals Bush made in the State of the Union address about energy, health and other domestic policy.

Fifty-three percent of all those polled say they think history will see Bush as a below average president; 30 percent say average and 14 percent say above average. And 58 percent of all those polled say at this point in time, they personally wish that Bush's presidency was over; 37 percent do not feel that way.

In deciding whether to vote Democratic or Republican in the 2008 presidential election, among registered voters, 31 percent say their view of Bush will be very important; 17 percent say it will be somewhat important and 15 percent say not too important.


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Pastor Rick Warren, Oprah Among Stars Who Back Obama

DraftObama.org, a grassroots site designed to encourage U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to run for president in 2008, today announced the launch of an"Honorary Celebrity Members" class.

The website offers a running tally of the growing number of "Barack Stars" -- celebrities who have said or strongly implied they would support Barack Obama for president, site organizers say. Obama has said he will announce his intention to run for president in 2008 by Feb. 10.

"It's not often you get Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Pastor Rick Warren, and George Clooney on the same list. That just shows the incredible ability of Senator Obama to inspire some of the most famous and respected Americans alive today," says Ben Stanfield, DraftObama.org founder. "By compiling this list of celebrity supporters in one place, we hope to showcase that ability in the clearest possible fashion and to encourage Americans of all backgrounds to learn more about Senator Obama."

The new effort features celebrities across many fields, ranging from investment guru Warren Buffett, to talk show icon Oprah Winfrey, to political matron Ethel Kennedy. With each celebrity is the specific quote made expressing admiration for Obama, along with the source.

"The list of 'Barack Stars' may be glamorous, but their reasons forsupporting Senator Obama are very much down to Earth," says Stanfield. "And this list is just a harbinger of things to come, when the real stars -- the American voters -- get to make their own choices known."

Obama faces a crowded field for the 2008 Democrat nomination for president. Obama's biggest competition comes in the form of former first lady and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.


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New Obama Site On Iraq Launched

A grassroots organization encouraging U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to run for president in 2008 announced the launch of ObamaWasRight.com, an affiliated website and blog dedicated to discussion and solution-finding on the issue of the war in Iraq, the group says.

The new site coincides with Obama filing paperwork to open an exploratory committee as a prelude to a White House campaign. Obama's top Democratic competition in the primaries could come from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York who is also mulling a 2008 run. Former Sen. John Edwards ofNorth Carolina is another prime contender for the Democratic nomination.

Obama reportedly will decide on a 2008 run by Feb. 10.

"We're incredibly excited about Obama's exploratory committee," says Ben Stanfield, founder of DraftObama.org. "It's a major step in our ultimate goal, seeing Senator Obama enter the presidential race. We've been working hard for the last few months to organize thousands of volunteers across all 50 states, and we'll continue that hard work right up to his announcement on Feb. 10th."

The website was launched today in response to strong interest from participants in the DraftObama.org movement for creating a forum specific to issues concerning the war. It highlights Obama's uniquely consistent position in opposition to the war in Iraq among the six leading presidential hopefuls in both parties, organizers say.

"Although he could easily be the 'I-told-you-so candidate,' Senator Obama has shown remarkable statesmanship by focusing not on the past, buton the future," says Stanfield. "Our new site,'ObamaWasRight.com' will become a leading forum for Americans whoappreciate that Senator Obama has been consistently opposed to the Iraq War, and who want to follow his lead, and help in the process of findingnon-partisan approaches to bringing our troops home."

President Bush launched the invasion of Iraq nearly four years ago. It has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 American service personnel. Polls have found Americans disapprove of the war in Iraq.

DraftObama.org is an all-volunteer grassroots organization supporting apresidential run by Senator Obama. Spearheaded by a growing collection ofvolunteers from around the country, the movement has grown from a singleweb page created by Ben Stanfield, a computer technician in Rockville, Md., to a national movement with tens of thousands of petition-signers, hundreds of volunteers in every state, and over half a million unique visitors tothe DraftObama.org site, site organizers say.

The movement gained national attention by airing the first television advertisement of the 2008 presidential election cycle, airing "Believe Again" in Washington, DC, New Hampshire, Iowa and Hawaii. The 60- second spot also reached many YouTube milestones, including moer than 100,000 viewings, site organizers add.


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Op-Ed: If You Haven't Heard of This Guy, You Will

His name is Martin O'Malley. A Democrat, he's been mayor of Baltimore since 1999 but tomorrow he will be sworn in as governor of Maryland. In November, O'Malley became the only Democrat to beat an incumbent Republican governor.

But he'll run for president someday. It's only a matter of time.

Actually, in a way, he already is. O'Malley's been running at least since 2005. At the time, Martin O'Malley was still a second-term mayor and hadn't even kicked off his campaign against Gov. Robert Ehrlich.

In August 2005, Martin O'Malley delivered a major speech on homeland security at the National Press Club in Washington. Like all mayors and governors who focus on domestic policy, O'Malley plainly looked at his speech as a means to demonstrate he understands and can talk tough about security and defense issues.

O'Malley clearly articulated not only what cities and states need to do better in terms of homeland security, but the federal government as well. And he very obviously used the occasion to take on President Bush and burnish not only Democrats' security qualifications, but his own.

"The way I see it, there are two ways to look at the issue of federal responsibility for our national defense at home," O'Malley said. "One view says that our homeland security should be a federal funding responsibility -- that it is the responsibility of all Americans to contribute to her defense during a time of war. The second view says homeland security should be a local funding responsibility -- that the people of a poor city or a rich suburb should do the best they can, using local taxes and the proceeds from fire hall bingo nights. Unfortunately for America's security in this time of war, the second view now controls the White House and Congress.

"This 'weak-defense' view, which sees homeland security as an unfunded local option, cannot truthfully be called 'conservative,'" O'Malley added. "President Eisenhower made a massive federal investment in building the National System of Interstate and Defense highways to better protect America in the event of a nuclear attack. Ronald Reagan was unabashed when it came to federal investments in defense. But in Washington today, the traditional strong defense values of the party of Abraham Lincoln are found only in the words carved on the cold walls of his memorial."

Martin O'Malley has a very Clintonesque quality about him. He's very smart but has a very folksy way about him and can easily tap into spirtual and religious dimensions without sounding strident. He can also, as he did in his homeland security speech, bash the opposition without coming across as too partisan, but as common sensical.

Like Bill Clinton, Martin O'Malley is cool. He's the leader of an Irish rock band called O'Malley's March. O'Malley's St. Patrick's Day concerts are the stuff of legend in Baltimore.

As a presidential candidate and as president, Martin O'Malley has the opportunity to be Clinton without the baggage. In fact, in the recent governor's race, O'Malley's opponents tried to use the womanizing smear against him in a very Clinton-like way only to have it backfire. Ehrlich was forced to fire the staffer who was peddling the rumors.

The big knock on Martin O'Malley is ambition. He's too ambitious, some people say. I'm not sure why people see ambition among public servants as a bad thing, though. When you or I are good at our job, we hope for and expect raises and promotions. It's a very positive quality in America. Why shouldn't the same hold true for good public servants.

Martin O'Malley, though, understands one can be too ambitious. That's why O'Malley sat out the 2002 governor's race. At that time, he was still a first-term mayor. He waited until he got re-elected to ponder a run for governor.

The same will be true when O'Malley runs for president.

So when will he run? O'Malley will wait to be a re-elected governor in 2010 before he looks further to the national stage. Further timing will depend on whether a Democrat wins the White House in 2008. If a Democrat becomes president in January 2009, O'Malley won't challenge the incumbent in 2012, but will wait until 2016. He's a young man and can bide his time.

If a Republican wins in 2008, however, O'Malley may stage a run against the GOP incumbent as a sitting governor in 2012.

Watch Martin O'Malley. You will be hearing more from him sooner or later.

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