The OTER VOLUME 43 NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY Susman to handle distribution of the LWVNJ After the naturalization ceremony, Federal

Transcription

1 The OTER VOLUME 43 NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY 2004 Calendar (League activities are in bold). FEBRUARY Tu 6:00 p.m. County Freeholder Caucus 16th floor, Camden Co. Courthouse, Camden 19 Th 7:00 p.m. County Freeholder Meeting Wayne Bryant Community Center, Lawnside 19 Th 7:30 p.m. LWVCC Wine & Cheese Party For all members and prospective members. Home of Bobbie Porter. Snow date Feb. 26 APRIL W 7:30 p.m. LWVCC Board Meeting Home of Marcy Susman 13 Tu 6:00 p.m. County Freeholder Caucus 16th floor, Camden Co. Courthouse, Camden 15 Th 7:00 p.m. County Freeholder Meeting Pine Hill Borough, Courtroom 45 West Seventh Avenue, Pine Hill MARCH Su All day March for Women s Lives Washington DC. Pickup in Cherry Hill 3 W 7:30 p.m. LWVCC Board Meeting Home of Ann Koopman At its Feb. 4, 2004 meeting the LWVCC board: 16 Tu 6:00 p.m. County Freeholder Caucus 16th floor, Camden Co. Courthouse, Camden 1. Accepted the offer from Ann Koopman and Marcy 17 W 10:00 a.m. Voter Registration Susman to handle distribution of the LWVNJ After the naturalization ceremony, Federal Citizens Guides this year. Courthouse, Camden. 2. Chose May 8 for the Flower Sale distribution this 17 W 7:30 p.m. Death Penalty Consensus Mtg. spring. Ann Koopman s House. For all League members. Unitarian Church, 3. Selected tentative dates in April and May for the Cherry Hill. Annual Meeting, and assigned responsibilities for 18 Th 7:00 p.m. County Freeholder Meeting selecting a date, topic, and speaker. Cold Springs School, Gloucester City 4. Agreed to hold a silent auction at the Annual 30 Tu 8:15-1 p.m. Running and Winning Event Meeting. Woodrow Wilson High School, Camden 5. Took Callathon packets to raise money for LWVNJ THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CAMDEN COUNTY 1

2 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE: Happy Birthday, LWV! As many of you know, Carrie Chapman Catt founded the League of Women Voters on February 14, 1920, when it was deemed certain that the 19 th Amendment to the Constitution would be ratified. (That occurred on August 26 of that year.) This year we are celebrating the League s birthday (84!) with a Wine and Cheese Social on February 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Bobbie Porter s home. It s a chance for members to get reacquainted and for new members to become oriented to the League. Hope to see you there. On a more serious note, I want to remind you that your vote on the Selection of the President update is due by March 1. You should all have your January /February 2004 issue of the National Voter by now, where the proposed update appears. Background information is also available by reading related articles in past issues, by going to and/or by reading pages 4-5 of this Voter. (You can also vote online call me if you ve forgotten the password.) Please don t forget to take care of this we can hardly call ourselves a grassroots organization if we members don t let the League leadership know our views. Please set aside this date: Wednesday, March 17, at 7:30 p.m. We will be holding our Consensus Meeting on the Death Penalty at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill that evening, and it s very important that a large number of us attend. Our viewpoints on this issue, after listening to the committee s presentation of all sides, will help shape the position our state League takes on it. LWVNJ will be advocating something on this issue down the line make sure your opinion is known. If you don t have a solid opinion yet, this is a great way to become better informed. The group will examine all sides and try to come to a consensus on this question: Do you support or oppose the death penalty, and what qualifications or alternatives would you favor in this regard? It should be a very interesting discussion on a most important topic. Some of the positions held by people directly affected will surprise you, I think. Another date to make: Sunday, April 25, for the March for Women s Lives, in Washington, DC. The League has joined with more than 700 other organizations to sponsor it. Thirty one years after Roe v Wade, the right of women to choose is in real danger; anti-choice advocates continue to push legislation that allows government interference with difficult, private decisions. The March will begin at noon at the National Mall, and we will assemble with other League members earlier there between the Smithsonian museums. A rally will be held afterwards from 1-4 p.m. I invite you to participate LWVNJ is offering a bus trip with a Cherry Hill pickup site, and the cost of $60 includes breakfast, lunch and Metro pass. (See the registration form on page 7). Family and friends are also welcome. If the price would prevent you from coming, please let Ann Koopman know we do have some funds in the treasury to assist you, and we want as many people as possible to be there! Happy Birthday to the League, Anne The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization of men and women that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League of Women Voters of Camden County, LWVCC Voice Mail Line:(856) President: Anne Maiese (856) Voter Editor: Ed Gracely (856) st Vice President: Lisa Castellani (609) Voter Distributor: Marsha Titus (856) nd Vice President: Rosemary Leach (856) Web site: lwvcc@hotmail.com The VOTER is published ten times a year to keep the membership and public informed of the activities of the League of Women Voters of Camden County. For subscription or membership information call (856)

3 Regional Equity Update On Saturday , Barbara Sielaff and yours truly (Ed Gracely) from the LWVCC attended the South Jersey Regional Equity Organizing Committee s training session at Rowan State College in Glassboro. Around 100 people were there, representing numerous organizations and congregations. A lot of outreach is being done to churches and synagogues, since they represent real communities with organization already in place. Getting them involved in fighting for regional equity would be very helpful. So what did we learn? A few key tidbits: 1. We should all be power hungry in the best sense of the phrase. We cannot bring about change for the better without power. We need to realize that if we truly care about something we want to see changed, accomplishing this will mean taking on the responsibility and putting in the time and effort to produce that outcome. It won t happen on its own. 2. To obtain power we need to organize people or money. That s why the Organizing Committee is working so hard to bring numerous groups into the fold. And training those groups to better involve their members. Getting people involved is becoming harder these days. People isolate themselves from their larger community (note the idea of gated developments). Some live in communities with no sidewalks and a garage that can be opened electronically -- no need to ever walk in the neighborhood or see your neighbors! 3. To involve people, you need to offer something they want, and thus to appeal to their self-interest. Note that self-interest can be more than just a gimme thing. After all, some people are very interested in finding ways to help others, serve a specific cause, become active with like-minded people, and so on. 4. Finally, organizations need to get to know their members and potential members. We learned about a minute one-on-one approach in which a leader of the organization sits with a member or prospective member and just learns about that individual. Family, job, education, other organizations, politics, passions, and so on. This information can then be the basis for finding a match between the organization and the individual. In some cases it may be a basis for modifying what the organization does. There will be a major meeting of the Regional Equity group in June. We d like to have several members of the LWVCC there -- volunteers can call me ( ). Ed Getting there Directions Cherry Hill: Unitarian Universalist Church 401 N Kings Highway. Coming north on Kings Highway, from Haddonfield and points west: pass Route 70, then Chapel Ave. In another 2 or 3 tenths of a mile, the church is on the right. Coming south on Kings Highway from Route 38 and Burlington County, pass Church Street. In roughly half a mile, the church is on your left. We ll be in the Hillside Building, which is to the right of the main building, straight back from the upper parking lot. Gloucester City: Cold Springs School. Take 295 S to 676 N. After a brief ride, take the Gloucester/Mt. Ephraim exit. At the top of the ramp, turn left onto Market Street. Pass 130 (Crescent), staying on Market, and in about 0.3 miles, turn left onto Baynes at a light. The school is there. Lawnside: Wayne Bryant Community Center: 323 Charleston Ave, Lawnside. Charleston is off Route 30 (White Horse Pike) about a mile below 295. Coming south, turn left onto Charleston, continue past a tiny jog at Warwick for another half mile or so. Pine Hill Borough Courtroom: On 7th Street in Pine Hill. Traveling east on Blackwood-Clementon Road (534) in Clementon, turn right onto Erial Road. In about 1.3 miles, turn right onto 7th. The courtroom is a half block down 7th. 3

4 Death Penalty Consensus - Make your Voice Heard! Join us for a consensus meeting at which we will be dealing with life and death issues. We will be considering the following question: Do you support or oppose the death penalty, and what qualifications or alternatives would you favor in this regard? The resource committee will be presenting the facts and issues in its usual neutral fashion. The decisions will be yours! This meeting will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Cherry Hill, on Wednesday March 17, at 7:30 p.m. Directions are on page 3 of the Voter. All League members are encouraged to join us! Zena Cohen Selection of the President PROPOSED LWVUS POSITION ON THE SELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT The League of Women Voters believes that the direct-popular-vote method for electing the President and Vice President is essential to representative government. The League of Women Voters believes, therefore, that the Electoral College should be abolished. The League also supports uniform voting qualifications and procedures for presidential elections. The League supports changes in the presidential election system - from the candidate selection process to the general election - to provide voters with sufficient information about candidates and their positions, public policy issues and the selection process itself. The League supports action to ensure that the media, political parties, candidates, and all levels of government achieve these goals and provide that information. Here are some cut and paste snippets from LWVUS on the position and the consensus. Electoral College The League of Women Voters has long been among the staunchest supporters for direct election of the President. The League has testified and lobbied for legislation to amend the Constitution to replace the Electoral College with direct election. The measure, which passed the House and nearly passed the Senate in 1971, has been revived in each Congress. In 1997, the LWVUS again called for abolition of the Electoral College and for direct election of the President and Vice President in testimony before the House Subcommittee on the Constitution. The proposed updated position continues to support direct election of the President and the abolition of the Electoral College. We did not propose alternative voting systems, including the proportional allocation of electors to the Electoral College [because] the notion of encouraging Leagues to lobby their respective states would lead us into a direct conflict with the value of uniform procedures. Additionally, there is a real possibility that reforming the Electoral College will increase the chances that a Presidential election will be thrown into the House of Representatives under procedures that are contrary to the League s support for one person, one vote. 4

5 Other key issues Today, the process of selecting the president is dominated by questions of campaign strategy and campaign finance, the role of the parties in the primaries and caucuses leading up to the convention, the role of the media and the effect of developing technologies. If the League s concerns include encouraging the best candidates and promoting the highest participation by informed voters, we need to understand the impact of the process on those values. We did not address campaign finance reform [in the new position] because it is covered in our campaign finance position. And in the end, we chose not to address specifically the questions of front-loaded primaries, recommendations about the media or the Internet, etc., because we believe the proposed new position will open the way to advocacy at the national, state and local levels on these issues and many more that are to develop as time goes on. The proposed new position should enable LWV boards to determine whether the primaries in any given year are too many, too skewed, or even too few. There may be legislation introduced about the use of the Internet in time, but most legislatures including Congress are wary of acting precipitously in this very fast-changing medium. How do you participate? A task force of state and local League representatives has been working with the LWVUS Board and staff to guide the update process. Now your input is needed! Every member's opinion counts. The LWVUS Board is seeking concurrence directly from individual League members. You will find the proposed position, along with a response form, in your January/ February 2004 National Voter and online in the Position Update section of the LWVUS members site. [The same one quoted above EG] It's easy to participate. We are being asked whether we strongly support, accept, or do not accept the proposed position. After you have studied the position and formed your opinion, send in your concurrence response to the LWVUS office, preferably online in the Position Update section of the LWVUS members site, Or you may respond by mail. Postmark deadline is March 1, Online deadline is March 4, If you want to do more to prepare... Reread the articles on the presidential selection process that have appeared in the recent issues of the National Voter. These are available on the LWVUS website at Explore additional background information posted in the Position Update section of the LWVUS member site. 5

6 Electronic Voting Machines and Voter-Verified Paper Trails (VVPT) The League of Women Voters strongly supports full and equal voting rights for all eligible Americans, including persons with disabilities. The League also supports voter verification of ballots, including the requirement in the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) whereby the voter verifies the ballot before it is cast and counted. However, the League does not support proposals for a new requirement for paper-based voter verification the voter-verified paper trail (VVPT) system that would require Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines to provide an individual paper confirmation for each ballot for each voter to verify. A VVPT requirement undermines voting access for people with disabilities or limited English proficiency, raises costs, fails to guarantee security, unnecessarily complicates the voting process, undermines federal certification standards, and slows the replacement of outdated voting machines. The voter-verified paper trail requirement undermines voting access. DREs make it possible, for the first time, for persons with visual disabilities or limited manual dexterity to cast secret and independent ballots. Because DREs can be programmed in multiple languages, voters with limited English proficiency can participate fully and equally. The millions of Americans who face literacy challenges also can take advantage of the audio features of DREs to cast independent votes without embarrassment. The VVPT system requires the voter to verify the written paper ballot, which historically disenfranchised voters will find difficult to do if they cannot see or if they have difficulty reading the paper verification. The VVPT requirement is costly and will also slow down the replacement of outdated voting machines or push election administrators toward optical scan ballots, which are less accessible to the types of historically disenfranchised voters described above. The voter-verified paper trail system doesn t work. It does not guarantee a solution to the security concerns it is intended to fix. If an electronic voting machine can be programmed to record an incorrect vote, it can be programmed to print out a misleading confirmation. VVPT advocates say the paper confirmations can be counted, but paper ballots are notoriously difficult to recount accurately. And there is a long history of lost, mangled and manipulated paper ballots. The real solution to security concerns is to institute the measures described below. Management and operational procedures can be put in place now to protect voting machine security. Among these are: physical isolation of each machine to protect against hacking; maintaining election official control over ballot creation, source codes, and management systems; statewide security programs binding on jurisdictions; improved equipment management practices and polling place operations; testing prior to and after Election Day; and parallel monitoring during Election Day. A VVPT unnecessarily complicates Election Day processes for voters, poll workers and election administrators. Printers jam, need paper, and are slow. With long lines already a problem at polling places, printing individual ballots and requiring a confirmation process for each voter will only exacerbate problems, confuse voters, and undermine voter privacy. Federal standards already require that new voting machines, including DREs, provide paper records for recounts and authentication of elections. The VVPT requirement undermines the certification and standards process that protects voters and state and local governments. VVPT systems are not certified. Mandating their use without a thorough certification process weakens the reliability of voting systems. 6

7 MARCH FOR WOMEN'S LIVES APRIL 25, 2004! There is a signup form in the paper Voter. If you can t wait for it, here s some information from the recent e- LWVNJ e-voter Join the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and supporters from around the nation in support of women's lives on April 25, 2004 in Washington, D.C. Sign-up today for the League of Woman Voters bus trip! Our bus package includes a pick-up and drop-off from a convenient and safe location in your region [one is in Cherry Hill - EG], breakfast item, drinks, snacks, brown-bag lunch, a pro-choice NJ pin to show our united effort as well as a metro rail pass to maneuver thru the city. The cost per person is $ To register please contact the state League office at (609) Deadline for registration is April 12th and is open to LWVNJ members and nonmembers, so bring your family and friends to the March for Women's Lives. 7