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ALL YEAR, EVERY YEAR Spring Winter Summer Autumn 2
HOW MANY ELECTIONS ARE THERE? One every four years? One every two years? One every year? Two every year? 3
HOW MANY ELECTIONS ARE THERE? One every four years One every two years One every year Two every year Primary election General election plus there are occasionally Special elections in some districts 4
WHY SHOULD I VOTE? 5
HOW DOES ONE BECOME A VOTER? Meet requirements (citizenship, age, residency) Register with the County Elections Division on time Choose to be a member of a party if you want to vote in that party s primary Check your registration in a couple of weeks & learn where your polling place is located Obtain necessary identification to show on Election Day Learn which candidates are closest to my positions on the issues Show up at your polling place during voting hours with any necessary identification & vote 6
WHY IS MY BALLOT DIFFERENT THAN YOURS? Every state has their own two US Senators Pennsylvania has 18 US Congressional districts Pennsylvania has 50 districts for State Senate Pennsylvania has 203 districts for State House Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas has 60 districts Allegheny County Council has 13 districts Pittsburgh City Council has 9 districts The City of Pittsburgh has 32 wards Each ward is divided into districts (precincts) which have a polling place 7
2010 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS Jason Altmire Mark Critz Tim Murphy Mike Doyle http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/pa 8
2012 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS Keith Rothfus Mike Kelly Tim Murphy Mike Doyle Bill Shuster http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/pa 9
ALLEGHENY COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICTS 10
ALLEGHENY COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS 11
PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS 1 7 9 2 6 8 3 5 4 12
PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISTRICTS 13
PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS 2013 14
PITTSBURGH WARDS 27 26 9 10 11 12 28 20 21 28 25 24 22 23 2 3 1 6 5 4 8 7 14 13 20 19 18 30 17 16 15 32 29 31 15
WHY DO I NEED ELECTION PROTECTION? Elected officials have power the power to support public projects, or to not support them; the power to raise or lower taxes; the power to make laws People and corporations want officials who agree with them to be elected. They are willing to spend money to get their favored candidates elected. Some people and corporations don t want people who disagree with them to vote. They may try to prevent those people from voting. 16
FEDERAL ELECTION MILESTONES 1788: U.S. Constitution Voting rights are up to the states. The states allow white, male, land-owning 21- year olds to vote 1810 Religious prerequisite for voting is eliminated 1850 Property ownership and tax requirements eliminated 1855/1857 Connecticut and Massachusetts adopt literacy tests for voting to deny the voting franchise to Irish Catholic immigrants 17
FEDERAL ELECTION MILESTONES 1869: 15 th Amendment Gives suffrage (voting right) to former slaves and to all adult males regardless of race 1889/1890 Florida adopts a poll tax. Mississippi adopts a literacy test; there are ways around the test for illiterate whites. 1920: 19 th Amendment women s suffrage 1924: Indian Citizenship Act suffrage for Native Americans 18
FEDERAL ELECTION MILESTONES 1957: Civil Rights Act sets up the Civil Rights Commission to investigate voter discrimination 1961: 23 rd Amendment allows citizens of Washington, DC to vote in federal elections 1964: 24 th Amendment bans the poll tax in federal elections 1965: Voting Rights Act protects the rights of minority voters; eliminates literacy tests; requires states with history of discrimination to preclear changes to voting practices with the Dept of Justice 19
FEDERAL ELECTION MILESTONES 1971: 26 th Amendment changes the minimum age for voting to 18 (who were drafted to fight in the Vietnam War) 1986: Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 1995: National Voter Registration ( Motor Voter ) Act requires states to let citizens register to vote when they obtain other services from government agencies like Motor Vehicles and Welfare departments 2002: Help America Vote Act replaced punchcard and lever voting machines; established minimum election administration standards; provides for provisional ballots 20
HOW CAN OTHERS PREVENT ME FROM VOTING? Deceptive practices Intimidation Challenges Purging voter rolls Election Fraud 21
DECEPTIVE PRACTICES TO TRICK VOTERS Saying that because of long lines, seniors will be allowed to vote on Wednesday Saying that you can vote by phone. Saying that car registration and insurance will be checked at the polls Saying that you ll be arrested at the polls if you re delinquent on alimony or child support Examining voters IDs outside the polling place 22
INTIMIDATION Reminding selected voters that election fraud is a felony Posting guards or police in front of the polling place building Making threats 23
CHALLENGES The challenger tells election officials that a voter: isn t who s/he claims to be doesn t live in the district has committed a violation of the election code The challenged voter must respond with a sworn statement, and may have to provide a witness that can swear the voter is qualified to vote here 24
PURGING VOTER ROLLS Election officials remove voters from the voter rolls because: their names are similar to the names of aliens, felons, or deceased persons they don t respond to an official mailing which checks if voters addresses have changed This hasn t been a problem in Allegheny County 25
ELECTION FRAUD Voter Fraud Unqualified person voting, or impersonating a qualified voter Voting in person Absentee voting Insider Fraud Corrupt officials Voting Machine Fraud Tally System Fraud 26
VOTER FRAUD Voter impersonation is rare. You have to show your face in a polling place. It isn t worth committing a felony just to cast one extra vote. Casting absentee ballots for persons who are unlikely to vote (like dead people) is safer and more common. 27
VOTER ID LAWS Makes it difficult to vote for: Minorities Elderly Handicapped Students Poor 28
INSIDER FRAUD Officials using their position of power to commit fraud Recently, 8 officials in Kentucky committed a simple fraud using the same voting machines that we use here in Allegheny County. They convinced voters that they were done casting their votes before they really were. Then the officials changed the voters choices and finished casting the votes. 29
VOTING MACHINE FRAUD CLEAR BALLOT BOX Do you understand how this ballot box works? See your vote? 30
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TRUST? THE COMPUTER S MEMORY OR YOUR LYING EYES? Do you see where your vote is stored now? Can you read it? 31
VOTING MACHINE FRAUD PAPERLESS You can t see how a paperless voting machine works. It isn t transparent. You don t know what it s really doing. You can t go back and re-examine a voter s vote. The button pushes are gone. Only the machine s interpretation of what the voter wanted remains. You can t perform a meaningful recount or audit. 32
TALLY SYSTEM FRAUD 33
TALLY SYSTEM FRAUD Each county has one of these central systems to tally all the votes from all the voting machines Changing the counts of votes in this system would have the greatest impact on the vote totals 34
HOW DO WE PROTECT THE ELECTION? Fight deception by giving voters correct information Fight intimidation by having poll monitors outside polling places Fight challenges by telling voters their rights, telling election officials the rules, and having lawyers to help with difficult problems Fight voter roll purges with lawyers and by registering lots of new voters Fight to make election laws better 35
CORRECT INFORMATION Ex-felons can vote in Pennsylvania You cannot be arrested at the polling place for outstanding parking tickets or being delinquent on alimony or child support You can check your registration status online (VotesPA.com) 36
POLL MONITORS Answer basic questions for voters Make sure voters know their rights Refer voters to 866-OUR-VOTE hotline Gather information about polling place and voter problems Encourage voters not to leave without voting 37
VOTERS RIGHTS You have the right to vote if: You re 18 years old by election day You re a citizen of the USA You re a Pennsylvania resident for 30 days You registered at least 30 days before your first election You have the right to vote without: Threat of force, violence, restraint, or injury Intimidation or coercion You have the right to keep your vote secret Voters with disabilities or who are unable to read have the right to receive assistance in voting 38
VOTER ROLLS PURGES It is probably too late to resolve an inappropriate purge of a voter on Election Day Check VotesPA.com to be sure that you are registered If you registered, but on Election Day you are told that you are not registered, you have the right to cast a Provisional Ballot 39
PROVISIONAL BALLOT If you registered, but on Election Day you are told that you are not registered, you have the right to cast a Provisional Ballot If you don t have the proper ID with you on Election Day, you can cast a Provisional Ballot 40
COMPLAINTS ABOUT VOTING PROBLEMS https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/pages/reportelectioncomplaints.aspx Name, address, county, date of birth 41
FEDERAL COMPLAINTS If your complaint involves voting system standards, accessibility issues for individuals with disabilities, provisional voting, voter information requirements or the SURE system, you must complete a Title III HAVA Complaint Form http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/ PTARGS_0_160329_665491_0_0_18/statement_of_complaint_form.pdf 42
WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM THE 2012 ELECTION? 1. Data helps win elections, but it s not everything 2. Voters of color were invisible, to their advantage 3. The need for early voting was evident 4. Right wing poll watchers played themselves 5. Election Protection works 6. Grassroots organizers can turn out voters on shoestring budgets but that s not a good thing 7. People of color were self-motivated to vote, not just motivated by Obama 8. A lot of people didn t vote, because they couldn t, because of felonies 9. Hundreds of thousands of votes still haven t been counted 10. Gerrymandering and redistricting caused confusion Brentin Mock, http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/11/lessons_learned.html 43
ELECTION PROCEDURES NEEDING PROTECTION Third Party Voter Registration Early Voting Same Day Registration 44
ELECTION PROCEDURES NEEDING ELIMINATION Excessive Purging of Voter Rolls Excessive Voter ID Election Day Challenges of Voter Eligibility 45
BAD IDEAS THAT MIGHT LOOK ATTRACTIVE Vote by Mail Internet Voting 46
ELECTION LAWS NEEDING CHANGE Voter ID All qualified voters should be able to easily and quickly obtain suitable ID for free People challenging a voter s qualification to vote should have to make a sworn statement The method of voting should allow meaningful recounts and audits. Machines with no paper trail should be illegal. Give voters the day off from work Redraw districts in an impartial manner Take the money out of campaigns; also, no anonymous, large donations 47
HOW TO CHANGE LAWS Join a group that shares your goal; don t fight alone Black and White Reunion Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) The League of Women Voters Common Cause American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) VoteAllegheny Write to the newspaper Write to your public officials 48
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS 501(c)(3) May not support or oppose candidates Can conduct voter registration & GOTV Can sponsor a Candidate Forum Distribute non-partisan voter guide Advocate issues & ballot measures Educate voters on voting process 501(c)(4) Promotion of social welfare (civic betterment, common good) May lobby officials May not campaign Can t take tax-deductible donations NAACP Don t have to disclose donors Dark Money (e.g., GPS Crossroads) 49
FIND YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND WOMEN They can make laws controlling Federal elections. http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt 50
FIND YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS THEY CAN CHANGE THE ELECTION LAWS IN PA www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm 51
FIND YOUR COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER THEY CAN REPLACE THE VOTING MACHINES www.alleghenycounty.us/council/dist/coundis.aspx 52
THREE MEMBER COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS Two At-Large Council Members represent the whole county They are also on the County Board of Elections, as is the County Executive www.alleghenycounty.us/council/members.aspx Rich Fitzgerald County Executive John DeFazio Council At-Large Heather S. Heidelbaugh Council At-Large 53
HOW TO REGISTER VOTERS Obtain registration forms from your group or from the Division of Elections Have the prospective voter fill out a registration form Return the completed registrations to your group or directly to the County Elections Division It is a crime to accept someone s registration form and not turn it in 54
VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORM 55
VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORM 56
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