Voter Rights March West

On Saturday, May 19, 2001, individuals from coast to coast will gather for the Voter Rights March to Restore Democracy. As a counterpart to the East Coast march/rally in Washington, DC, Voter Rights March West will take place in San Francisco, California. West Coast marchers will gather at Justin Herman Plaza at 10am and march to the Civic Center Plaza for a rally from noon until 4:00pm (PT). The purpose of the march is to demand critically needed voting reforms, to call for a full investigation of the irregularities in the 2000 election, and to protest the illegitimate President's service to the right wing agenda during his first 120 days in office. Political commentators will share the stage with prominent activists and entertainers voicing their outrage over the latest presidential election. The event is sponsored by Voter March, a grassroots group formed in the response to the debacle of the last presidential election. Part of the growing Pro-Democracy movement, Voter March is an entirely volunteer organization that staged the very successful Inaugural Day Voter March in DC’s Dupont Circle on January 20 of this year.

"We expect the crowd on May 19 to be as diverse as the one at the inaugural protest—male, female, old, young, gay, straight, black, white—many of them ‘first-time’ protesters," says Voter March Chairman Louis Posner. "The indignation over the Supreme Court's highly partisan decisions is wide-spread and cuts across all social lines. Voter March continues to grow as more and more people commit to ensuring that the rights of voters can never again be trampled on."

The San Francisco event will have large groups traveling from Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Phoenix, Nevada and many other Western cities and will sponsor bus convoys from major metropolitan areas.

As part of the May 19 events, Voter March will present a platform calling for a Voters' Bill of Rights that includes:
1) Strict enforcement and extension of the Voting Rights Act, to prevent the disenfranchisement of voters, and full investigation and prosecution of offenders;
2) User- friendly voting, requiring funding to replace old and unreliable machines to ensure that every vote is counted fairly and accurately;
3) Establishment of real campaign finance reform and a ban on special interest campaign contributions;
4) Abolishment of the Electoral College and its replacement with a majority rule election, or substantial reform of the electoral system to allow for proportional representation;
5) Increasing voter participation in elections by eliminating bureaucratic hurdles, registering citizens to vote and reducing the voter apathy that results in half of the eligible population not voting.

The Voter Rights March will also be protesting Bush's right wing agenda that is drastically turning back gains in environmental protection, separation of church and state, world peace initiatives and other civil rights and social issues.

An internet-based grassroots advocacy group founded in November of 2000, Voter March is not funded or controlled by any other organization. Voter March organizers are all volunteers.

Information about the San Francisco event can be found at Voter March West’s website, http://www.voterwest.org. More details on Voter March’s platform and the DC rally is available at http://votermarch.org. Please address any questions to sanfrancisco [at] votermarch.org.