recount in Ohio looks for volunteers

> To: TruePatriotsUnite
> Subject: [TruePatriotsUnite] David Cobb update on Ohio recount
> Reply-To: TruePatriotsUnite [at] yahoogroups.com
>
>> David Cobb update on Ohio recount
>
>> Please call Holly at 319-337-7341 if you can organize within [your
>> state] to mobilize volunteers to come to Ohio and to help us raise
>> this campaign's goals and profile within your community and state.
>
>> Must-read letter from David Cobb
>>
>> Dear Volunteer
>>
>> On 2004-11-19, you joined over five thousand contributors and six
>> hundred (so far) volunteers who stepped forward to
>> help our campaign stand up with millions of other across the
>> country. We are voters across the political spectrum: Greens,
>> Libertarians, Independents, Kucinich-Dean-Kerry Democrats and
>> Republicans ready to restore integrity to our voting system.
>> We insist that the legitimacy of representative government be
>> defended from the flagrant threats to the public's confidence that
>> this and the previous election have engendered.
>>
>> Below, I want to share with you news of our progress toward ensuring
>> a complete count of the votes in the Ohio election.
>>
>> But first let me cover a couple of other quick topics.
>>
>> I write first to thank you for both your financial donation of
>> [.....] as well as your commitment to volunteer to help us monitor
>> the recount in Ohio. Both are absolutely necessary to our efforts to
>> ensure that every vote is counted and to instigate a grass-roots
>> movement that can restore public confidence in electoral democracy.
>> We need voter verified paper ballots and open source election
>> software, publicly financed elections, proportional representation
>> and instant run-off voting, open access to the ballot, the
>> enforcement and extension of the Voting Right Act and non-partisan
>> election officials.
>>
>> In this letter we want to (1) update you on recent developments and
>> our plans for the recount effort, (2) invite you to subscribe to new
>> list serves designed to keep you in the loop or even actively engaged
>> as we move this campaign forward, (3) ask folks who are willing to
>> fill some critical volunteer roles, (4) ask you to spread the word
>> about our efforts and (5) inform you that unless you confirm your
>> subscription invitations described below, you will not see any
>> further email from us again until we have a final report to share
>> with you after Congress certifies the election on January 6th.
>>
>> We hope that everyone who has contributed or volunteered will join
>> our new recount-news [at] lists.votecobb.org list. This is
>> a low-traffic read-only list where our press secretary and campaign
>> manager will share with you breaking news, by, about
>> and of interest to those who support this recount campaign.
>>
>> And we are inviting as well, everyone who has volunteered to please
>> confirm your invitation to subscribe to two
>> other lists:
>>
>> -- recount-vols [at] lists.votecobb.org is a low-traffic, read only list
>> used by our campaign staff to communicate volunteer
>> opportunities on this recount campaign to those engaged in the work;
>> -- recount-org [at] lists.votecobb.org is a discussion list for
>> volunteers actively engaged in this campaign, either right
>> there in [your state] or on the ground in Ohio and what ever other
>> states this campaign may eventually lead us.
>>
>> While we appreciate your financial support and could not proceed
>> without it, the truth is that a recount without our campaign
>> providing independent oversight of the process will not provide
>> meaningful feedback on the problems or do much to improve
>> public confidence in the system or in this year's result.
>>
>> We estimate we will need nearly 2,000 volunteers to monitor recount
>> activities in all 88 Ohio counties. As I write this,
>> we are still nearly $20,000 shy of our fundraising goal for the Ohio
>> recount (even as we continue to consider the
>> problems in New Mexico and other states). Please send your friends
>> and family to our site and urge them to volunteer and /
>> or contribute to this vital work.
>>
>> http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?function=donate
>>
>> http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?
>> function=volunteer&process=7
>>
>> If you prefer to not get any further email from us, simply ignore
>> this note and you will only receive a final report of
>> our efforts after the Presidential Election has been certified by the
>> Congress on January 6th.
>>
>> Our campaign has made a commitment to not spam the voters of this
>> country. This promise precludes our sending you further
>> email after this thank you letter inviting you to subscribe to our
>> lists. However, if you want us to keep you in the loop,
>> you simply need to respond to the the subscription invitation you'll
>> see under separate cover. Or write back to let us know
>> that you do in fact wish to subscribe to our campaign lists. We want
>> to keep you in the loop. But we do not want to abuse
>> your privacy or your inbox.
>>
>> We have asked Holly Hart, of Iowa, to lead our efforts to coordinate
>> the participation of volunteers in this important historical effort
>> to
>> reclaim public confidence in our elections. She needs your help. So
>> far, 600 volunteers have stepped forward. We will need at least
>> 1,400
>> more before we arrive in Ohio. First she needs help communicating
>> and coordinating with 2,000 people over the next few days.
>>
>> Please call Holly at 319-337-7341 if you can organize within [your
>> state] to mobilize volunteers to come to Ohio and to help us raise
>> this campaign's goals and profile within your community and state.
>>
>> The corporate media is busy belittling and ridiculing our efforts to
>> defend and expand democracy in Ohio and by extension in the rest of
>> our nation as well. We need your help to counter the attacks. We
>> must not let them manufacture our consent to expecting stolen
>> elections cycle after cycle. We are inviting everyone who has lent
>> their support to this campaign to follow that up with letters to the
>> editor explaining why you are supporting this recount effort. For
>> ideas on what
>> you might include in such a letter, please visit our website at:
>>
>> http://www.votecobb.org/recount/be-the-media
>>
>> Please help us break through the media white-out of our efforts by
>> urging others to come to our http://www.votecobb.org/ and to
>> contribute their
>> financial and volunteer support to this effort.
>>
>> Our efforts are already well under way.
>>
>> -- On Monday, Common Cause, the National Voting Rights Institute,
>> Demos, the Fannie Lou Hamer Project and People for the American Way
>> Foundation issued a joint statement in support of the Cobb and
>> Badnarik demand for an Ohio recount.
>>
>> -- In the past week, we have raised over $200,000 of the initial
>> $250,000 our staff has budgeted for this effort. And with your help
>> we expect to reach our goal by this coming Monday.
>>
>> -- On Wednesday, our team of attorneys overnighted to each Ohio
>> county election director asking them to prepare for the recount.
>>
>> -- On Friday, November 19th, our attorneys delivered a bond to
>> guarantee our $113,600 recount fee.
>>
>> -- We have rehired staff we had just laid off at the end of the
>> campaign so we can continue this work. We have so far
>> identified 600 of the 2,000 volunteers we predict will be needed for
>> the work in Ohio. We are organizing now to train,
>> house and feed the folks on the ground in Ohio who will monitor the
>> recount on our behalf. We have established new list serves
>> to support this effort.
>>
>> -- We continue to investigate what role we might play in New Mexico,
>> to monitor developments in Florida and other states
>> and to build alliances with citizen based election reform groups
>> across this nation.
>>
>> -- And our efforts have now been endorsed by Ohio Congressman Dennis
>> Kucinich.
>>
>> We need an election system and election officials we can trust. The
>> problems in Florida in 2000 and the problems in Ohio in
>> 2004 will repeat themselves in 2008 unless we do something about it.
>> Americans can agree that our elections should be
>> administered by an independent non-partisan commission, and not by
>> the state chairs of presidential campaigns.
>>
>> Again we thank you sincerely for your participation in this Democracy
>> Movement. We look forward to seeing you in Ohio.
>>
>> Yours for a just, sustainable and democratic future,
>>
>>
>>
>> David Cobb
>> and the entire Cobb-LaMarche Team