In his speech announcing his candidacy for Vice President as Ralph Nader's running mate, Matt Gonzalez stated the following:
Let me just emphasize this: There's nothing that we do that can force anybody to vote for us, but we very much want the opposite not to be true, that anybody that wants to vote for us should not be forced to vote for other candidates. If there is any candidate that fears what we're trying to do here, then I invite them to go out and earn the votes that would otherwise be cast for us. We are in a democracy, that's how it works. Candidates with different opinions put them forward and go compete for votes. Thank you.[1, bold emphasis added]
But that statement does not merely merely attempt to quiet the loud accusations of "spoiler" by pointing out (albeit very importantly) that Mr. Nader and Mr. Gonzalez's voters are not coerced but rather exercise our right to vote for whomever we please. What else, then, could he have been referring to?
By now much of the country is aware of the grave issue of election fraud and other practices that inhibit democratic elections in the USA, though most people remain ignorant of the extent to which it takes place. The more one knows and thinks about it, the more it can really make your blood boil.
A few sources with descriptions of examples of such practices include:
- http://votervoicenews.googlepages.com (a newsletter that ran for about a year after the 2004 election)
- http://www.democracynow.org/ (search the archives for examples, such as stories about the events of the 2004 election in Ohio, an interview with the convicted GOP operative & author of How to Rig an Election, voter suppression in the 2006 midterm elections, vulnerabilities of electronic voting machines, and much more.)
- http://www.ballot-access.org/ (Ballot Access News)
- I also came across this youtube video of the testimony of a computer programmer about how he was hired to write software that could change election results in 2000, not to mention the numerous articles and video by journalist Greg Palast on how the 2000 election was stolen.
- Former President Jimmy Carter even wrote in a Washington Post article, "Still Seeking a Fair Florida Vote," that "some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida"[2].
Unfortunately, when most Americans think about problems with our voting and election system (if they think about the most basic mechanisms of implementing democracy in our country at all), they usually only think about issues with making sure people are allowed to vote or how the votes are counted. These are important issues, of course. But coercion in the voting booth starts long before Election Day. If a candidate who is at least 35 years old and a naturalized US citizen can't get onto the ballot, it doesn't just restrict that candidate's rights, it deprives all voters of the right to be given a choice and be able to vote (or not vote) for that candidate. We have all sorts of choices when it comes to buying candy bars or shoes, but when it matters the most we're told we only have two choices for President.
And all too often, voters are forced to vote for someone they don't want to vote for, because they aren't able to vote for who they would like to vote for. Regardless of who we plan to vote for, we all need to express that this is not acceptable, that we expect better in our country, that a threat to the rights of any voter is a threat to the rights of all voters. We can all protest this by lending our signatures to the ballot access petitions of candidates who are being discriminated against through unfair laws. Then, if you don't think they're the right people for the job, get out there and convince people to vote for someone else. But support their ballot access, support all our right to have our voices heard.
The Democracy Now! web archives also include an interview with the lawyer representing Ralph Nader and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit that was filed last year against the Democratic National Committee. I'll have more on the dirty tricks alleged in the lawsuit in an future post, if you're interested in the meantime you can find more information and link to the text of the lawsuit here.
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaoncB-akQY
[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52800-2004Sep26.html
