What are we if we can not have free and clear elections?

Of all things American, the fact that "each vote counts" is the most important!

We should not "privatize" our elections by allowing voting machines to be owned and controlled by corporations. Private companies have no business telling us how we voted. This is the essence of the problem.

Voting is fundamental. Isn't it strange that for the special election 2003, in which the no-trail machines were used, Cruz Bustamante won all counties with paper trails, and Arnold Schwartzenegger won all counties with the paperless machines. Then when the elected secretary of state, Kevin Shelley decertifies the machines, he is suddenly, and heavily, attacked for misappropriation of funds and resigns without a peep. Then the governor appoints Bruce McPherson secretary of state, who then recertifies the machines, against all recommendations and the law, and then this suspect election in San Diego, that is the bellweather of the fall elections.
Who authorized that the public vote and its records should be put into a private company with little or no access to these public records?
This is a national disgrace, and Putin sticks it to the US when he said that the US has election fraud down to a science. The rest of the world is following the US elections, but the story is censored in the US.
See Greg Palast's Armed Madhouse.

What this actually means, is that a lot of us who have refused to give any money to the DNC until it found a spine, can start to give money to the DNC. This is conditional. If that spine turns liquid, the spigot will get turned off again.

It's about time Democrats started standing up for democracy! If our votes are not sacred, then neither is our democracy.

These votes need to be counted manually no matter who wins. Frankly I think the election should be redone since the voting machines could have been compromised before the election.

Election fraud is critical. If they can steal elections with impunity, how can any Democrat win? This needs to be #1.

It's about time Democrats started standing up for democracy! If our votes are not sacred, then neither is our democracy.

These votes need to be counted manually no matter who wins. Frankly I think the election should be redone since the voting machines could have been compromised before the election.

It's about time Democrats started standing up for democracy! If our votes are not sacred, then neither is our democracy.

These votes need to be counted manually no matter who wins. Frankly I think the election should be redone since the voting machines could have been compromised before the election.

Thanks for having some spine. Maybe Busby will wake up and realize that she will lose in November if she does not start talking now.

Hopefully the DNC will have a press conference which will be covered by mainsteam news (CBS, NBC, ABC ....). They have been mysteriously silent in covering this issue.

They need to show that the REAL reason why Busby lost (and the John Kerry lost in Ohio 2004, Al Gore lost in Florida 2000).

The Republicans have acted that rigging elections is business as usual. This is one illegal business that needs to be shutdown.

The argument that it would cost too much to do a hand count of votes does not hold water. If the individuals who are in charge of voting machines, voting booths, voting areas, and voting authentication won't do a hand count because of the cost, then I think there would be plenty of people who would be happy to give the Secretary of State (of any State) some funds toward the cost of a hand count. Maybe even the voter as he/she goes in to vote can hand over a dollar or so toward this just cause.

Basically we can't let them get away with this kind of specious argument. If for no other reason than to stop people in other countries from laughing at us for being so stupid. And I agree with them. In the fact of such blatant and illegal acts being committed, right in front of us, we just lay down and roll over! We should not harp on our Democratic leaders needing backbones until we, each and every one of us, get our own backbones!

Plus, Democrats should have booths outside voting places so voters can stop and register their vote again --- for a paper trail.

Sorry, I do not see a spine showing here. It is over a month after the election. Once again, too little, too late. No confidence resolutions started coming out on June 7th and the Democrats should have been among the first not the last.

Bilbray was sworn in even before this questionable election was certified by the state of California without one word of protest from the House dems.

We need to make fair elections a national issue NOW. Votes need to be counted accurately, the law needs to be followed, and elections need to be contested immediately.

You want to see spine show after a stolen election? Look south to Mexico. Lopez Obrado played video of the fraud evidence on a screen 80 feet tall in Mexico City the day after the results were certified.

Now that's spine -- not an obscure press release one month later. Sorry my money goes to progressive Democratic candidates and not the DNC.

The DNC has spoken out strongly about the compromised voting machines--but we're still listening for the first peep from the DCCC which was closely involved in the Busby campaign. Among other "help", they reportedly told her not to address voting machine security issues before the election. People I know who were "on the ground" working for Busby's election also said the DCCC operatives, sent in to "help" were not interested in hearing info about Bilbray from "locals",longtime political activists who had butted heads with him for years when he was on the SD County Board of Supervisors,where he consistently opposed fairness for county employees.

I have little confidence in the DCCC at this point,so I'll continue to support Howard Dean's 50 state strategy to rebuild the Democratic Party nationwide.

Hold on to your nickels, at least for now. I'm not entrusting my money to group that just caved after only 48 hours of "pressure" on their internet-only advertisement. What a bunch of craven losers we have trying to lead this party. They still haven't learned lesson number one from the Gingrich Republicans: Stand for something. It doesn't matter what it is, but once you say it, back it up in words and actions.

This isn't rocket science, and 10 years of having your head handed to you should teach you something.

I just want to bring this up to Larry,last month Dean did say to a group of students that this race wasn't over just because nothing wasn't done doesn't mean we're still out there to get things done.

And about the spine from the DNC,they are showing it along with us bloggers and if the San Diego Registrar of Voters continue to mess around with us in this race we'll sue them,despite what the DCCC,or the DLC tells us what to do.

This to me is typical of our country!We go around the world telling other counties how to run free elections when we don`t even do it in our country!We need to get back to our own roots and walk our walk.We need to stop trying to tell everyone else how to do their lives.I wonder when if ever we`ll stop trying to manipulate the world??

If you don't like what the DCCC is doing email them and tell them so, also tell them that you will not send them any money until they clean up their act.
Hopefully, we can get rid of enough Republi-lites in the November election to send a message to the party that being "centrist" does NOT mean kissing Republican ass.
Let's get "centrist" back to the true meaning of "supporting the majority of the American people", and NOT meaning rolling over for corporate interests that are harming this country.

Please manually count all 150,000 ballots cast in CA 50th district June 6 special election.

I suggest the DNC put out a fundraising email asking people to contribute towards the cost of a San Diego hand count.

This is too little, too late. What if anything does the DNC VRI plan to do about this grossly illegal election at this point? Will the VRI file a law suit against Haas? Will the VRI contribute to now expired recount (how can it be a recount when it was never counted in the first place) effort? For the VRI to be taken seriously, you must act in a timely fashion. Until I get answers, I will direct all my political donations to other organizations which are working to protect our voting rights and not just giving lip service after the fact.

A recount may be a waste of funds because the chain of custody security was clearly broken for the machines and probably for the ballots! With no security provided, this election was a sham and should be thrown out. What is needed is a new election using hand counted paper ballots with citizen observers at every stage to ensure integrity of the vote. We cannot afford to let Registrar Mikel Haas of San Diego do "whatever he wants" as he blatantly disregards the state and federal laws. This culture of corruption must be stopped.

FYI - during a recent speech Senator Debra Bowen, candidate for CA Secretary of State and current Chair of the CA Senate Elections Committee - stated that she is investigating CA elections in Kern county and next will investigate the San Diego elections.

Had enough and ready to do something about this? Help fund the CA 50 citizen's group that needs $$ to fight this mess: www.velvetrevolution.us/donate.php specify "CA 50"

- ActionTraction

Yeah!!!!! This is such great news. I was out at Democracyfest in San Diego when I heard that the DNC would be calling for a hand count. My faith in the DNC -- waviering for a little bit during the CA-50 race -- is now restored.

Tracey in Hell's Kitchen

Mereing "calling for" a manual count or "calling for" a swift and verifiabile manual count isn't enough. "Swift" isn't going to happen. The time for "swiftness" has long passed. I was hoping the DNC would take immediate action because that is what is necessary. The more time that passes the less chance there is for a manual count that actually verifies anything. I don't want to be negative; this is certainly a positive first step on the part of the DNC, but come on, lets get things moving. Enough monitoring has already occurred;the DNC must take action now!

There is no hand count of the Busby/Bilbray CA50 underway. So says County Clerk in Sandiego, CA.

The deadline for requesting same has passed.

The suit by the woman in behalf of Bilbray has also terminated without a count.

What's next? Are people going to have to take to the streets, and march on state capitols the same way that the Mexicans are marching on their national capitol to protest altered vote counts?

I served as the lawyer liaison for the Florida Democrats in Indian River County (Vero Beach)in the 2004 election. I was amazed when, after the voting machines were carefully locked up each night after the early voting, they were taken by the staff, unlocked, to the office of the Supervisor of Elections (a former head of the Republican Party and wife of a major fundraiser for the Republicans) on the night prior to election night. I was told that they were perfectly safe since they were in the office. My local Democrats were not so sure. The next day 4 out of 8 voting machines broke down simultaneously at the only precinct that is heavily African American at 11:30 a.m. and were fixed -- right after lunch time. These people are not subtle.