\n \n
\n FAQ\n
\n Signature Form: Legal \n
\n Signature Form: Letter\n
\n Contact us\n
\n Links\n
\n <\/td>\n\n | \n\n\n\n\n\n\nFrequently Asked Questions\n Q: Isn't this illegal? <\/p>\n Q: Shouldn't people be allowed not to vote?<\/p>\n Q: What about those who don't want to register or vote because\n they don't want to be on another government\n database?<\/p>\n Q: Won't the administrative costs be too much to bother?<\/p>\n Q: Where will the money collected from fines go to?<\/p>\n Q: How can I help put this on the ballot?<\/p>\n Q: Why is your web page so simplistic?<\/p>\n\n
\n\n\nQ: Isn't this illegal?\nA: No, it is perfectly legal and constitutional, both federally and at the state level.\n The Constitution of the United States of America only bars charging someone to vote<\/b> or\ndenying<\/b> someone over eighteen the right to vote based on their age, gender, race, or religion\n(see Article XV, XXIV, and XXVI). Under this proposition, voting is still\nabsolutely free and open to all Californians over eighteen regardless of age, gender, race or religion.<\/p>\n\n The Constitution of the state of California reiterates that elections must be free of charge to the voter\nand then extends voter rights by removing any property ownership restrictions to voting. Under this proposition\nvoting is, again, still free and those who don't own property are still allowed to vote.<\/p>\n\n These are the only constitutional restrictions placed on the Government regarding the regulation of voting.\nAll of these restrictions limit the ability of the Government to interfere with those who are voting. Not a word\nis mentioned about interfering with those who do not vote.<\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\nQ: Shouldn't people be allowed not to vote?\nA: You are still allowed not to vote, it's just going to cost you at least $50 for the privilege. \n There are stop signs up and down this State. There are no physical barriers that force<\/b> you to stop.\nHowever, if you don't stop, if you choose to break the social contract of the road, then you can expect to\nbe fined well over fifty dollars.<\/p>\n We live in a representative democracy. This type of social contract can\nonly be expected to work if a significant number of the population votes. If you are completely unwilling\nto enter into this contract and refuse to vote, then you will be much better off moving to a good old monarchy\nor dictatorship than whining about paying fifty dollars for violating the basic underpinnings of our democracy.<\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\nQ: What about those who don't want to register or vote because they don't want to be on another government\ndatabase?\nA: If they are that paranoid, then they should be able to hide from the fine.\n If they are unable to hide from\nthe government well enough to evade the fine, they obviously don't believe strongly enough in their right to \nanonymity for this to be a real excuse. It is instead a smokescreen for laziness. You have four options:\nget up and go to the polling station, order an absentee ballot and spend a commercial or two to fill it out, \npay the $50 fine, or put enough energy into hiding your existence that the fine collectors are unable to find you. \nIf you are too lazy to hide or to vote, then you will have to pay the fine and hopefully help fix our broken\ndemocracy by throwing money at the problem.<\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\nQ: Won't the administrative costs be too much to bother?\nA: There is no technical reason for the administrative costs to be very large at all.\n We already have the technology in place to automatically send a ticket to red light runners all by machine.\nThe first person to touch the envelope is the local postal delivery person. In addition to the physical infrastructure\nto print tickets, various federal, state, and local agencies already have a database of those who are registered, \nthose who voted, those who have California drivers license and ID cards, those who own property in the state,\nthose who pay state and federal income tax, and those who answered the US Census department amongst other databases. \nThe computer code to cross check these databases to find out who didn't register or vote is fairly trivial to write. \nThe whole process could easily be completely automated.<\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\nQ: Where will the money collected from fines go to?\nA: The general fund I assume.\n Regardless of where the funds go in the state and local government apparatus, chances are that they will be \n misapprobated and misspent. Our voter apathy has led to a situation where elected officials are in power because\n they were able to get 15% of the eligible voting population to vote for them. This is the root cause of the\n vast majority of the rot present in our government. In order to assist our struggling democracy those who\n are eligible to vote either need to vote, or they need to help pay for the porkish, special interest bought,\n politics that result from their non-participation.<\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nQ: How can I help put this on the ballot?\nA: Contact us, then help gather signatures from your region during our signature drive.\n We have 150 days to gather around 460,000 signatures around the state.\nThere are two ways to help in this endeavor, actively and passively. Active participation is prefered.<\/p>\n Active:<\/b><\/p>\n\n - Contact us and let us know that you are interested in helping collect\n signatures in your area.<\/li>\n
- Print out and copy a bunch of signature forms, either US Legal size \n or US letter. US Legal is \n recomended<\/b>.<\/li>\n
- Go to your local post office or elections department and get a stack of voter registration forms\n for those who want to sign but are not registered.<\/li>\n
- Try to collect as many signatures as you can from your surrounding area. \n At regular intervals, send the completed signature forms back to us collated by county.\n We recomend hitting places where there is a large flux of locals. Sites like: strip malls,\n grocery stores, wherehouse stores, movie theaters, local sports games and night clubs\n (get them while the wait to pass the bouncer\/ID checker).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Passive:<\/b><\/p>\n Send us money. We accept check, cash, and money orders. We don't have the non-profit\npaperwork, so we fall under the same tax codes as sidewalk bums. Help us out of the goodness of your heart and\ndon't expect to be able to write off much if any of it.<\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nQ: Why is your web page so simplistic?\nA: Mainly because I know what having a slow connection to the internet feels like and, to a lesser\n extent, because there are too many things to do in too short of a time to put too much effort into\n window dressing.\n My main internet connection is dial-up over cruddy rural copper. For this privilege I pay by the minute.\nI know what it is like to sit twiddling your thumbs and watching the meter while a graphics intensive site\nstruggles to load. Everyone agrees that the ultimate goal of any enterprise should be the seamless marriage\nbetween form and function. But when time constraints force one to choose between the two, one should always\nchoose function. The message should always take precedence over the medium. If you feel you could do better\nwith this site,\nplease do and send me a copy. If it still loads fine over my internet connection, I'll replace this web page\nwith yours.<\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nUseful links\n Califo: Attorney General's office: initiative coordinator<\/p>\n California State Department: Initiative Update <\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nContact Information\n Rev. Christopher DeMars<\/p>\n email:<\/b> vote@sonnet.com<\/p>\n phone:<\/b> 209 533 1564<\/p>\n mail:<\/b> 21452 Crestview Dr., Sonora, CA 95370<\/p>\n -- go to top --<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n<\/td><\/tr><\/table>\n","contact":"vote@sonnet.com","link":"http:\/\/www.sonnet.com\/usr\/debjane\/voteorpay.html","address":"","phone":"209 533 1564","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Our groop has come up with our contribution on how to take back this once glorious nation. Our system of government, our democracy, can only be expected to work if there is an active voting population. Our solution is to fine those who choose to violate our social contract of democracy fifty dollars ($50).","numcomment":5,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/03\/41593.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":41617,"heading":"This is just silly","article":"Democracy means that people have input into the decisions that affect their lives.\r\n\r\nJust becase you are allowed to vote for one candidate or another, or yes or no on a ballot measure doesn't guarantee you have any access to these decisions. So forcing people to vote is really not going to change anything.\r\n\r\nBy the way, the US government has never been about giving most people access to decision-making. It's just plain wrong to think that there's some kind of "former glory" that is desirable to return to.\r\n","author":"@","parent_id":41593,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 20:42:10","modified":"2003-03-27 20:42:10","fileurl":""},{"id":41621,"heading":"Bad idea...","article":"Uninformed voting is how Gray Davis got re-elected.\r\n\r\nMaybe instead, we should require voters to pass a basic skills test (economics, civil rights) before they vote.\r\n\r\nBetter yet, lets institute "nationwide instant run-off voting."\r\nsee article below...\r\n\r\n---------------------------------\r\nPublished on Monday, March 24, 2003 by CommonDreams.org \r\nHow To Take Back America \r\nby Thom Hartmann \r\n \r\nMarching in the streets is important work, but wouldn't we have greater success if we also took control of the United States government? \r\n\r\nIt's vital to point out right-wing-slanted reporting in the corporate media, but isn't it also important to seize enough political power in Washington to enforce anti-trust laws to break up media monopolies? \r\n\r\nAnd how are progressives - most standing on the outside of government, looking in - to deal with oil wars, endemic corporate cronyism, slashed environmental regulations, corporate-controlled voting machines, the devastation of America's natural areas, the fouling of our air and waters, and an administration that daily gives the pharma, HMO, banking, and insurance industries whatever they want regardless of how many people are harmed? \r\n\r\nThis lack of political power is a crisis others have faced before. We should learn from their experience. \r\n\r\nAfter the crushing defeat of Barry Goldwater in 1964, a similar crisis faced a loose coalition of gun lovers, abortion foes, southern segregationists, Ayn Rand libertarians, proto-Moonies, and those who feared immigration within and communism without would destroy the America they loved. Each of these various groups had tried their own "direct action" tactics, from demonstrations to pamphleteering to organizing to fielding candidates. None had succeeded in gaining mainstream recognition or affecting American political processes. If anything, their efforts instead had led to their being branded as special interest or fringe groups, which further diminished their political power. \r\n\r\nSo the conservatives decided not to get angry, but to get power. \r\n\r\nLed by Joseph Coors and a handful of other ultra-rich funders, they decided the only way to seize control of the American political agenda was to infiltrate and take over one of the two national political parties, using their own think tanks like the Coors-funded Heritage Foundation to mold public opinion along the way. Now they regularly get their spokespeople on radio and television talk shows and newscasts, and write a steady stream of daily op-ed pieces for national newspapers. They launched an aggressive takeover of Dwight Eisenhower's "moderate" Republican Party, opening up the "big tent" to invite in groups that had previously been considered on the fringe. Archconservative neo-Christians who argue the Bible should replace the Constitution even funded the startup of a corporation to manufacture computer-controlled voting machines, which are now installed across the nation. And Reverend Moon took over The Washington Times newspaper and UPI. \r\n\r\nTheir efforts, as we see today, have borne fruit, as Kevin Phillips predicted they would in his prescient 1969 book "The Emerging Republican Majority," and as David Brock so well documents in his book "Blinded By The Right." \r\n\r\nBut the sweet victory of the neoconservatives in capturing control of the Republican Party, and thus of American politics, has turned bitter in the mouths of the average American and humans around the world. Soaring deficits, the evisceration of Social Security, "voluntary" pollution controls, war for oil, stacking federal benches with right-wing ideologues, bellicose and nationalist foreign policy, and the handing over of much of the infrastructure of governance to multinational corporate campaign donors has brought a vast devastation to the nation, nearly destroyed the entrepreneurial American dream, and caused the rest of the world to view us with shock and horror. \r\n\r\nThus, many progressives are suggesting that it's time for concerned Americans to reclaim Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Party. It may, in fact, be our only short-term hope to avoid a final total fascistic takeover of America and a third world war. \r\n\r\n"But wait!" say the Greens and Progressives and left-leaning Reform Party members. "The Democrats have just become weaker versions of the Republicans!" \r\n\r\nTrue enough, in many cases. And it isn't working for them, because, as Democrat Harry Truman said, "When voters are given a choice between voting for a Republican, or a Democrat who acts like a Republican, they'll vote for the Republican every time." (And, history shows, voters are equally uninterested in Republicans who act like Democrats.) \r\n\r\nAlternative parties have an important place in American politics, and those in them should continue to work for their strength and vitality. They're essential as incubators of ideas and nexus points for activism. Those on the right learned this lesson well, as many groups that at times in the past had fielded their own candidates are now still intact but have also become powerful influencers of the Republican Party. Similarly, being a Green doesn't mean you can't also be a Democrat. \r\n\r\nThis is not a popular truth. \r\n\r\nThere's a long list of people who didn't like it - Teddy Roosevelt, H. Ross Perot, John Anderson, Pat Buchanan, Ralph Nader - but nonetheless the American constitution was written in a way that only allows for two political parties. Whenever a third party emerges, it's guaranteed to harm the party most closely aligned to it. \r\n\r\nThis was the result of a well-intentioned accident that most Americans fail to understand when looking at the thriving third, fourth, and fifth parties of democracies such as Germany, India, or Israel. How do they do it? And why can't we have third parties here? \r\n\r\nThe reason is because in America - unlike most other modern democracies - we have regional "winner take all" types of elections, rather than proportional representation where the group with, say, 30 percent of the vote, would end up with 30 percent of the seats in government. It's a critical flaw built into our system, so well identified in Robert A. Dahl's brilliant book "How Democratic Is the American Constitution?" \r\n\r\nWhen the delegates assembled in Philadelphia in 1787 to craft a constitution, republican democracy had never before been tried anywhere in what was known as "the civilized world." There were also, at that moment, no political parties, and "father of the Constitution" James Madison warned loudly in Federalist #10 against their ever emerging. \r\n\r\nIn part, Madison issued his warning because he knew that the system they were creating would, in the presence of political parties, rapidly become far less democratic. In the regional winner-take-all type of elections the Framers wrote into the Constitution, the loser in a two-party race - even if s\/he had fully 49.9 percent of the vote - would end up with no voice whatsoever. And the combined losers in a 3- or more-party race could even be the candidates or parties whose overall position was most closely embraced by the majority of the people. \r\n\r\nThe best solution to this unfairness, in 1787, was to speak out against the formation of political parties ("factions"), as Madison did at length and in several venues. But within a decade of the Constitution's ratification, Jefferson's split with Adams had led to the emergence of two strong political parties, and the problems Madison foresaw began and are with us to this day. \r\n\r\nThis is particularly problematic in presidential elections. H. Ross Perot's participation in the 1992 election drew enough votes away from the elder George Bush that Bill Clinton won without a true majority. Similarly, Ralph Nader's participation in the 2000 election drew enough votes away from Al Gore that it was easy for the Supreme Court and Jeb Bush to deflect media notice away from Florida's illegal vote-rigging in the pre-election purging of the voter rolls and thus select George W. Bush as President. \r\n\r\nConservative activists recognized this inherent flaw in the electoral system of the United States and decided to do something about it, recruiting Ronald Reagan and forming his infamous "kitchen cabinet." They took over the Republican Party and then successfully seized control of the government of the United States of America. As we can see by comparing documents from the 1990s Project For A New American Century with today's war in Iraq, these once-marginalized conservative ideologues are the real power behind Bush's throne. \r\n\r\nLiberals weren't so practically minded. Instead of funding think tanks to influence public opinion, subsidizing radio and TV talk show hosts nationwide, and working to take over the Democratic Party, many left to create their own parties while others gave up on mainstream politics altogether. The remaining Democrats were caught in the awkward position of having to try to embrace the same corporate donors as the Republicans, although they weren't anywhere near as successful as Republicans because they hadn't (and haven't) so fully sold out to corporate and wealthy interests. \r\n\r\nWe see the result in races across the nation, such as my state of Vermont. In the 2002 election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the people who voted for the Democratic and Progressive candidates constituted a clear majority. Nonetheless, the Republican candidates became Governor and Lieutenant Governor with 45 percent and 41 percent of the vote respectively because each had more votes than his Democratic or Progressive opponents alone. (Example: Republican Brian Dubie - 41%; Democrat Peter Shumlin - 32%; Progressive Anthony Pollina - 25%. The Republican "won.") \r\n\r\nSimilarly, Republicans have overtly used third-party participation on the left to their advantage. In a July 12, 2002 story in the Washington Post titled "GOP Figure Behind Greens Offer, N.M. Official Says," Post writer Thomas B. Edsall noted that: "The chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico said yesterday he was approached by a GOP figure who asked him to offer the state Green Party at least $100,000 to run candidates in two contested congressional districts in an effort to divide the Democratic vote." \r\n\r\nThe Republicans well understand - and carefully use - the fact that in the American electoral system a third-party candidate will always harm the major-party candidate with whom s\/he is most closely aligned. \r\n\r\nThe Australians solved this problem in the last decade by instituting nationwide instant run-off voting (IRV), a system that is making inroads in communities across the United States. There are also efforts to reform our electoral system along the lines of other democratic nations, instituting proportional representation systems such as first proposed by John Stuart Mill in 1861 and now adopted by virtually every democracy in the world except the US, Australia, Greece, the United Kingdom, and Canada. \r\n\r\nThese are good and important efforts for the long-term future of American democracy. But they won't happen in time to influence the 2004 elections, and we're facing a crisis right now. A few Democratic stalwarts survive who may oppose Bush on the national stage, but while the rest of us fixated on the war, neo-cons are creeping on cat's paws into the very heart of Jefferson's Party. \r\n\r\nThus, the best immediate solution to advance the progressive agenda is for progressives to join and take back the Democratic Party, in the same way conservatives seized control of the Republican Party. \r\n\r\nAfter writing the first draft of this article, just as the first 2003 attack of Baghdad began, I thought about how the Democratic Party could change if most of the protesters in the streets were to join the Democratic Party and run for leadership positions in their local town or county. In short order, it could become a powerful force for progressive principles and democracy in America and the world, maybe even in time to influence the 2004 election. \r\n\r\nSo, I called the Democratic headquarters in my home state of Vermont. \r\n\r\n"Sign me up!" I said to the startled young man who answered the phone. \r\n\r\n"What?" he said, taken aback by my enthusiasm. \r\n\r\n"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," I said, standing and waving my arm as I talked on the phone. "We have to stop the right-wingers from ripping up our constitution, despoiling our earth, and turning America into a fascist state! Sign me up!" \r\n\r\n"Are you a Democrat?" he said. \r\n\r\n"Can I be a progressive Democrat?" \r\n\r\n"Sure!" he said. \r\n\r\n"Then I'm also a Democrat now!" \r\n\r\nHe chuckled, and said. "We're getting a lot of calls like this." \r\n\r\nHe took my contact information, and gave me the name of my county's Party leader. I told him to put me on the list for future fundraising events, to let me know how and when I could run for local Party leadership, and how I could participate on a regular basis in the decision-making processes of "my" local Democratic Party. \r\n\r\nAn hour after that call, I received an email characteristic of so many I get these days. \r\n\r\n"I've never been so depressed in my entire life," the correspondent, an attorney and longtime progressive activist wrote. "Bush is completely ignoring us. My nation, using the same rationale Germany did in the 1930s, has just gone to war against a nation that did not attack it, and my president has declared himself a military dictator. Every time we announce peace marches, they raise the 'threat level' so they can keep us away from government buildings or use force to prevent us from marching. I've lost all hope." \r\n\r\nA few minutes later, another old friend and activist wrote that her "heart was heavy and tears came easily." A flood of other emails arrived after the publication of my most recent article on Common Dreams, and all but one expressed despair, fear, or panic. \r\n\r\nSo I've started answering them by saying: \r\n\r\n"The nation I love is confronting a crisis no smaller than those faced by Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Washington: a crisis that will determine if American democracy survives to the next generation. So-called 'conservatives' are turning our government inside out, trying, as they say, 'to drown it in the bathtub,' killing off regulatory agencies, ripping up the Constitution, cutting funding to social services, and turning pollution controls over to industry. Government expenses in the trillions of dollars are being shifted from us, today, to the shoulders of our children, who will certainly have to repay the deficits Bush's so-called 'tax cuts' (which are really tax deferrals) are racking up. War is being waged in our name and without our consent. \r\n\r\n"And, most disconcerting, the leadership of this administration is made up of blatantly profiteering CEOs, former defense industry lobbyists, and failed hack politicians so outside the mainstream that one - Ashcroft - even lost an election in his home state against a dead guy. \r\n\r\n"Unlike most other modern democracies, our American electoral system only allows for two political parties, at least at the national level. So, given that the rich, the polluters, the paranoid, and the zealot war-mongers got to the Republicans first, we have no choice but to take back the Democratic Party, reinvigorate it, reorient it, and lead it to success in 2004. We may not be able to stop Bush now, but we sure as hell can throw him out of office next year at the ballot box." \r\n\r\nBut what, some have said in response, about the corporate-controlled media? \r\n\r\nThat was the same problem faced by the Christian Right 25 years ago, when the coverage they could get was of Tammy Faye Bakker scandals. But once they'd taken over the Republican Party, the press could no longer ignore them, and Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell are now regulars on network TV. \r\n\r\nAnother person answered my now-form-email by saying, "I want to participate in producing a detailed plan for the future of America, rather than just joining a corrupt and tired-out political party." \r\n\r\nMy response was that if there were enough of us in the Democratic Party, it could become a cleaned-up and powerful activist force. It's possible: just look at how the anti-abortion and gun-nut folks took over the once-moribund Republican Party. \r\n\r\nAnother said, "But what about their rigged computer-controlled voting machines?" \r\n\r\nMy answer is that only a political party as large and resourceful as the Democrats could have the power to re-institute exit polling, and catch scams like the voter-list purges Jeb Bush used to steal the 2000 and 2002 elections for himself and his brother. \r\n\r\nAnd the Democratic Party can only do it if we, in massive numbers, join it, embrace it, and ultimately gain a powerful and decisive voice in its policy-making and selection of candidates. \r\n\r\nThom Hartmann (e-mail: thom at thomhartmann.com) is the author of over a dozen books, including "Unequal Protection" and "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight." www.thomhartmann.com This article is copyright by Thom Hartmann, but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so long as this credit is attached.\r\n\r\n \r\n","author":"Richard Kelly","parent_id":41593,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 20:47:23","modified":"2003-03-27 20:47:23","fileurl":""},{"id":41636,"heading":"How sad","article":"Why can't these people understand that millions upon millions see voting as meaningless in the big picture. Elections are plebiscites to legitimize a corrupt system, except they're not working: only around 70% of those of voting age are registered; only around HALF of those registered bother to vote, which means that the "majority" is usually actually 20% or less of the voting age population.\n\nAs if you needed someone to tell you this, the government of the USA is NOT LEGITIMATE. This splintered society is coming apart, folks. Find your family and hasten its fall.","author":"The best defense...","parent_id":41593,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 21:07:04","modified":"2003-03-27 21:07:04","fileurl":""},{"id":41730,"heading":"None of the above","article":"This is a bad idea, the previous e-mail states some of them. How do people get to be candidates? Mostly with the help of lots and lots of money. I don't want to be forced to vote for tweedledum or tweedledee or pay 50 bucks to those thugs in our government.\r\nAnd I don't see you mention a "none of the above" catagory to vote for, which would be the only way this would make any sense at all.","author":"Laura","parent_id":41593,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 22:13:51","modified":"2003-03-27 22:13:51","fileurl":""},{"id":64663,"heading":"Good Idea","article":"Hi,\r\nMy name is Marco, I live in north-west Italy in the city of Turin.\r\n\r\nsorry my English is not so good.\r\n\r\nI'm very worried about USA undemocratic situation expecially because USA are the center of gravity of the whole world, and i hope that USA's non-vote trend don't spread also in allied countries.\r\nThe problem in evident expecially after result of past Administrative election won with very few votes.\r\n\r\nThe idea of pay for non-vote may be good also to take in consideration to be incentivated to vote in other ways...","author":"Marco","parent_id":41593,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-14 09:34:54","modified":"2003-06-14 09:34:54","fileurl":""}]} |