Election Integrity Songs

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If You Want to Be a Voter / Ballad of Sarasota (Lori Rosolowsky)

Originally published by Coalition for Voting Integrity at http://mysite.verizon.net/resq4lzq/cvi/id292.html

"If You Want to Be a Voter (The Ballad of Sarasota)"

Permission is granted to download this song.
Please state authorship as "Words and music by Lori Rosolowsky, copyright 2007."

Throughout history, music has been used to chronicle events as well as influence and motivate people to action, often transcending time and place. For example, the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome" was sung by the Chinese during the Tiananmen Square uprising for democracy in 1989. Coalition for Voting Integrity co-founder Mary Ann Gould recognized the potential that music could have in the voting integrity movement and asked me to write a song, specifically about the Sarasota 2006 congressional election. Mary Ann and I had many extensive discussions about the lyrics and she convinced me that the song could be more than a symbolic statement about voting integrity and democracy--that it could be used as a tool to educate citizens and lawmakers about exactly what we are demanding: the ability to see our vote, to have proof it was counted, and that DRE machines be banned. Her vision, inspiration, and direction were critical to the end result.

Verse 1

Woody Guthrie said this land was made for you and me
He walked where soldiers paved the way for our democracy
Like Trenton, Saratoga, New Orleans, the Alamo
Well, there's another battleground, a place you ought to know

Chorus

If you want to be a voter, don't count on Sarasota
Because in Sarasota your vote doesn't have to count
Eighteen thousand votes are missing, and the media ain't listening
Electronic voting's in, democracy is out

Verse 2

I walked up to the courthouse and heard the people say
Something rotten happened here on Election Day
The judge said, "Sorry, people, you can't look at what's inside
These machines are corporate secrets, this ain't the time for civic pride

2nd Chorus

If you want to be a voter, don't count on Sarasota
Because the judge here told us, "Your vote doesn't have to count"
Eighteen thousand votes are missing, is anybody listening?
Electronic voting's in, democracy is out

Verse 3

Then I saw a crowd of people by the county jail
Hundreds held up signs that said, "Democracy for sale"
So I telephoned my sister who is serving in Iraq
She said, "Keep up the fight in Florida and take our country back!"

Bridge

Where does it say
That machines should have the right to take our vote away?

3rd Chorus

Listen to the voters who fight for Sarasota
We have the right to see our vote, have proof it really counts
Raise your voices and demand
That DRE machines be banned
Everywhere, across this land, democracy—that's what it's all about

Coda

Woody Guthrie said this land was made for you and me

The Story Behind the Song

When I tell people I've written a song about the voting fiasco in Sarasota, Florida, they think I am referring to the 2000 election. But in November 2006, Florida was the site of another controversial election. In the 13th Congressional District race, 18,000 votes were lost! That represents 15% of the votes cast for that particular race that were not counted, and for which no independent means (like a paper ballot) exists to retrieve the votes. Media coverage of this election has been poor--groups like CVI have kept this issue, and its aftermath, alive. This song is one way to communicate to the country and our representatives that what happened in Sarasota is unacceptable.

The song opens with a reference to Woody Guthrie and "This Land Is Your Land." Most people are surprised to learn that several verses into his song, Guthrie sings, "As I went walking, I saw a sign there/On the sign it said, 'No Trespassing'/But on the other side it didn't say nothing/That side was made for you & me!" He then sings of people standing in relief lines and he asks, "Is this land made for you and me?"

That's also what we ask through this song. Guthrie criss-crossed this land, becoming a social activist along the way. He communicated through his songs. We continue the tradition.

The first verse names Trenton, Saratoga (not Sarasota), New Orleans and the Alamo--all sites of key battles in our country's history--battles that literally shaped the configuration of our country.

Trenton was the site of George Washington's pivotal victory against the British on Christmas 1776, giving the American troops the psychological boost they needed to win the Revolutionary War and gain independence from Britain. The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 represented another decisive victory for American troops. In 1815, the American victory at the Battle of New Orleans forced the British to recognize United States' claims to Louisiana and West Florida and marked Louisiana's political incorporation into the Union. (In this post-Katrina world, New Orleans also conjures up the question: "Is this land made for you and me?") Finally, we "remember the Alamo" as a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds, which freed Texas from Mexico.

Now we have a new type of battleground: Sarasota. Not bloody like its predecessors, but rather an insidious violation of our democracy, for which those battles were fought. In December 2006, a judge ruled that the code programmed into the DRE (Direct Record Electronic) machines used in Sarasota was proprietary, and thus the people did not have a right to examine it. (There are ways to audit and examine code without revealing trade secrets, of course.) This is the situation described in the second verse of the song.

The third verse goes on to describe the activism of people across Florida, who have held a rally demanding a re-vote, and highlights the irony that we are purportedly fighting for democracy in Iraq, when it is slipping through the cracks here at home. The image of activists at a county jail is meant to symbolize our imprisoned rights. While groups like SAFE (Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections) in Florida have been smart and active, even proactive--they succeeded in getting a referendum passed in November to prevent the very disaster from happening again in the future--the rest of the country is largely ignorant of events.

The song then rhetorically asks: Where does it say that machines should have the right to take our vote away? DRE machines have not only lost votes (as in Sarasota), but changed them...either way, the voters' intent, and therefore, their rights, are violated.

The song ends with the rallying cry that DRE machines--the machines used in Sarasota and around the country--be banned. The optical scan machines, which electronically count paper ballots, give voters the ability to see and have proof that their votes have been counted accurately and securely.

Thank you for listening to the song. Please forward it to friends, neighbors and, especially, lawmakers! Let them HEAR you!

–Lori Rosolowsky

To make a donation toward the recording costs for "If You Want to Be a Voter (The Ballad of Sarasota)," make checks payable to Coalition for Voting Integrity, memo "If You Want to Be a Voter"; mail to Coalition for Voting Integrity, P.O. Box 536, Doylestown, PA 18901. Or contribute online Even if you don't have a PayPal account, PayPal will process your VISA or MasterCard payment with just a few clicks.

Little Black Box (Laramie Crocker)

Music written and performed by Laramie Crocker

Click here to listen: http://provisionalauthority.us/mp3/LaramieCrocker-LittleBlackBox.mp3

Little Black Box

little black boxes in cute little rows
screen that says "touch me", so cheerfully glows
no paper trail, a make believe poll
cast your vote down the memory hole

[chorus]:

The little black box where your little vote goes
down and down the memory hole
O where o where did your little vote go
nobody knows
little black box
little black box

little black boxes all in a row
No printouts, no proof, nothing to show
golden eggs of democracy where did you go?
the foxes have taken the chickens below

round and round and round she goes
where she stops nobody knows
place your bets, hold your nose
cross your fingers, cross your toes

Visit Laramie Crocker's homepage: http://LaramieCrocker.com

My Vote Don't Matter Anymore (Victoria Parks)

My Vote Don't Matter Anymore

Written and performed by Victoria Parks

Click here to Play MP3

We stood in lines outside three hours, maybe four
A rainy November second, Two-Thousand-Four
All across our nation, too many to ignore
We turned out in numbers they'd never seen before

I should know dear,
I've been voting here
since the second world war
My name is Amos Connelly
Now they're telling me
My vote don't matter anymore

They took my name
They purged it from the roll
What they gained
Cannot compare with what they stole

This is my democracy
Don't you go telling me
My vote don't matter anymore,
and is not worth fighting for

The fix was in
That's all she wrote
They did not win
Our hearts, our minds, our vote

With what is known
The evidence is clear
I'm not alone
There are thousands of us here

This is my democracy
Don't you go telling me
My vote don't matter anymore
and is not worth fighting for

This is our democracy
We'll fight to keep it free
You won't go tell-ing me
Our vote don't matter anymore
Our vote is well worth fighting for
Our vote is well worth fighting for

The True Story Behind the Song

Victoria Parks writes:

An elderly African American gentleman, probably octagenarian, carried himself with great dignity to the microphone during public testimony before the Franklin County Board of Elections in January of '05 following the (S)election of 2004 and the bogus Ohio Recount. His demeanor was so sincere and he was in obvious emotional pain. It had taken a great deal of energy
and courage for him to come testify. He stated he had never missed voting in an election since the time he was first able to vote. He said he had always voted at the same precinct. Poll workers knew him by name.

But, in November of 2004, he came to sign his name in the book as he always had and was told his name had been purged from the rolls. Why? He was forced to vote provisionally and he did not know if his vote was counted.

I was infuriated and deeply moved by his story. I changed his name in my song. I called him "Amos," after my school bus driver from childhood. Amos could have been any African American. He worked hard and never missed a day of work. He paid his taxes and he voted. He did everything you are supposed to do. He was a solid citizen whose vote didn't matter anymore.

I gave him the last name of Connelly after C. Ellen Connelly, an underfunded African American judge from Cleveland running for Ohio Supreme Court Justice in '04. In some Black precincts in Cleveland, Connelly received more votes than John Kerry—a highly dubious circumstance. We suspect this was the result of "Catapillar Crawl," a term coined by Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips to describe a pattern found on punchcard ballots. The order of candidate names on the ballot is varied from one precinct to the next in a process called ballot rotation. If ballots cast in the correct precinct are counted in another precinct with a different ballot rotation, vote marks will register as votes for different candidates than the voters intended. The evidence says this is one way Kerry votes were shifted to Bush, and how Connelly votes were shifted to Thomas Moyer, the Ohio Supreme Court justice re-elected with very odd numbers. Moyer then ruled against our brave election protection attorneys, claiming that The People v Ohio n Florida (brought on behalf of disenfranchised Ohio voters) was "without merit," a frivolous lawsuit. For this our election protection attorneys were rudely sanctioned by Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro. The sanctions were later lifted following an amicus brief filed by Congressman Conyers.

After the stolen Ohio election of '04, I swore I would dedicate myself to this cause. As an artist I knew I should "be the media" because I would have no better way to speak truth to power. Amos Connelly embodies all the hopes and dreams of a free people who possess the inalienable right to defend their democracy by preserving their right to have their votes counted and their voices heard. Amos Connelly will not go quietly. God bless Amos Connelly! To give voice to him was the least I could do.

Other songs by Victoria Parks

Victoria (Victrola) Parks sang "W begins with DUH" and "What our Children Is Learning" at the "Save Progressive Radio Benefit" held at Victorians Midnight Cafe in Columbus, Ohio, USA in the early spring of 07.

W begins with DUH
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8223578195729655279&hl=en

What our Children Is Learning
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5017478332380864344&hl=en

They Lost My Vote (Ellen Bukstel & Nancy Wuerzburger)

Click To Listen (MP3)

Tuesday in November I took that stroll
To cast my ballot at the local poll
The lines were long but I didn’t care
I had water, a hat, and my folding chair

Walked up to the booth, didn’t say a word
Was sure that my voice would be heard
I hit that button, my vote was sent
But now nobody knows exactly where it went

They lost my vote— it isn’t fair
I took a stand, doesn’t anybody care?
They lost my vote— now do you know
Where......................did my ballot go?

After the election I was filled with pride
Waitin' for my vote to be verified
Lookin' for the news of my country’s fate
The election was over . . . now there’s no more debate

I surfed the TV all night long
Wanted to know what was going on
To get some honest information
I watched Jon Stewart on the comedy station

They lost my vote— it isn’t fair
I took a stand, doesn’t anybody care?
They lost my vote— now do you know
Where......................did my ballot go?

I wanted to make sure that democracy
Was working the way that it was supposed to be
I just wanted someone to listen to me
The way the Constitution promised me

If we can land a rocketship on the moon
Or make a cell phone ring in our favorite tune
If we can send sound waves through the air
Then votin’ machines should be countin’ fair

Anyone can hack the files and push delete
There'll be no proof and I got no receipt
Let’s get the system under control
And the final results will match the exit poll

They lost my vote— it isn’t fair
I took a stand, doesn’t anybody care?
They lost my vote— now do you know
Where......................did my ballot go?

I lost my faith in the government
When they changed the rules without my consent
Don’t wanna be nobody’s experiment
I just want to know where my ballot went

They lost my vote, I made my choice
Does anybody care to hear my voice?
They lost my vote -- was that the plan?
Nobody, nobody nobody nobody knows . . .
That I took a stand

Attachment	Size
Lost My Vote Mastered.mp3	4.98 MB