Protect the Count: Election Monitoring in Four Parts

This year, it’s not enough to vote.
This year, citizens are taking back our elections.

This toolkit will guide you in joining, or continuing to be among, the ranks of citizens actively engaged
in the mechanics of democracy: our elections.

View short introductory videos here

Download the 6-page set of instructions for the Protect the Count Project

Election 2008: AnyState, USA

Citizens fan out across the nation, stationing themselves at polling places to observe, video, and broadcast live precinct-level results for the nation.

• Negative vote counts are caught and challenged and corrected on election night before they become official results.

• Statistically anomalous and unbelievable results are challenged and documented on election night and delivered to a court of law as post-election evidence of election fraud.

• Would-be election fraudsters are alerted to the “candid camera” citizen brigades: try to commit fraud, and any time, any where, when you least expect it, we will catch you in the act.

• Learn about the four categories of voting systems used in the nation [ View short introductory videos here ]

• Identify the category of voting system used in your state [ Consult "The Verifier" ]

• Learn how to protect the integrity of the ballot chain of custody and the vote count against vulnerabilities in the category of voting system used in your state

• Follow step-by-step instructions to become a citizen election watchdog

• Learn how to be part of the 2008 Election Poll Tape Posse, Seal Tracker, Switch Monitor, and Problem Child Watcher citizen watchdog teams, observing, documenting, and broadcasting precinct-level election results

Private Interests, Corporate Trade Secrecy, and the Loss of Democratic Elections

In the past two decades, most American citizens have sat on the sidelines while the government has given away our public elections to private interests. Today, the private e-voting industry controls the vast majority of American elections with no public oversight whatsoever, programming the computers that cast our votes for us, count our votes for us, and even regulate who is able to vote through computerized voter registration databases.

Is this any way to run a democracy?

In the 2006 Elections, computers programmed and controlled by private corporations using trade secret proprietary software cast and/or counted nearly 90% of America’s votes.

This year will be different.
In Election 2008, you can join citizens everywhere to actively protect the vote count.

• Become an engaged citizen election watchdog
• Be a hands-on participant and learn how our elections work and don’t work
• Document the vote count and publish it for all to see
• Put public officials on notice that We the People are watching them
• Put would-be election fraudsters and tamperers on notice that We the People are watching them
• Protect the vote count in your state
• Share your evidence and experiences with the nation and the world

I. Step by Step Instructions for Protect the Count 2008

1. Sign up to be part of the project at BlackBoxVoting.org
2. View a 3-minute training video and obtain the downloadable toolkit
3. Determine which category of voting system is used in your state See:
4. Find a buddy for your posse
5. Make sure your video equipment is fully charged and working
6. Review the instructions for the category of voting system you will be observing
7. Prepare with gas, snacks, cell phones, whatever
8. As soon as your video is ready, upload it here: http://www.videothevote.org/upload
9. Problems? Call the legal assistance hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE [1.866.687.8683]

Resources

The US Constitution
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/index.html

State Constitutions
http://www.constitution.org/cons/usstcons.htm
http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/indexconst.html

Black Box Voting
http://www.BlackBoxVoting.ORG

Election Defense Alliance
http://www.ElectionDefenseAlliance.org

Protect the Count Project Instructions (6-page PDF)
http://electiondefensealliance.org/files/BBV_EDA_Protect_the_Count_08.pdf

You can review the 4 Protect the Count videos here: http://www.ElectionDefenseAlliance.org/Protect_the_count