Only One Rule in a Democracy: One Person, One Vote

Dear Speaker Pelosi --

I say a clip today of you declaring that the superdelegates should follow "the will of the people." The will of which people? The Will of (Only the Healthy) People?

Housebound, bedbound, and disabled people in Caucus States were forbidden the Absentee Ballot so their precious voices and their will do not show up in the so-called elected delegates, their voices disappeared by 16% of the result in each Caucus State. These people don't matter to us Democrats? I spent my whole life since JFK was shot down on my 19th birthday fighting for the rights of the voiceless.

Superdelegates should be asked to THINK what the will of the people really is and judge wisely. The pledged delegates are a horrible indicator of the will of the people. (About 2000 voters gets you a pledged delegate in Idaho & about it takes about 11,000 voters to get you a delegate in a primary state.) The will of the people? I'm ashamed that such an emminent person in a place to educate us & reform us could be so hypocritical.

Intervene? I pray that you intervene on behalf of the true voice of voters, not snarled & inconsistent & arbitrary Party "rules." There is only one rule in a democracy: one person, one vote.

Sincerely,

:::!!::

contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com

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100,000 Disappeared Popular Votes in Caucus States

Dear Superdelegate: I beg you to add to your thinking re the nomination & the General Election participation, the horrible & hidden & huge
Voter Suppression of Hillary's core voters, housebound older women who,
forbidden the Absentee Ballot in Caucus States, are cheated, disappeared in the pledged delegates & popular votes count.

I am so grateful for your support of Hillary, the most electable & astonishingly prepared candidate of my lifetime. She is a champion for so many whose dispossessed sorrow or rage is transformed to courage at her example. You must forgive me if I sound a little overheated about the Caucus Scandal. It's been burning in my stunned brain since January. This information is distilled from 2400 volunteer phone calls.

The Will of the People?
Not housebound & bedbound older women people who are forbidden Absentee Ballots in Caucus States. "I can't caucus, honey, I'm a cripple,"said 87-yr-old Vera. "Just because I'm sick, doesn't mean I can't think," said 82-yr-old Ruth.
Not the blameless voters (also people except in the Democratic Party?) in Florida & Michigan who futilely imagined that their vote was their voice in their beloved Democratic Party.

In the Texas primary, Hillary's voters were plus 4. On the same day in the caucus with Absentee Ballots forbidden, they were minus 12. A 16% swing!
Suppose we had only seen the Caucus Results in Texas!
That's what happened in all those other Caucus States.
It’s a Mockery of Democracy.

Upon my life and sacred honor, I always believed that the Democratic Party stood in essence for the voice and vote of each American? (Suppose 16% of black voters were forbidden to vote for Mr. Obama? Would there not be an outcry? Of course.) Superdelegates are designed to see this kind of hidden & horrible injustice against democracy & take it into account.

I have so much more specific info on this 16% Awful Caucus Skew. I am desperate to get the info out. When this story gets reported, the superdelegate dynamic will change. Sincerely, & heartbroken at the death of democracy, 16% Awful Caucus Skew

email caucusdebacle@gmail.com
image matisse

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The Will of the (Healthy) People

3-29-08 10:46:03 am to Howard Dean;

I am 63 years old. I have been an active and loyal Democrat since JFK was murdered on my 19th birthday. I am ashamed of Mr. Dodd, Mr. Leahy, & others trying to push Hillary, the best-prepared candidate in my life, out of the supposedly democratic process.

15% of Hillary's vote (therefore pledged delegates & popular vote) was robbed from her in all those caucus states. (In Texas Hillary was +4 in the primary & -12 in the caucus on the same day! You call this democracy? The will of the (healthy) people! That our first woman candidate would be given so little respect is sickening.

(email Mr. Dean .. http://www.democrats.org/page/petition/chairman)
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
first post 03.29.08

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The Undemocratic Nature of Caucuses: Pat's Personal Story

The Undemocratic Nature of Caucuses: My Personal Story .. Pat Bakalian

I had the opportunity to work on the Democratic primaries/caucuses in Iowa and Texas, and I do not believe that caucuses represent the will of the people.

In general, caucuses disenfranchise people who are disabled, older, single parents, parents with young children, people who work swing shifts, those going to night school, the physically fragile who cannot stand for long periods, and so on. We are a 24 hour culture. We’re leaving people out any time we choose one time and place to let people’s voices be heard. There are always hospitals to be staffed, restaurants serving customers, streets to be patrolled, janitors cleaning buildings. This is NOT democracy. People can’t vote absentee in a caucus and they have no voice.

Specifically, I saw in Texas people standing out in the cold and dark for hours – until 11:00 at night while many older people and people with small children had to leave. At one site there were 4 precincts voting at the same location with only 6 voting machines, it was mayhem and total chaos as there was no parking for primary or caucus voters. At one site voting didn't finish until about 1am! In many cases, the venue was too small causing a fire hazard, no precinct chairs showed up, and no one was trained on what to do to run the caucus. Due to crowded conditions, the sign up packets were inappropriately passed down the pews and impossible to monitor. In other cases the packets were incomplete with no more than one sign up sheet resulting in people making their own, and no calculation sheet for determining the number of delegates, so the caucus vote was done by "guess work" from the Obama campaign work sheet. The voting Judge was overwhelmed, monitoring who had actually voted in the primary at that precinct was impossible to do under many of these circumstances. There was no way that any checking of these voters was done as some didn't have their voter's registration form.

In Iowa the only way to vote for your candidate was to go to a caucus site for one two- hour period on one very cold (even by Iowans standards) night and stand up in front of your spouse and neighbors without the advantage to having your vote be private. I talked to many people who would have caucused but they had to work the second shift or take care of an elderly parent or sick child, or simply did not feel comfortable being so public with their vote.

· So far there have been 13 states that have held a caucus instead of a primary. Barack Obama has won 12 of these states. In the 2004 presidential elections, Republicans won in 9 of these states.

In Texas, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by over 100,000, yet I believe she will lose the delegate count due to the state having poorly organized and poorly supervised caucuses.

· In Wyoming about 7,500 people caucused and they have 12 delegates. In my own Congressional District in California about 96,000 people voted and we have 5 delegates.

· At the Washington State caucus on Feb. 9 (the “official” contest recognized by the DNC to determine delegates to the Democratic Convention), a total of 30,000 people voted and 75 delegates were awarded. Their non-binding primary was held on Feb. 19 where 691,000 people voted and NO delegates were awarded.

Is this a democracy? Is this One Person, One Vote? Is this a way to pick a nominee who can best beat John McCain?

I urge you to look at the caucus vs. primary systems of picking our nominee and support Senator Hillary Clinton because she will be the strongest Democratic candidate to go up against John McCain.

Very Sincerely,
Pat Bakalian
pat@bakalianconsulting.com
first posted 04.07.08

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