Please Help Protect Election Transparency and Integrity

A very important lawsuit will soon decide whether or not elected officials and bureaucrats can block the Public from accessing the Public Records needed to independently verify that votes in Public elections are correctly interpreted and counted. A hearing is set for late January 2010.

This is a Public Records lawsuit regarding election records that already exist. The government has denied Public Access to the computer files containing scanned ballot images from Aspen's May 2009 election. Scanned ballot image files have been released to the Public in other states, e.g. Minnesota and California.

This is a court battle between the government (which has a vested interest in hiding election data) and the Public (who has a vested interest in verifying that votes are correctly interpreted and counted). Read Bev Harris’s message, for details about this lawsuit.

If the Court mistakenly decides in favor of the government, there is little hope that future elections will allow the Public controls necessary to oversee Public elections.

An important message from Bev Harris, of Black Box Voting, includes an urgent fundraising request for this Aspen Open Records Litigation. Click to read this message.

Aspen officials are using the apparently bottomless pit of Public funds to block release of these Public Records. Their unnecessarily long and complex motions have forced the Aspen Project to spend $35,000.00 so far.

Please do two things: (1) donate what you can by check or online, and (2) invest some of your valuable time by soliciting funds from people and groups that are working on Voting Rights, including Transparency and Election Integrity. This case must be won.

Black Box Voting has established a tax-deductable (to the extent allowable by law) restricted fund for the Aspen Project. Checks should be made out to “Black Box Voting”, and indicate that the money is “for the Aspen Project” in the memo or comment.

Send your donation online at Donation to Black Box Voting. Make a note in the COMMENT section of the online form, “for the Aspen Project”.

Send your donation by mail. The Payee should be "Black Box Voting", and make a note in the MEMO section of the check, “for the Aspen Project”

Black Box Voting, Inc.
330 SW 43rd St Suite K
PMB 547
Renton, WA
98057

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
bev@blackboxvoting.org

Black Box Voting (.ORG) is a 501c(3) charitable organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. The Black Box Voting 501c(3) IRS authorization letter is online at: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/IRSletter.pdf

Public Elections belong to the Public, not to the government. We must not tolerate any government that refuses to release Public Information to the Public.

Al Kolwicz
Colorado Voter Group
2867 Tincup Circle
Boulder CO, 80305
303-494-1540
mailto:AlKolwicz@qwest.net
http://www.coloradovotergroup.org/