Dear Friends,
Please join the Institute for Policy Studies, IPPN, and the Center for Constitutional Rights in creating an immediate nationwide response to the expected news concerning the fraudulent Florida vote count. We are proposing *DAYS OF ACTION* to follow the release of the news media's study of the 180,000 "undervotes" and "overvotes" in Florida. Please give us your suggestions for action ideas, and consider joining us for a press conference or organizing an event in your locality. We must speak truth to power about the illegitimacy of President-Select Bush.
Following the news organizations' release of their recount study, we will renew the call for a Pro-Democracy Movement, and the enactment of a Voters' Bill of Rights. We will use this opportunity to announce pro-democracy summer actions including Democracy Summer 2001 to be convened in June at the scene of the crime, Tallahassee, FL, and a massive pro-democracy convention to take place just before the 4th of July in Philadelphia.
Democracy Summer 2001 will be a multi-ethnic and cross-generational gathering to empower young people to take democracy back from corporate interests and return it to the hands of the people. The Democracy Institute will educate participants about different elements of electoral reform, enhance their skills for organizing, and provide summer organizing internships following the training.
Though the exact date is still undisclosed, in the coming days two sets of news organizations will complete their exhaustive review of the Florida vote. We expect an initial report to be released by USA Today and The Miami Herald during the first or second week of April. Approximately five weeks later, in early May, a second study will be released by another newspaper consortium including the Washington Post the New York Times, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Palm Beach Post, St. Petersburg Times, the Tribune Co. (which owns the Los Angeles Times), and CNN with another analysis. We hope you will take advantage of this five week window to send a strong message that the electorate is moving from outrage to action on electoral reform. (Please note that this review is not the incomplete and biased "study" just released by Judicial Watch, in an attempt to undermine this more complete review).
It is our expectation that this major media review will demonstrate what all of us already know in our hearts--that the will of the electorate was ignored, distorted, and subverted by the institutions that are supposed to protect American democracy.
If so, it means that the man in the White House is not the people's choice. It means that President-Select Bush lost both the country and the State of Florida. It means that the most basic right in a democracy--the right to vote--was corrupted.
The people's consent has not been given. The current rulers did not win a free and fair election. They thus have no "just powers." They received no mandate from the voters. Not for tax cuts for the rich. Not for drilling on wildlife refuges. Not for limiting freedom of choice. Not for infringing on workers' health and safety. Not for right wing judges. Nada.
At the core of this issue is an illegitimate re-ordering of America's national priorities.
Join us for "the National Days of Action." Wherever you live, gather people together to fight back. Be creative and be fun! Wear orange ribbons as a symbol of resistance. Send your suggestions for actions in to IPS. Pass on this "National Call to Action" to everyone on your e-mail list. Call a local press conference. Support electoral reform that counts every vote, and insures that every vote counts. Give your Senator and House member the support to "just say no" to right-wing judges and public policies. Turn outrage into action.
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If your organization can become involved, please fill out the form below and e-mail to Karen Dolan, Progressive Challenge, Institute for Policy Studies: <mailto:kdolan at igc.orgkdolan@igc.<mailto:kdolan at igc.orgorg
*Please give us your suggestions, and sign on to the Day of Action.
Organization______________________ Contact____________
E-mail_____________ Phone/fax_________________
____Yes! We would like to join you for the Press Conference.
[Keep watch for details at the IPS web site: <http://www.ips-dc.orgwww.ips-dc.<http://www.ips-dc.orgorg
____Yes! We want to be on the organizing committee for the Day of Action.
Suggestions/Ideas for Actions:
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--- Astraea Kelly