Since 2000 the specter of election fraud has haunted America's elections. There is little question that things have gone wrong in our elections in recent years, from gun toting rednecks threatening Hispanic voters to voter caging to what appears to be manipulation of voting machines by Republican biased companies. It is unclear if this kind of activity has actually affected the outcomes of elections, and if so how many elections, but problems have been frequent and almost always favoring Republicans. It should be noted that this year, to date, accusations of fraud that favor Democrats has been largely debunked, while accusations of fraud favoring Republicans has led to actual arrests in at least two cases.

Since 2000 the reaction to apparent election fraud has ranged from denial to panic. Panic is NEVER appropriate. And I will deal with the denial end when I have more time. But the truth is, neither panic nor denial are terribly effective strategies. What is effective is preparation and action. Barack Obama's unprecedented legal team is one example of this. But there is a much quieter example that is already paying dividends: the Secretary of State Project. The Secretary of State Project (SoS) was created by concerned citizens to provide an easy-to-use, low-cost vehicle for online donations to key Secretary of State races. They got started in 2006 and won five key races. You want to hear preparation, compare the list of states that the SoS project won in 2006 to our key swing states this year: Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa and...yep, Ohio. This success in 2006 should be reassuring to America in 2008, as recently pointed out by the Secretary of State Project:

Reports are coming in from West Virginia, where early voting is showing problems. People in several counties are reporting that they are trying to vote for Obama, but their votes are being recorded for McCain.

Stay tuned for further details. Meanwhile, keep those calls and e-mails coming -- the term limits fight isn't over.

I went to a fundraiser for Christine Jennings, candidate for Conrgess in Florida, in 2006 and was greatly impressed. An extremely capable and intelligent woman who founded her own highly successful bank.

Jennings probably won in 2006. But it was another failed Florida election and there is evidence that the vote was deliberately messed up to steal the election from her. Voting machines with KNOWN problems were deployed in districts that favored Jennings, leading to a loss of 18,000 votes in Dem leaning districts.

Christine Jennings is going for a rematch. And we can help her. This comes from Marjorie Gersten:

Come meet Florida's heroine, Christine Jennings, this Tuesday, March 11, at 8-9:30 AM. Ask your questions about the 2006 race she lost by 369 votes, where 18,000 votes mysteriously disappeared from Sarasota's electronic voting machines.