[Voterescue] IMPORTANT: Opportunity to see Firsthand the Election Assistance Commission in Action

[Karen Renick]

*VoteRescue Members and Texans for REAL Elections Coalition Leaders:*

We learned late this week that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission 
(EAC) is holding an event here in Austin on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007 (this 
coming week) that will consist of both a "Public" Meeting and an EAC 
Academics Roundtable, which is also open to the public. */However, 
accord/**/ing to the agendas, it appears there is no time designated for 
actual public comment./* They are for public "viewing" purposes only. If 
we find out anything different about scheduled public comments, we will 
let you know. 

Even though we will not have an opportunity to "officially" speak at 
either meeting, *it is a rare opportunity to be able to see firsthand 
how control over our elections is being usurped by a small group of 
individuals who are appointed by the executive branch - the president, 
to be exact. * They were created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(HAVA) as a "temporary" commission to assist in dispensing the funding 
to the states for electronic voting systems and other pertinent 
information, but if legislation such as the Holt Bill ("Microsoft" 811) 
is passed, it will become a permanent federal-level agency with powers 
over all elections in the states, not just those for federal offices. 

Obviously, we have very little time to plan any substantive action or 
response to their meetings this Tuesday, but we will make an attempt to 
make our (VoteRescue and Texans for REAL Elections) presence known to 
those attending, be it with signs and/or fliers. *The message we will be 
sending is that we want elections that protect our rights as established 
in the Constitution and as recently paraphrased in the "Resolution on 
Open and Honest Public-Controlled Elections" that can be read by 
clicking  here. <cid:part1.07040506.05040003 at voterescue.org>*

*Once we have some details about our plans, we will send out a follow-up 
notification.*

To see the agendas and list of participants of both the meeting and the 
roundtable, go to  
_*http://www.electionreformproject.org/Events/r1/Default.aspx *.

_*The location and times of these two meetings are:*

Omni Austin Hilton Downtown (512-476-3700)
Lone Star Room
700 San Jacinto Boulevard at 8th Street
Austin, TX 78701
*The "Public" Meeting will occur from 9:00 AM to Noon (CST) and
the "Public" Roundtable Discussion will occur from **1:00 to 6:00 PM (CST)*
_
_For questions, call Karen at 512-496-7408.